6. Snow = Christmas
This entry is a complicated one because it doesn’t start (or end) with movies, but Hollywood certainly is one of the biggest perpetrators of this idea, so it fits the bill. Before we continue, close your eyes and picture Christmas. Did you picture snow? Of course, because snow and Christmas go hand in hand, don’t they?
Well, in many parts of the world, they really don’t. In fact, a great deal of the developed world feels especially lucky to get the elusive white Christmas that movies have been shilling for far too long. It’s one of the biggest lies that Big Christmas wants you to buy into, all because it paints the perfect festive picture.
Okay, so there’s not really anything sinister in this one, but it would be really great if movies made an attempt to normalize normal weather on Christmas. It’s so widespread that movies have to make an effort to include snow just to appear Christmassy – whether that’s It’s a Wonderful Life‘s falling soap flakes or Lifetime’s decision to film their Christmas movies in Canada just to ensure some appropriately white landscapes. The association of Christmas with a specific type of precipitation leads many to feel their own holiday isn’t perfect, and it’s all the result of one dumb movie trope.