The push for more diverse voices in film and tv has impacted practically every production company, even those who have remained committed to family values. The Hallmark Channel has faced its reckoning, with the recent backlash on removing a same-sex marriage ad sparking a new commitment to more diverse stories. Though the trend in the company’s movie cast and crew diversity is unremarkable among its most popular movies over time, a few films demonstrate that this is a promise they are willing to keep. Whether in religion, race, sexual orientation, or disability, movie production companies like The Hallmark Channel have made an effort to include new faces on their screens and backgrounds. The only question is whether this will continue- and whether these films will have a future in popularity and acclaim.
What Is the Diversity and Inclusion Criteria?
The films were selected from the combined lists from Insider and The Peak’s articles surrounding recent inclusive Hallmark and Lifetime movies (linked below). The IMDB score for the Hallmark films was used to rank the movies, with a film chosen for each intersection of diversity (race, religion, sexual orientation, and disability). In terms of race, various films were chosen according to different representations of race (i.e., POC lead/relationships, interracial relationships).
The diversity statistics of the selected films were analyzed, primarily in terms of the distribution of film leadership roles. The cast/crew roles included in the data analyses include director, writer, lead actors, producers, and executive producers. The data was also formatted into the racial categories of White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Middle Eastern, and the gender categories of Male and Female. This was all sorted into two separate pie charts for the movie.
How Diverse and Inclusive is Love, Lights, Hanukkah! (2020)?
Love, Lights, Hanukkah! (2020)follows a woman who finds a new family and a new romance waiting for her, after discovering that she’s Jewish. Though the film did not have a critics or audience rating on its Rotten Tomatoes page, it had a 6.9 out of 10 stars audience rating on its IMDb page. Within its leadership, 100% of the cast/crew roles of the film were occupied by White members. In its gender diversity, 33% of the cast/crew comprises female members, with a remaining 67% of male members.
How Diverse and Inclusive Is The Christmas Ring (2020)?
A reporter follows the story behind an antique engagement ring with the help of one of its owner’s descendants in The Christmas Ring (2020). Though the film did not have a critic or audience rating on its Rotten Tomatoes page, it had a 6.5 out of 10 stars audience rating on its IMDb page. Within its leadership, 17% of the cast/crew roles of the film were occupied by Asian members, and White members occupied 83%. In its gender diversity, 33% of the cast/crew comprises female members, with a remaining 67% of male members.
How Diverse and Inclusive Is The Christmas Doctor (2020)?
The Christmas Doctor (2020) brings life-changing news to a doctor who had forgotten her past. Though the film did not have a critic or audience rating on its Rotten Tomatoes page, it had a 7.0 out of 10 stars audience rating on its IMDb page. Within its leadership, 36% of the cast/crew roles of the film were occupied by Black members, and White members occupied 64%. In its gender diversity, 36% of the cast/crew comprises female members, with a remaining 64% of male members.
How Diverse and Inclusive Is Jingle Bell Bride (2020)?
Jingle Bell Bride (2020) has the typical big-city wedding planner fall for the small-city local she meets on a work-related Alaska trip. Though the film did not have a critic or audience rating on its Rotten Tomatoes page, it had a 6.2 out of 10 stars audience rating on its IMDb page. Within its leadership, 14% of the cast/crew roles of the film were occupied by Hispanic members, Black members occupied 14%, Middle Eastern members occupied 14%, and 58% were occupied by White members. In its gender diversity, 43% of the cast/crew comprises female members, with a remaining 57% of male members.
How Diverse and Inclusive Is The Christmas House (2020)?
Though The Christmas House (2020) centers on two sons’ return home, various lives are interwoven within the story at large. Though the film did not have a critics or audience rating on its Rotten Tomatoes page, it had a 6.1 out of 10 stars audience rating on its IMDb page. Within its leadership, 13% of the cast/crew roles of the film were occupied by Hispanic members, Middle Eastern members occupied 13%, and White members occupied 74%. In its gender diversity, 38% of the cast/crew comprises female members, with a remaining 62% of male members.
How Diverse and Inclusive Is Christmas Ever After (2020)?
Christmas Ever After (2020) is the Lifetime movie that outdoes Hallmark in one way: it is the first TV holiday romance film to depict a disabled protagonist. In it, a romance novelist falls for the man that looks like he came straight out of her books. Though the film did not have a Rotten Tomatoes page, it had a 6.2 out of 10 stars audience rating on its IMDb page. Within its leadership, 100% of cast/crew roles were occupied by White members. In its gender diversity, 42% of the cast/crew comprises female members, with a remaining 58% of male members.
What Can We Conclude?
Overall, it appears that these more diverse films have a lower rating than all other Hallmark and Lifestyle movies – their ratings all hover around 6-7 stars out of 10. But directly compared to the others, there doesn’t seem to be much difference: Hallmark’s Crown for Christmas has a 6.9/10 stars rating, while A Timeless Christmas has a 7.2/10 stars rating. It doesn’t seem significant enough to warrant a deeper look at unpopularity among Hallmark viewers. However, that may be due to their older audience age range and the positive feedback these films receive from younger, more inclusive viewers. Besides their ratings, it is important to note one other trend within these films: they were all released in 2020.
While this year was fraught with conflict, with civil rights movements such as Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate responding to police brutality and an increase in hate crimes due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 was also just the most recent year in a long fight for greater inclusion in every aspect of the word, including film and tv. Though, as mentioned before, The Hallmark Channel depends on a more conservative audience, it too must keep up with the changing times. Increasing its diversity in its casts/crews, introduces more individuals into its audience, expanding just as media production companies seek to do.
So while these more diverse Hallmark and Lifestyle films deserve recognition and support (especially since they number only a few and are the first of their kind), it is just another step forward that everyone was forced to take, whether or not they liked it.
Conclusion
As shown through religion, race, sexual orientation, and disability, diversity is now becoming a requirement for various tv and film production companies. The Hallmark Channel makes no exception, with films that center on the stories of Jewish ancestry, Black and gay couples, and wheelchair-bound love interests heading their new wave of cheesy holiday movies. While this move is to be applauded, this trend is only necessary to keep up with the demands of a more conscious audience that prioritizes inclusivity in what it watches, even if it does involve another city girl and country boy.
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