With the first days of December comes the beginning of the holiday season. Winter festivities around the world are largely characterized by holiday media; without these movies, songs and books, the holiday season would lose elements of tradition and togetherness that make the season so special.
Holidays can be a turbulent time for families, especially for families of adults who are thrown together after spending most of the year apart. An easy solution is communal engagement in media. According to Statista, 60% of U.S. families watched at least one Christmas movie together during the holiday season in 2018.
Nothing brings a family together during the holidays quite like sitting around the TV and watching Clark Griswold cover his house with 25,000 twinkle lights or laughing as Buddy the Elf fumbles his way through life outside the North Pole.
Movies are a good way for families to spend time together in a non-problematic way, but Christmas movies have a particular charm that sets them apart from the rest of filmography. According to media studies scholar John Mundy, “Hollywood movies continue to construct Christmas as an alternative reality.”
Christmas movies paint congenial pictures and give audiences an escape into an idealized world that doesn’t seem too far out of reach; if the people on screen can find joy and compassion by celebrating the holiday, the people off-screen can do the same.
Although there is an oversaturation of Christmas movies in the mainstream, this is due to the disproportionate celebrations of each holiday in the U.S. According to an AP-NORC survey conducted in 2019, 92% of Americans celebrate Christmas, 5% celebrate Hanukkah and 3% celebrate Kwanzaa. Despite the comparatively overwhelming amount of Christmas-related media, people of all religions and backgrounds can still enjoy holiday movies.
An article by Video Librarian recognizes a lack of Kwanzaa films and offers a list of movies that “honor the African-American experience and embody the seven principles of Kwanzaa.” Some popular Hanukkah movies include “An American Pickle,” “The Night Before” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Furthermore, there are plenty of movies to watch during the season that merely revolve around a holiday. Famous examples include “Gremlins,” “Little Women,” “Eyes Wide Shut,” “Die Hard” or any movie that suits a person's desired level of holiday spirit. Anyone can find a piece of holiday media, regardless of religious affiliation, to meaningfully engage with, yet another way the medium establishes the togetherness of the season.
Media surrounding the holiday season is also important for establishing traditions. The importance of holiday traditions is summarized by Michele Brennan in her Psych Central article: “Holiday traditions are an important part to building a strong bond between family and our community. They give us a sense of belonging and a way to express what is important to us. They connect us to our history and help us celebrate generations of family.”
Whether the tradition is watching a specific movie on Christmas Eve or marking the start of the season with a specific holiday playlist, the traditions that stem from holiday media are part of what makes the holidays such a memorable and important time for families and communities to share.
Sophia Rooksberry is a junior studying journalism. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnist do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Sophia know by tweeting her @sophiarooks_.
