For decades, holiday movies have reinforced the same ropes and romantic themes that have been amazing for the genre. Not to say that mistletoe is a neatly set, serendipitous run-in or a bad secret royalty in any way, but these stories have also failed to find more diverse narratives for love – ones that are outside the white, heteronormative bubbles that many viewers have recently achieved have become old-fashioned and incongruous.
In the last few years, and especially during the unprecedented period that has been in 2020, holiday movie scripts have finally shifted these tight and narrow directions. to usher in a new era of inclusion in the gender.
“People see themselves in our programming and they are welcome here,” Amy Winter, head of programming for Lifetime and Lifetime Movie Network, recently told NPR. “We have over 20 diverse directors and over 80 diverse character in this premiere season. So, we are doing well. “
These films, in which the warm love stories between color characters, LGBTQ + characters and physically handicapped characters just don’t mark a movement in Hollywood, however; they provide meaningful representation to a wider set of viewers, showing that holiday love and magic come in all forms. Last month, Hallmark reported on “The Christmas House,” their first holiday film starring a gay protagonist, and live biographers Ben Lewis and Blake Lee gave their lives for the first program their LGBTQ + holidays, “The Christmas Setup. ”
“This is a big deal,” Joanna Wilson, author of several holiday books, told the New York Times. “The people of Queer have been leaders and co-workers and sisters are the main characters. Being a major romance is exciting and it doesn’t come too soon. ”
Here are seven diverse festival flicks worth checking out:
1. “Christmas Wedding in New York”
Among the many LGBTQ + holiday films released this year, we were particularly pleased to see Netflix ” A New York Christmas Wedding ‘for the first time. Actress Nia Fairweather stands out from the crowd as the only new holiday feature featuring an ethnically diverse core team. Following up to her wedding, an angel visits Fairweather’s character to show her what her life would have been like if she had continued her romantic feelings for Gabrielle’s childhood friend, played by Adriana DeMeo.
2. “Happy season”
This “coming out” rom-com starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis broke Hulu streaming records after first appearing over Thanksgiving weekend, becoming the most-watched film the streaming website at the opening week. In the “happiest season” Stuart plays a lesbian woman named Abby, who goes to the family home of his girlfriend, Riley, for the holidays with the intention of dating. In typical rom-com fashion, not everything goes according to plan.
3. “Sugar & Spice Holidays”
“A Sugar & Spice Holiday” is Lifetime ‘s first holiday film featuring a major Asian American film, and it’ s time. The film, submitted to Lifetime by Asian-American screenwriter Eirene Donohue, features rising architect Suzy who returns to her hometown for Christmas. Suzy is persuaded to return to her baking skills for a local bakery competition and ends up being supported by her high school crush.
The story is very familiar with holiday movies, but scenes that involve the whole family eating with chopsticks or seeing the main character respond snide “I didn’t know if Christmas is pretty much where you’re from, ”provides a nuanced cultural representation.
4. “Christmas ever after”
To continue the superlatives, Lifetime has also released their first ever film with a disabled actor. In the romance novel “Christmas Ever After” Izzi travels to a family lodge for Christmas, where she meets a man who resembles the dreamer on the cover of her books. Izzi ‘s lead role is played by Ali Stroker, who broke barriers last year after becoming the first actor in a wheelchair to win a Tony Award for his role in the Broadway revival of Oklahoma ! ”
5. “Carol”
Despite being a slightly older film, the romantic drama “Carol” released in 2015 still deserves to make this list for its more intriguing representation of LGBTQ + forbidden holiday romance. . In the film, Cate Blanchett’s character Carol meets a younger woman and Therese’s sales clerk, played by Rooney Mara. The passionate relationship that begins between the two women realizes the challenges faced by lesbian women in times of prejudice and discrimination.
6. “The Christmas House”
Hallmark’s first LGBTQ + holiday tour, ‘The Christmas House’ features “Mean Girls” actors Jonathan Bennett and Brad Harder. The new film represents an important move for Hallmark – a network that caught fire last holiday season for drawing a series of Zola commercials featuring same-sex couples from the air. Now, they have finally released their first film featuring two gay male directors, with a family-based story while the couple eagerly await a call for adoption. their first child.
7. “Feliz NaviDAD”
Mario Lopez and Melissa Joan Hart team up for “Feliz NaviDAD,” one of the few holiday films starring a Latinx protagonist. In the new Lifetime flick Lopez plays single father and high school principal David Morales, who gets a second chance at love when his daughter Noel signs him for a retrospective app.