Whether you hate them or love them, there is no denying the enduring popularity of Hallmark-style Christmas movies. No other genre is able to pull off such similar plots, oddly specific festivals, and character tropes quite like the romantic holiday specials that inundate our screens every winter. Their appeal is not realism or plausibility but in portraying the very real desires that the American public is struggling to fulfill: connection, meaning, and hope.
Romantic relationships are the star of the show, but they are closely followed by the portrayal of family. Many of the stories begin with the protagonists going home for the holidays, often after a protracted period of time away, to reunite with their loving, close-knit families. Yet, in real life, family estrangement is more common than you might think.
Research from Cornell University’s Family Estrangement and Reconciliation Project found that 27% of American adults are estranged from close family members — nearly a third of American adults, which is troubling. In the world of Hallmark, families are safe, aside from a degree of pushiness to date that leads to faked relationships and even kidnapping.
Whether familial, romantic, or platonic, we all want healthy relationships with loved ones. According to the Pew Research Center, 61% of adults view close friendships as essential for a fulfilling life. Relationships can also improve physical health. In 1938, Harvard started one of the longest-running studies on happiness. Through the years, the study found that positive relationships were a key factor in living longer, more important even than genetics.
Good relationships bring more than emotional fulfillment, and the need for human connection permeates all kinds of relationships, even those between strangers. According to a 2022 study, regular interaction with a range of people, from those you do not know to the best of friends, is a unique predictor of greater happiness. Christmas movies excel at portraying the positive side of these encounters in small towns with friendly neighbors, mysterious strangers who may or may not be Santa in disguise, and the magic of unexpected connections.
While leaving a big city marketing job to save a struggling Christmas tree farm is a trope, it reflects a common disconnect between our jobs and our lives. In 2012, 72% of American and Canadian employees cited being either “actively disengaged” or “not engaged” in their jobs. By 2023, the situation had improved a bit, with 51% of Americans claiming to be highly satisfied with their jobs in terms of relationships with their coworkers (but not in terms of compensation).
When purpose and work are united, people report better health, more resilience, and more productivity. The switch from a corporate career to a small business may not be the wisest financial decision, but it reminds viewers to be intentional about choosing a job for a paycheck and to find meaning outside of work or a career that aligns with their own sense of purpose.
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Human connection and meaning aside, hope is the third gift of Christmas movies. Anxiety is on the rise, with 43% of American adults more anxious than they were a year before. We are far more pessimistic about moral standards, education, and the institutions of marriage and family in the United States’s future than we are optimistic. We cannot predict the future of our own country as surely as we know the happy ending of a Christmas movie. The temporary shutting down of the annual Christmas festival in the town of Mistletoe is less concerning than the possibility of global war, but these movies highlight the beauty of people coming together, healing from past hurts, and a vision of a better reality.
The holiday season offers an alternative to the biting cynicism and justifiable anxiety about the future of American society. It is the chance to dwell on what could be: loving families, tight-knit communities, work-life balance, a meaningful career, and peace. Hallmark and Hallmark-esque movies are not known for portraying rational or realistic decisions, but they can still remind us of the people we love, activities worth doing, and a future worth having.
Rebecca Richards is the director of the Fund for Academic Renewal, the philanthropic advisory service of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.