As these gay-themed Hallmark Christmas movies become an annual event I find myself increasingly bewildered by the phenomenon. And not a little conflicted. First there's the question of the intended audience. It is quite categorically not gay men, which might be the first assumption of the unsuspecting. No, no, no, the core audience for these movies is straight women. Presumably the same straight women who are now devoted readers of the burgeoning genre of "M/M novels" - soft-core gay romances written exclusively for a female audience. That's right: there are large numbers of women who get off on romance (with only a hint of sex) between men. In fact, they can't get enough of it. The problem with these M/M novels - and with these gay Christmas movies - is that it's gay romance stripped of anything confrontingly gay. It's all gentle pining, thwarted passion, smouldering looks and, in the final moments, one mildly passionate kiss (two if you're lucky - but no tongue!). There's never anything sexual. In the books the writer will typically cut to the waves crashing on the shore. In the TV movies: nothing. There's also nothing about the lives of these gay characters that even vaguely resembles the lives of real gay men. In The Holiday Sitter the theme is family, with Jason so obsessed with family and children that he's planning to become a single father via adoption, while Sam is so traumatised by divorce that he's avoiding family and planning on Christmas in Hawaii - alone. Yes, alone. Not even the hint of a gay friend or the prospect of trawling Honolulu bars for a bit of fun. In short, this is family values propaganda that, if it weren't for the gay characters, would win the approval of any extreme right christian ministry. So the notion that these movies are "progressive" and offer positive gay images is questionable, to say the least. Apparently, all gay men must now aspire to marriage, two kids and suburbia. It's like gay lib merely transported us all back to the 1950s. Needless to say, in The Holiday Sitter Sam falls for Jason, realises how empty his (gay) life has been and signs on for kids and the suburbs. While Jonathan Bennett has previously been charming in some of these creaky pieces of agit prop, his performance here (as Sam) is mannered and cheesy. It's a good thing that George Krissi (as Jason) is almost sexy and charming enough to make up for him. I'm sure the ladies who lap this stuff up will be moist with appreciation. Meanwhile, I'm waiting to see if they'll ever make a gay Christmas romance that actual gays might watch without wincing and cringing at how the straights have re-packaged us for their own entertainment.
Review of The Holiday Sitter
