Why I do (not) hate Christmas movies

Now, I don’t want to sound like too much of a Scrooge here, but a lot of Christmas movies are...not good. I’ve seen only a handful of new ones this year, none of which I hope to see again. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I saw a new Christmas movie that was actually worth adding to my annual watch list. But why is it that I find so many of these movies underwhelming? Am I just as heartless as old Ebenezer when it comes to holiday films?

The answer, I think, isn’t so much that I myself am heartless, but rather the fact that a lot of these movies are the ones without hearts. Take, let’s say, any of the three Hallmark-esque movies I’ve had the unfortunate joy of having witnessed at least in part this year. These movies and their kind are, without a doubt, some of the most formulaic, soulless creations ever put to film (or digital drives, whatever, you get what I’m saying). Honestly, I have a hard time even differentiating between two of them, they were so similar. I think the main difference between them was that in one of the movies, the main character was the “Scrooge” of the show and the single, hot guy she would eventually end up with at the end of the movie loved Christmas and would eventually show her the joys of the season, whereas in the other the roles of the main character and the single, hot guy were reversed. The third film was slightly different, but dealt with the equally overdone trope of an amnesiac trying to figure out what is going on in her life.

As these movies crawl along their runtimes, a parade of bad jokes failing to land and scenes of the two characters who you know are going to end up together displaying no chemistry, the fact that very little care was put into their construction becomes very apparent. There is no creativity in shot composition or lighting, no thought put into dialogue, no deep emotion from the actors. It’s the result of a bunch of people just doing their jobs, and while it is done fairly competently, it doesn’t feel like anyone along any of the lines of the creation process, from pre-production through post-production, really cared about what was being done. So many Christmas movies feel like exactly what they are; money-making devices aimed to take advantage of the holiday season. As such, they almost seem to serve as an antithesis to the very values of giving and sharing genuine emotion with others that the haphazardly try to portray to their viewers.

There is also an additional hurdle Christmas films must overcome in order to rise above the pool of the mediocre, and that is how they integrate “Christmas” into the film. So many Christmas movies spend so much time on trying to be as “Christmas-y” as possible that they forget to say anything beyond that. And while its fine not to push any further beyond that scope of Christmas themes, it also leaves many of these films feeling like they are missing something.

All of this isn’t to say that I don’t think there aren’t good Christmas movies, and I think that my bar may be higher than most when it comes to this regard. But to me, the best Christmas movies are ones that clearly had some love and thought put into them during their creation and they utilize the backdrop of Christmas to enhance the story they are telling, rather than making it solely about it. That being said, they still need to be so tied to Christmas that one cannot simply remove it from the movie and still have the same result. Films like It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, A Christmas Story, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer all fall into this category.

So do I hate Christmas movies? Mmmm...I’m going to say no. There are those I mentioned above, plus a handful of others, that are good enough to make up for the rest. Plus, enjoyment can still be had while watching the plethora of others. A good time can be had by poking a bit of fun at the ridiculousness of some of these time-filler films and maybe you might just get lucky and discover a diamond in the rough.

A C ertain Point of V iew