I loved seeing Ann-Margret and Eve Plumb, Loved the vintage costumes and sets, loved seeing the Rockettes, and the story being set in 1957. I even liked the story of a rich girl escaping from her pampered life and following her heart while learning to live outside the ivory tower.
It is a story of following one's dreams, standing on one's own feet, and the power of friendship. It is not the story of what life was really like in the 1950s for non-white people in New York City. In a right-minded effort to correct their past lack of diversity in their movies, I feel, with this one, Hallmark has done a disservice to their viewership and to the truth of the African American experience. It shows an integrated dance troupe with a black dancer who is even promoted over the other girls at the end. In truth, the Rockettes did not have even one non-white dancer until 1985. And she was Japanese. It wasn't until 1987 that a black dancer was famously accepted. As much as I appreciate Hallmark's efforts at inclusion, falsifying history is just wrong and harmful. And I don't think you can just gloss over this situation by glibly proclaiming "It's the Hallmark Channel, not the History Channel!!!". There's a quote about being doomed to repeat history that might apply here. Not to belabor a point, but something similar happened in 2016's A Journey Back to Christmas. In that one, a nurse fresh from segregated 1945 is transported to 2016 and is treated and questioned by a black doctor and interrogated by a black Chief of Police. No incredulity, nor even a blink on her part. What a lost opportunity for a short but dramatic (or comedic!) history lesson! And it would have taken all of 10 seconds and a line or two. Not sure how I would have fixed this one, but even an expository paragraph at the beginning or end about the truth of the matter would have gone a long way toward remedying the problem while still giving a talented black actress a job.
It is a story of following one's dreams, standing on one's own feet, and the power of friendship. It is not the story of what life was really like in the 1950s for non-white people in New York City. In a right-minded effort to correct their past lack of diversity in their movies, I feel, with this one, Hallmark has done a disservice to their viewership and to the truth of the African American experience. It shows an integrated dance troupe with a black dancer who is even promoted over the other girls at the end. In truth, the Rockettes did not have even one non-white dancer until 1985. And she was Japanese. It wasn't until 1987 that a black dancer was famously accepted. As much as I appreciate Hallmark's efforts at inclusion, falsifying history is just wrong and harmful. And I don't think you can just gloss over this situation by glibly proclaiming "It's the Hallmark Channel, not the History Channel!!!". There's a quote about being doomed to repeat history that might apply here. Not to belabor a point, but something similar happened in 2016's A Journey Back to Christmas. In that one, a nurse fresh from segregated 1945 is transported to 2016 and is treated and questioned by a black doctor and interrogated by a black Chief of Police. No incredulity, nor even a blink on her part. What a lost opportunity for a short but dramatic (or comedic!) history lesson! And it would have taken all of 10 seconds and a line or two. Not sure how I would have fixed this one, but even an expository paragraph at the beginning or end about the truth of the matter would have gone a long way toward remedying the problem while still giving a talented black actress a job.