The Hallmark Channel is a throwback to an age when Hollywood produced family-friendly films and love stories that did not involve leather and whips.
The network has earned millions of loyal fans for
broadcasting movies that promote the virtues of faith and family --
stories that tug at your heartstrings.“We are a place you can go and feel good,” Bill Abbott, the chief executive of Crown Media, told the Washington Post.
“We intentionally branded ourselves as the happy place. Abbott said. “Hallmark’s tagline is ‘the heart of TV.’”Would Slate be just as indignant about the ethnic casting habits of BET or Univision or the LGBT-friendly Bravo television network?
And viewership has skyrocketed since President Trump promised to make America great again – making Hallmark one of the most-watched cable television networks in the nation.
For the sake of full disclosure, I’m a fan of “When Calls The Heart,” produced by my good friend, Brian Bird. It’s a great place to escape from the unhinged rantings of Rachel Maddow and Don Lemon.
But it turns out not everyone is a fan of Hallmark. Click here to watch my Fox Radio commentary on this issue.
Slate published a scathing review of the network -- complaining about its around-the-clock Christmas movies.
"They brim with white heterosexuals who exclusively, emphatically, and endlessly bellow “Merry Christmas” to every lumberjack and labradoodle they pass. They’re centered on beauty-pageant heroines and strong-jawed heroes with white-nationalist haircuts," the Slate writer declared.
There were complaints about the lack of gay people and feminists and Muslims in Hallmark Channel's movies.
Slate also whined about what it called the network's "42 hours of sugary, sexist, preposterously plotted, plot hole–festooned, belligerently traditional, ecstatically Caucasian cheer."
It’s true that most of the stars in Hallmark’s Christmas movies have a fair complexion – but to say it’s a holiday white-out would be inaccurate.
Would Slate be just as indignant about the ethnic casting habits of BET or Univision or the LGBT-friendly Bravo television network?
"The Christmas-down-your-throat bombast, holly-jolly sexism, the characters’ zaniness and unyielding impulsiveness—it’s all very Trumpian behavior," the Slate writer said.
I say better that than the run-of-the mill pornographic debauchery that normally spews out of Hollywood.
Fortunately, for the folks over at Slate there is a perfect solution to their television viewing dilemma – just change the channel.
As for me and my house, we’re going to put an extra log on the fire, pour a cup of hot cocoa and enjoy a very Hallmark Christmas.
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary. His latest book is “The Deplorables’ Guide to Making America Great Again.” Follow him on Twitter @ToddStarnes and find him on Facebook.
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