Inconsequential conflicts, beefy lumberjacks, and pretty women with fun scarves are the staples of the Hallmark holiday movie genre, and many find these movies predictable, boring, and overly sentimental—but they’re missing the point: these movies are comforting and nostalgic.

Hallmark movies feature pretty little towns with an endless supply of kindness and Christmas cheer. In this harrowing world where celebrities are always doing something problematic, the government is being the government, and Kanye has access to Twitter, an escape to Christmas Land isn’t uninvited.

While, yes, Hallmark movies are incredibly clichéd and unrealistic, they have their perks. They’re cute, even if they’re not cinematic masterpieces.

Even if they would make both John Hughes and Quinton Tarantino cringe, Hallmark movies put people in the holiday spirit and, just maybe, implore people to be more pleasant.

While Hallmark has been known to not be inclusive, featuring the same cookie-cutter cast of straight, white people, they have been making strides in the past few years including several movies featuring people from different cultures and ethnicities as well as LGBTQ couples.

Hallmark movies give people an escape from their own lives. Men and women whose spouses don’t measure up take comfort in the idea of an attractive baker/lumberjack/descendent of Santa Claus falling in love with them. With the hard truths and bleak reality of the real world, a place where seemingly the only conflict is the outcome of the Christmas Baking Contest is warmly welcomed.

Hallmark movies, despite the repetition, have their place in cinema. They are feel-good movies that don’t leave you wondering about the ending. They aren’t harming anyone and much of the hate they receive is unwarranted.