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Hallmarks

Vlada Gudzenko
WUIS/Illinois Issues

 

This past holiday season, my mom became infatuated with Hallmark movies. Since she hogged the television, I decided to sit down and see what she saw in them. Soon enough, I noticed that each Hallmark movie followed a formula with no deviation. Each movie included a relationship that started with the first meeting, moved on to the first date, the revelation of strong feelings, a large conflict, and finally, an engagement or wedding. My dad, who always fell asleep during the movies, could even guess the plot of each movie by glancing at the Hallmark emblem in the bottom right corner of the screen. This repetitiveness drills a single idea into the heads of many women. This idea is that one can strive for perfection in relationships and life and achieve it.

Every girl wants a fairytale relationship, but is it wise to publicly broadcast a whole channel dedicated to presenting grown women who find their Prince Charming? As a girl myself, I fantasize about the perfect relationship, but that isn’t what I really want. What I truly want is a relationship full of mistakes and imperfections. These things are what make a relationship worthwhile. They make memories and funny stories to share with family and friends.

We shouldn't lead a life of perfection because we aren’t dolls like Barbie and Ken.

 We shouldn’t lead a life of perfection because we aren’t dolls like Barbie and Ken. These two are immovable and unchanging. They are not able to enjoy the small things in life such as child birth and growing old together. They are stuck in the ideal time where almost everything is still perfect, including youth and looks. What’s the point in leading a life purely focused on the shallow things? Just as these dolls taint a child’s perception of beauty and perfection, Hallmark movies taint the minds of adult women of relationships and love.

Women don’t need a fairytale life. Creating movies, books, and toys to personify perfection is what’s degrading the people of society. People will become immersed in materialistic and shallow things if they are not introduced to the real world. Take it from me: I have sat on the couch and consumed tubs of ice cream, yearning for the fake relationships that I see within Hallmark movies.

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What we all must remember is that no one is perfect. The pressures of being perfect are too demanding on a person. You cannot live, love, and laugh perfectly, so stop trying. Embrace the quirks that make you less perfect. I sing off key and laugh too much, but this I believe: throw away the Hallmark ideas of life and love and live as imperfectly as you please.

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