TV and Movies

[sunshine 919]

Has anyone else noticed the lack of diversity on the hallmark movies, love stories, Christmas stories.  I rarely see any minorities.  Are there any love stories with older people.  Never see interracial couples.  Am I missing something?  I have seen some good movies on Lifetime here and there but when I turn to Hallmark it seems to be the same thing even the same people. 

[onliner]

I agree that there seems to be a lack of diversity.  I did notice that Holly Robinson Peete is going to appear in a upcoming holiday movie on Hallmark.  I hope this will signify the beginning of change.

[stevieb]

Media, overall, is quite diverse, perhaps even more so than population percentages alone would strictly indicate. That Hallmark might not reflect a great deal of diversity probably is attributed to them marketing to their niche audience, who seem to enjoy their rather traditional, squeaky clean and homogenized offerings. I find for the most part their programming is redundant, predictable, somewhat tedious and certainly overexposes the same group of actors, but so be it. Cable, the networks and other media providers offer so many options, some offering programming exclusive to certain ethnic groups where diversity is certainly not much of a factor, that there's really every opportunity to pick and choose programming that meets one's individual interests and preferences.

[sunshine 919]

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@stevieb wrote:

Media, overall, is quite diverse, perhaps even more so than population percentages alone would strictly indicate. That Hallmark might not reflect a great deal of diversity probably is attributed to them marketing to their niche audience, who seem to enjoy their rather traditional, squeaky clean and homogenized offerings. I find for the most part their programming is redundant, predictable, somewhat tedious and certainly overexposes the same group of actors, but so be it. Cable, the networks and other media providers offer so many options, some offering programming exclusive to certain ethnic groups where diversity is certainly not much of a factor, that there's really every opportunity to pick and choose programming that meets one's individual interests and preferences.

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I do understand what you are saying.  But when they are talking about love stories I do feel everyone should be represented.  Thats all.  Hallmark has been around for awhile and I just feel they should be a little diverse with the movies.   Thats all just my opinion.  I feel in the 70's there were more diverse programming thanks to Norman Lear but it seems it is kind of backwards now.  I do not feel that you should have to turn to a certain channel to see peopl of color.  I enjoy many shows that have no diversity that I enjoy very much.  I just wanted to hear other opinions.   

[walkingal]

I would think Hallmark knows its audience, and knows the people who buy and shop at the Hallmark stores and online.  The Hallmark channels are very popular, and its viewing audience has grown.  Good news for people who still enjoy wholesome clean entertainmanet.  If it's not for you, if you're looking for other things, there are all kinds of other channels and networks to choose from.  

[stevieb]

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@sunshine 919 wrote:

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@stevieb wrote:

Media, overall, is quite diverse, perhaps even more so than population percentages alone would strictly indicate. That Hallmark might not reflect a great deal of diversity probably is attributed to them marketing to their niche audience, who seem to enjoy their rather traditional, squeaky clean and homogenized offerings. I find for the most part their programming is redundant, predictable, somewhat tedious and certainly overexposes the same group of actors, but so be it. Cable, the networks and other media providers offer so many options, some offering programming exclusive to certain ethnic groups where diversity is certainly not much of a factor, that there's really every opportunity to pick and choose programming that meets one's individual interests and preferences.

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I do understand what you are saying.  But when they are talking about love stories I do feel everyone should be represented.  Thats all.  Hallmark has been around for awhile and I just feel they should be a little diverse with the movies.   Thats all just my opinion.  I feel in the 70's there were more diverse programming thanks to Norman Lear but it seems it is kind of backwards now.  I do not feel that you should have to turn to a certain channel to see peopl of color.  I enjoy many shows that have no diversity that I enjoy very much.  I just wanted to hear other opinions.   

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Understood and it goes without saying we're all allowed our opinions and perspectives. That said, I'll have to disagree on the need to go to any specific channel to see persons of color. My take is that casts of many shows are pretty diverse and there are any number of casts that are largely comprised of people of various ethnicities without the need to tune into any specific network. I get, though, that the focus here is on Hallmark. 

[chrystaltree]

It's why I rarely watch those movies, seems so bizarre.  Lilly white worlds.  Sometimes there's the black friend who says three words in the first scene and 4 words at the end but is never part of the storyline.  But I did read something somewhere about them adding more diversity next season.  

[Tique]

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@walkingal wrote:

I would think Hallmark knows its audience, and knows the people who buy and shop at the Hallmark stores and online.  The Hallmark channels are very popular, and its viewing audience has grown.  Good news for people who still enjoy wholesome clean entertainmanet.  If it's not for you, if you're looking for other things, there are all kinds of other channels and networks to choose from.  

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@walkingal   Wow! Are you saying that adding some diversity would change the "wholesome clean entertainment"? Wow!!

[chrystaltree]

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@Tique wrote:

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@walkingal wrote:

I would think Hallmark knows its audience, and knows the people who buy and shop at the Hallmark stores and online.  The Hallmark channels are very popular, and its viewing audience has grown.  Good news for people who still enjoy wholesome clean entertainmanet.  If it's not for you, if you're looking for other things, there are all kinds of other channels and networks to choose from.  

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@walkingal   Wow! Are you saying that adding some diversity would change the "wholesome clean entertainment"? Wow!!

Either that or she thinks there should be separate but equal channels in television.  

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[Judaline]

It's a squeaky clean, wholesome, old fashioned channel. Norman Rockwell kind of thing. You like it or you don't. It is what it is as my GF used to say. I don't want it to change-well, maybe do a commercial every 1/2 hour instead of every 15 minutes. There are 2 channels, right? The movies and the just plain 'story' channel. Some of the movies are murders and they're very good.