There is, I think, a very specific set of images that come to mind when one imagines the classic Holiday season scenario. Freshly wrapped presents, a vibrant Christmas tree and a family lovingly sitting around a roaring fire. Except, in our lifetimes, the fireplace has been replaced by the television. Christmas movies are an inescapable aspect of the Holiday season, but just because a film takes place around Christmas does not mean that it shares the same traditional themes and structures as the classics (i.e. It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street or A Charlie Brown Christmas).
There are some movies that while they are not necessarily about Christmas, take place during the season and maintain many of the core values we associate with the Holidays. Specifically I’m thinking of unconventional Christmas films like Die Hard, Gremlins, Home Alone and Eyes Wide Shut. Though these films may not be considered Christmas films, each of them take place around Christmas and many of them share the same morals as more traditional Holiday flicks.
For example, Die Hard is arguably the most quintessential Christmas film of all time. The story mirrors It’s A Wonderful Life in that both characters are feeling upset with their lives before some trials and tribulations show them how much worse life would be without them and they are reunited with their families with a reinvigorated Christmas spirit. John McClane (portrayed by Bruce Willis) is quite the gift giver, delivering C4, bullets and a festively decorated body to the terrorists who would try to ruin Christmas. There is even a scene of McClane climbing through a ventilation shaft that is particularly reminiscent of Santa coming down the chimney. We have to wonder, why did the creators of this film decide to have it take place during Christmas? Die Hard is ultimately a film about family, and the Christmas setting adds a real layer of emotional depth to McClane’s quest to reunite with his family on Christmas Eve.
Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut seems to be the ultimate perversion of these themes. The film is cruel, bitter and dark; not adjectives that we would generally associate with the Holidays. The film uses Christmas to provide a dramatic irony between the expectations of what the holiday brings, and the cold reality of the world. Whether it’s Tom Cruises’ character resuscitating an overdosed prostitute at a cheery Christmas party, or Nicole Kidman’s character speaking graphically about “fucking” while Christmas shopping with her children, the film paints an image of the holidays that is dramatically different than the traditional ideal.
That’s what’s important about these movies. They take something that is intimately relatable to us, and show us how little we know about it. By juxtaposing our expectations of the feelings we have for Christmas with these new experiences offered by the film, these creators can show us a previously unexplored level of emotional depth. So next time you feel like curling up with a warm glass of milk and a holiday movie, ditch the classics and expand your horizons with a slightly more unconventional take on Christmas.