One of the most exciting parts of the festive season is Christmas movies (well, for us, anyway). They help fill us with festive cheer, and give us a little feel-good (or not, if that’s your thing) escapism. However, it’s not often acknowledged that Christmas movies actually subtly ruin the holidays.
The notion of Christmas being a genre all its own is one that has evolved over many decades. Though there’s only a month or so each year when it’s socially acceptable to digest these festive films, they remain consistently popular, with new titles joining the ranks of traditional holiday viewing year on year. There are so many established Christmas movie tropes that the genre has become remarkably self-contained, with countless movies, TV movies, and straight-to-streaming releases populating lists of potential holiday watches.
Given that these films have become a beloved part of many families’ traditions, it may seem odd to claim that Christmas movies ruin the holidays. To be clear, we actually love all festive movies, (we think even awful Christmas movies can be art), but there is one unique way in which they damage the season. In fact, most people already know it, but simply choose not to acknowledge it. It is the season of giving, after all.
Christmas Movies Ruin The Holidays By Creating Unrealistic Expectations, But That’s Actually Okay
Christmas movies’ representation of the holidays is always distinctly one-dimensional. There’s almost always a snowy town, twinkling lights, charming little shops and cafés, large houses tastefully decorated to excess. Almost every Christmas movie has a family with rich traditions (or a dysfunctional festive family, which is itself a classic genre trope). Though they may not all check every item on the list, there are a set of guidelines that all Christmas movies seem to follow.
This representation of Christmas is far from universal, though. The festive season is celebrated in so many different ways by so many different people, and the classic Hallmark presentation of what Christmas should be – though heartwarming – doesn’t necessarily speak to everyone. For example, there are many countries that rarely, if ever, have snow at Christmas time, meaning that most Christmas movies are filmed among the snowy landscapes of Canada. In endlessly perpetuating Christmas tropes, the movies create unrealistic expectations of the holiday season.
In actuality, no one minds that the movies quietly undermine the season. They’ve become such a beloved part of pop culture for those who celebrate Christmas that the excess displayed in them itself delivers a dose of festive cheer, despite being an inaccurate portrayal of the average person’s Christmas. Basically, Christmas movies don’t need to be realistic, and they simply add to the magic of Christmas, meaning they could never truly ruin the holidays.