Hallmark movies are fascist propaganda

[Anonymous]

https://www.salon.com/2019/12/25/hallmark-christmas-movies-fascist-propaganda/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Which is, of course, laughable to anyone who has even glancing knowledge of the channel's offerings. Running down this year's schedule of Christmas movie offerings is like a trip into an uncanny valley of shiny-teethed, blow-dried heteronormative whiteness, with only a few token movies with characters of color. It's like watching "The Stepford Wives," but scarier, since the evil plot to replace normal people with robots is never actually revealed.

None of this should be a surprise, because Hallmark movies, as cloying and saccharine as they are, constitute the platonic ideal of fascist propaganda.

There's plenty of reason that empty-headed kitsch fits neatly in the authoritarian worldview. It's storytelling that imitates the gestures of emotion without actually engaging with real feeling. The Hallmark movie steers clear of the real passion or deeper emotion that tends to be the engine driving more artful fiction. Characters who have real feelings, after all, can prompt empathetic reactions in the audience, and empathy for others is the greatest single threat to the authoritarian mindset. And so schmaltz walks through the paces of "love" without touching on any of the messy but compelling realities of it.

Salon brings up excellent points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.salon.com/2019/12/25/hallmark-christmas-movies-fascist-propaganda/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Which is, of course, laughable to anyone who has even glancing knowledge of the channel's offerings. Running down this year's schedule of Christmas movie offerings is like a trip into an uncanny valley of shiny-teethed, blow-dried heteronormative whiteness, with only a few token movies with characters of color. It's like watching "The Stepford Wives," but scarier, since the evil plot to replace normal people with robots is never actually revealed.

None of this should be a surprise, because Hallmark movies, as cloying and saccharine as they are, constitute the platonic ideal of fascist propaganda.

There's plenty of reason that empty-headed kitsch fits neatly in the authoritarian worldview. It's storytelling that imitates the gestures of emotion without actually engaging with real feeling. The Hallmark movie steers clear of the real passion or deeper emotion that tends to be the engine driving more artful fiction. Characters who have real feelings, after all, can prompt empathetic reactions in the audience, and empathy for others is the greatest single threat to the authoritarian mindset. And so schmaltz walks through the paces of "love" without touching on any of the messy but compelling realities of it.

Salon brings up excellent points.

“That is probably a startling statement to some. When most of us think about fascistically propagandistic movies, we think of the grotesque grandeur of Leni Riefenstahl's films celebrating the Third Reich — grand, but cold sweeping shots of soldiers goose-stepping and flags waving, all meant to inspire awe and terror. But the reality is, even in Nazi Germany, the majority of movies approved by the Nazi minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, were escapist and feather-light, with a Hallmark movie-style emphasis on the importance of "normality."”

Once you think about this, it’s true.

[Anonymous]

Oh, FFS. Salon never makes "excellent points." They are there to incite controversy.

My bet is that 95% of the people reading this board have never watched the Hallmark channel or any of the movies.

[Anonymous]

This is just another attack on escapism. It's fluff. Yes, that's correct. And it's fine. Really.

[Anonymous]

Who watches that garbage?

[Anonymous]

It’s definitely Christian

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is just another attack on escapism. It's fluff. Yes, that's correct. And it's fine. Really.

+1,000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is just another attack on escapism. It's fluff. Yes, that's correct. And it's fine. Really.

+1,000

Stupid articles like this are a result of constant content.
They gotta churn out something, so they dump more crap into the world.
Bums me out.
Maybe I’ll watch a hallmark movie to cheer me up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is just another attack on escapism. It's fluff. Yes, that's correct. And it's fine. Really.

Is it, though? We have an adult population that escapes nightly and never seems to fully engage with the world. That’s not escapism, that’s falling into a pleasant abyss wherein we avoid the real world.

The Machine Stops feels like a relevant story.

[Anonymous]

And puppies and babies are fascist propaganda. Down with happiness which is an illusion created by the patriachical society! Wear a size too small shoes and feeeel ALIVE.

[Anonymous]

Misery ROCKS!

[Anonymous]

This coming on the heels of the shakeup in the Romance Writers Association over accusations of racism by a demi-Chinese writer is a bit much. I may have to take to my bed with the vapors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s definitely Christian

It’s kinda difficult doing Christmas movies with a Zoroastrian theme.

[Anonymous]

Salon specializes in bloviating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This coming on the heels of the shakeup in the Romance Writers Association over accusations of racism by a demi-Chinese writer is a bit much. I may have to take to my bed with the vapors.

There is a Romance Writers Association? So. Many. Questions.