The movies are so cookie cutter and predictable there is nothing that would change the plot of the movies if they were more diverse. I noticed that a person of color (Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latino/Mexican, etc.) can be the best friend, co-worker, etc. but they are rarely if ever cast as the main character in the movies. Unfortunately, supporting or background characters are generally the standard role.
There are a few exceptions with Jessica Parker Kennedy cast as one of the newlyweds in the Nearlyweds movie (2013). As well as Meghan Markle cast in When Sparks Fly (2014) and Dater's Handbook (2016) and Jessica Szohr in Lucky in Love (2014) but something I've noticed is that when a person of color is cast as the lead it's someone whose appearance is perhaps racially ambiguous. I guess it's some progress that these amazing actresses were cast at all but it's not enough in regards to Hallmark's diversity problem especially since the company has two channels and has created hundreds if not thousands of movies.
And it's not only about racial diversity, what about someone who has a disability or someone who is LGBTQ+ leading a movie. I find it interesting that Hallmark doesn't have a problem hiring LGBTQ+ actors because in the Christmas movie Naughty or Nice, Meredith Baxter and Matt Dallas were cast but so far there has been no movies with someone as the main character.
Falling in love, dealing with family drama or solving mysteries shouldn't be only showcased by white, heterosexuality and ableism. Not to mention there is also religious diversity, not everyone is Christian.
It's so frustrating because Hallmark will recast or rotate actors instead of casting someone new for a lead role. Why is Hallmark so afraid of diversity for their movies? It's a shame because the theme for their movies is universal and diversity and inclusion should be something celebrated with the movies reflecting that.
3 comments:
Your observation about the lack of diversity is an observation I have also made. It is difficult not to notice and for me detracts to our societal needs today
Thank you for leaving a comment. Since I wrote this post last year, I noticed that Hallmark is slowly making changes such as with Holly Robinson Peete starring in the Morning Show Mystery movie series and they will be introducing a few diverse Christmas movies that will air this year. Hopefully, Hallmark will be making a bigger effort to include more diversity but I guess it's a start.
I too have chosen to stop watching Hallmark Channel due to it’s blatant lack of diversity. I used to enjoy the fluffy stories they’d show just as an escape, but, being an Asian woman married to a Caucasian man, I got tired of never seeing a lead that I could relate to in their stories. I keep reading bits here and there that the heads of Hallmark programming are aware of their problem, but clearly they don’t appear to care because perhaps they cannot relate to anything other than White upper class life. I also quit watching the show Home & Family for this very same reason. Although they have Ken Wyngard, who is black and gay, who does many of their segments... everyone else is basically white, skinny and young...most likely under 55....so they lack in age diversity too!
Thank you for putting your blog out there. We need more attention called to these obvious issues.
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