Christmas is over, the weather is nasty, and I’m feeling lazy. As a result I’ve watched a lot of television lately. My primary impression from my binge is that network television has nothing to offer. I’ve even taken to watching sports!

 My programs of choice are CBC news, Knowledge network and PBS. Makes me wonder why I’m paying for cable. My secondary choices are movies, and that leads me to today’s topic.

I like romance. Romantic movies that make me laugh or cry feel like time well-spent. The old ones with Hepburn and Tracy, Rock Hudson and Doris Day, or Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant are guaranteed to lift my mood. I don’t care that the war-between-the-sexes is old hat, or that modern women aren’t nearly so concerned about their virtue as their counterparts in the movies of the fifties and sixties. The films are entertaining. I can suspend disbelief for an hour or two and just enjoy.

The newer movies,( they don’t seem to have a romantic pairing like Hudson and Day) are more problematic. (I’m speaking here of the made for TV versions, not the block-busters playing at a theatre near you.)

In these films, the characters seem plastic. Their teeth are too white. They are too good to be true and they are so politically correct they come across as insipid. Sometimes I’ve recognized the story from a book I read and enjoyed, yet when I see it on the screen, I’m embarrassed for the “romance” community. So what happened between the page and the screen?

Part of it might be the casting. The actors chosen are very photogenic, but seem to have no personality. The fictional towns that are so appealing in the written word, feel like Hollywood sets in the movies. The storylines are the same ones used in the books, but on paper, the conflict feels significant. On the screen, it feels contrived.

So, sorry Hallmark, I’m going to look out the old classics when I want to watch a romance and skip your bland offerings.

Have I offended anyone? I’d love to hear a spirited defence of a made-for-TV romance movie. Tell me your favourite. I’m open to changing my mind if the evidence is there.

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