In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the head of Great American Media says the network has no specific plan to exclude same-sex story lines from the movies it produces.
“It’s certainly the year 2022, so we’re aware of the trends,” said Bill Abbott. “There’s no whiteboard that says, ‘Yes, this’ or ‘No, we’ll never go here.’”
For now, Great American Family movies feature heterosexual romantic story lines, often with romance coming in a distant second to spiritual and personal growth.
In her new movie for Great American Family, Candace Cameron Bure says she is trying to get away from some of the tropes that have come to define Christmas rom-coms.
“My own kids have said, ‘Mom, are you leaving the big city and going to the farm, meeting the love of your life?’” Bure said. “Those are all fun things that we love, but we see over and over and over.
Great American Media
In recent years, Hallmark has made a push to include same-sex couples in some of its movies and television shows. Both The Christmas House and The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls featured a same sex couple played by Jonathan Bennett and Brad Harder. In the series finale of the popular show Good Witch, one of the show’s main characters shared a same-sex kiss with a new love interest.
Hallmark executives have said they want all audiences to feel represented in their programming.
While some fans have welcomed the changes, others have accused the company of going “woke for profit.”
Change of focus
The focus of the story in Bure’s new film for the network, A Christmas…Present, is the main character’s spiritual reawakening. Bure plays Maggie, a married mother of two who goes to visit her recently widowed brother, Paul. Though she is expecting to find Paul grief-stricken and depressed, she finds he has coped well with the loss because of his Christian faith. Maggie comes away from the experience with a renewed love of God and an appreciation for her many blessings.
While not all of the movies will have such a religious focus, many will include messages of faith, hope, and family.
“Spiritual or faith-based content is grossly underserved,” Abbott said in an interview, a sentiment echoed by Bure.
“My heart wants to tell stories that have more meaning and purpose and depth behind them,” Bure said.
Bure’s first film for Great American Family, A Christmas…Present, will premiere on Sunday, November 27 at 8/7c.