Everyone knows Christmas is full of joy, happiness, presents, and even love. One thing that brings us all together during the Christmas season are everyone’s favorite, Christmas movies. You pop popcorn, find a warm blanket, and start a holiday movie, but your choice of movie might start an argument instead. Why are some holiday movies are not considered Christmas movies? And what components does a movie need to be a Christmas movie?
You may believe that in order for a movie to be considered a Christmas movie has to have Santa Claus in it, but Santa is not the only thing that makes everyone get into the holiday spirit. Some factors that truly make a Christmas movie are personal growth for the characters, teaching of life lessons, a general positive message, recognizably Christmas music, and light humor.
Christmas movies that people typically enjoy during the holidays are Elf, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, The Grinch, The Polar Express, The Muppet Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story, A Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Santa Clause, and White Christmas. All of these movies clearly meet the criteria. They are specifically about people celebrating Christmas, and the characters in them learn lessons and end the movie as better people (or Whos) than they started out as. They feature music that contains chimes, jingle bells, and everything about them just screams Christmas. If you choose one of these, you are pretty safe from a holiday movie argument.
Other movies don’t come with the same guarantee. Movies like Home Alone, Die Hard, Gremlins, While You Were Sleeping and Iron Man 3 are not officially considered Christmas movies (if there is anything official about this argument), and they weren’t created or marketed as Christmas movies. That doesn’t stop people from dusting off the same argument every December, though. Many argue they are Christmas movies, and a close look at our criteria gives pretty strong support. Beyond all taking place at the holidays, these movies embody other aspects of Christmas movies. Let’s look at each movie a little more in depth:
Christmas specials are about far more than what time of year it is. Home Alone isn’t a Christmas movie even though it takes place at Christmas. It doesn’t count as a Christmas movie because of the message behind it; this isn’t about holiday magic and people learning lessons–it’s just a movie about bad parents. There isn’t the required Christmas magic, and it doesn’t teach valuable lessons. The only lesson that this movie gives is: If you’re going to rob houses, try to avoid doing something that will tie you to every crime in the area. Or, if you are a parent, know where your kids are!
While Die Hard takes place on Christmas, the timing of the movie doesn’t have an impact on the plot at all. It could have taken place during a different time of the year without changing the plot in important ways. Some may disagree, but a Christmas movie should be about sharing time with your loved ones, and if you want to make the holidays a pleasant experience, then you’re definitely not going to want to discuss this movie, for there is too much action, fight scenes, and gore.
Iron Man 3 is a another controversial movie when the topic of Christmas movies comes up, however, there isn’t a reason that an Avengers movie can’t be a Christmas movie. On the other hand, it is believed to be more of an action movie than a Christmas movie. Although it takes place during the Christmas season, the plot has nothing to do with Christmas itself, but Tony Stark does learn some important life lessons, so . . . maybe?
In conclusion, Christmas movies aren’t just defined by the setting or decorations, but by its ability to capture the spirit of the season.
