Overview

Originally known as a brand for greeting cards, Hallmark has seen a surge in popularity since the early 2010s for its made-for-TV movies and television channels: the Hallmark Channel and its spinoffs, Hallmark Movie Channel (now Hallmark Movies & Mysteries) and Hallmark Drama. Hallmark's brand of comforting, often sentimental content includes standalone movies, period and contemporary television series, and mystery film series that center on strong, intuitive female leads. By creating reliable and consistent content, Hallmark, and by extension their owner Crown Media Family Values, offer people a calming retreat from the real world. This collection of essays strives to fill the void in academic attention surrounding Hallmark as there have been no significant scholarly articles or book-length studies on it. From the plethora of Christmas movies that are released each year to the successful faith-based scripted programming and popular cozy mysteries that air every week, there is a wealth of material to be explored. Specifically, this book explores the network's problematic relationship with race, the dominance of Christianity and heteronormativity, the significance placed on nostalgia, and the hiring and re-hiring of a group of women who thrived as child stars.

Full Product Details

Author:   Emily L. Newman ,  Emily Witsell
Publisher:   McFarland & Co Inc
Imprint:   McFarland & Co Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 0.90cm , Length: 22.90cm
ISBN:  

9781476678108

ISBN 10:   1476678103
Pages:   166
Publication Date:   30 June 2020
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock  
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Table of Contents

"Introduction The Search for the Nostalgic and Inoffensive ""Embrace the Community"": Hallmark Channel Movies and Childhood Nostalgia Popular Feminism and Female Television Stardom in Hallmark Original ­Made-for-Television Movies Faith and Religion v. Secular Morality: The Sanitization of Evangelical Christian Messaging on the Hallmark Channel Rags to Riches to Murder: Transforming the Cozy Mystery Through Class and Violence in the Garage Sale Mystery Films Hallmark's Trouble with Race (Scenery, Sass, Sidekicks and Sorcery: Hallmark's Tired) Caricatures of Blackness The ""White"" Christmas Problem: Analyzing Representations of Race in Hallmark Holiday Films Too White, Too Heterosexual, Too Christian but Still Watching: A Critical Analysis of Social Media Posts Surrounding Hallmark's Christmas Programming Television Programming Driven by Women Characters Hygge and Halloween Spirit in Hallmark's Good Witch Mothering: A Woman's Calling and Duty on When Calls the Heart Cedar Cove and the Spaces of Hallmark About the Contributors Bibliography Index"

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Author Information

Emily L. Newman is associate professor of art history at Texas A&M University–Commerce, specializing in contemporary art, popular culture, and gender studies. She lives in McKinney, Texas. Emily Witsell is research librarian and coordinator of reference and instruction at Wofford College. She lives in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

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