Can Hallmark get S.F. right? Big fat chance
When I learned that the Hallmark Channel would be debuting a holiday movie whose main characters work at The San Francisco Chronicle, I had two immediate reactions: First, a question — did The Chronicle know about this? (It turns out we did and green-lit the use of our name and logo.) And second — not even the ghost of San Francisco Yet to Come could keep me from weighing in.
Luckily, my colleagues Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight, hosts of The Chronicle’s “Total SF” podcast, had the same idea.
The three of us streamed “A Big Fat
Family Christmas” during a virtual watch party Dec. 4 and livetweeted our thoughts alongside readers and our Chronicle coworkers. As the official “Total SF” alternate host, I knew no matter how bad the movie was that the three of us would have a blast offering commentary and comparing the good, the bad and the “Changtastic” (more on that later).
The movie follows Liv (Shannon ChanKent), a Chronicle photojournalist working with Henry (Shannon Kook), the newest reporter on staff. In a huge ethical violation, Liv gets roped into covering the locally famous Chang family Christmas party hosted by her parents. What follows is a series of San Francisco improbabilities, problematic stereotypes and some of the worst journalism depicted on film since Clint Eastwood’s “Jewell.”
“When I reviewed films, my rule was: Don’t talk anybody out of the good time they’re having,” Peter reminded us. “But then as we were watching I thought, ‘Nah.’ ”
I’m pretty sure we didn’t spoil anyone’s experience. By Heather’s count, only one person tweeting along admitted to actually liking the movie.
Below are highlights from our discussion about “A Big Fat Family Christmas.” We all agreed: Tweeting along with readers was significantly more entertaining than the movie.
What worked
The movie was filmed mostly in Vancouver (like many made-for-TV offerings), but there are a few drone shots of San Francisco and a couple of real-life exteriors, including the cable car turnaround at Ghirar
delli Square, the Embarcadero and San Francisco Bay, as well as Old St. Mary’s Cathedral and Grant Avenue’s red lantern installations in Chinatown.
The three of us agreed that by far the best thing about the movie is a brief cameo by real-life San Francisco cable car gripman Val Lupiz.
“Val actually mentioned on our ‘Total SF: Ask a Cable Car Driver’ episode for Transit Month that he would be in the movie and described the scene,” Heather said. “But we didn’t know it was going to be this movie.”
In the scene, Lupiz throws Henry and Liv off the cable car and calls them “hooligans,” a fair assessment of the lead characters. (By the way, if you see cable car No. 19 out and about in its Chronicle holiday decor, take a selfie with it and tag @hknightsf and @peterhartlaub on Twitter for a chance to win a free #TotalSF T-shirt.)
In second place for our favorite thing about “A Big Fat Family Christmas” is this line by Henry, as he explained his decision to move to the Bay Area: “I mean, this is The San Francisco Chronicle, and that’s a big deal.”
Peter suggested the phrase might be suitable as the paper’s new masthead motto — or, at least as a phrase to embellish the back of the next Total SF T-shirt.
What didn’t work
There were a lot of lowlights, starting with the unbearable sexism of Liv’s family. For one, the Changs have zero interest in her career as a photojournalist.
“It was annoying that they were so much more interested in her party planning abilities, or lack thereof, and didn’t seem to be proud at all that she was a photographer for their major hometown newspaper,” Heather pointed out. “My family is really proud of me for my job. If they were only talking about my cooking responsibilities at Christmas, I’d be pretty pissed off.”
Twitter user @keystochina pointed out the overall portrayal of Liv’s Chinese-Filipino American family felt problematic.
“They threw everything Chinese / Asianish stereotype in a blender and then toss them out in front of an industrial fan,” they tweeted in response when I wondered about the family’s use of red Lunar New Year envelopes at Christmas.
Also an affront: Liv’s parents, played by Chinese Canadian actor Yee Jee Tso and ChineseFilipino American actress Tia Carrere, make “sweet potato dumplings with marshmallow soy sauce glaze.” When I asked Chronicle Food Editor Janelle Bitker, who is Chinese American, if this is really a thing, she responded, “I understand where they’re going with it, but also, I don’t especially want to eat it!” (Chronicle Senior Arts and Entertainment Editor Mariecar Mendoza, who is Filipino American, agrees. “Give me lumpia over those sweet dumplings any day!”)
There are also the San Francisco blunders, like Liv walking barefoot in Chinatown. Peter, Heather and I all want tetanus shots just from watching that scene.
Then when we saw Liv’s unrealistically spacious, contemporary San Francisco apartment, Peter asked: “Where’s the five or six roommates she’d need to rent a place that big?”
I also kept wondering where all the LGBTQ people were in this San Francisco-set movie. Given that actor Candace Cameron Bure left the Hallmark Channel for more “traditional” offerings at the Great American Family channel, I hoped at bare minimum for a sassy queer bestie or a drag performance in this film.
For the “Total SF” group, though, our biggest grievance was that it was clear that the Hallmark movie’s creative team obviously lack familiarity with the tenets of journalism. We weren’t expecting “All the President’s Men” or “Spotlight” when it came to the authenticity of the journalism in “A Big Fat Family Christmas,” but hoped for some basic accuracy.
Liv covering her own family’s Christmas party is a major conflict of interest. Why didn’t the editor in chief (played by Jack Wagner) immediately suspend her? And there’s no way a Christmas party is getting placement above the fold on the Chronicle front page — was there no other news happening in the Bay Area? Based on how little work Liv and Henry did throughout the movie (Liv is rarely seen with a camera on her), I guess it’s safe to assume there wasn’t.
What’s more, Peter pointed out: “These people have had multiple days to cover a party before it’s even happened — and then get more time for revisions.” Must be nice.
We also want you to know that Liv and Henry’s newsroom is nothing like the real Chronicle — they didn’t even use the 901 Mission St. building’s exterior for establishing shots. To see what The Chronicle’s newsroom looked like before the pandemic remodel, see David Fincher’s “Zodiac.”
But perhaps most perplexing of all is the front page produced at the film’s conclusion. Somehow Liv is both in the photo and is credited for taking it.
Then there’s the headline: “The Prodigal Daughter and Her Changtastic Christmas.” Heather, Peter and I guarantee you, no editor would let the word “Changtastic” make it to the front page.