Go Ahead—Call Me Corny

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Last night I snuggled in and turned on the television, which is something I don’t normally do. I don’t watch a lot of TV, but during the months of November and December, I tell my husband to clear some room on the DVR because I record every Hallmark movie so I can watch them from the time the semester ends until Christmas. This is when I get to be “ruler of the television,” as I watch Christmas movie after Christmas movie and feel the holiday spirit. It’s a lovely part of the down time I get with my family, and I love it. I won’t apologize for being annoyingly corny at this time of the year.

The formula for Hallmark movies is pretty much the same, although this year the channel has forged ahead into our technological age with actors in our Countdown to Christmas flicks text messaging and talking about Twitter and Facebook within the context of the films. We’ve advanced, and while the plots are still predictable, guess what? That’s what I want. I want predictable. I want happy. I want a spiritual and meaningful message delivered in each movie. And I want everyone to live happily ever after. It is Christmastime, after all, when we should focus on the good in all of us.

And it isn’t just Hallmark movies I take the time to indulge in year after year after year. You already know from an earlier post how much I love Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and I’ll pretty much watch any version of it, although I would readily admit that Albert Finney is without a doubt my favorite Scrooge of all time. I love the music, the sets, and the acting in that particular version, and if you haven’t watched this musical version of Scrooge, you’re in for a treat because the original Obi Wan Kanobi, Sir Alec Guinness, plays Marley. (See how I’m doing my part to keep up with the Star Wars hype?)

Then, of course, there are more modern films like It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, and The Holiday that top my “must watch” list of favorite Christmas films. And New Year’s Eve just isn’t the same for my husband and me without watching When Harry Met Sally.

I love you, Hallmark Channel. I love that I can turn on the telly and watch something wholesome and sweet and lovely with my kids. I love that the word Christmas is still uttered in the movies and that the joy of the season is spread to those people who openly admit, and are not afraid to accept the fact that, they are a little bit corny.

Iris, played by Kate Winslet, relays these sentiments exactly in The Holiday. “I like corny,” she says. “I’m looking for corny in my life.”

My sentiments exactly, Iris. Bring on corny.