Katherine Schlatter
Christmas Through the Hollywood Lens
Christmas movies have become firmly embedded in American winter celebrations. Streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Hallmark, and Lifetime now compete directly for viewers’ attention during the holiday season, producing dozens of new holiday films each year.
Why This Matters: Holiday movies aren’t just entertainment—they’re cultural artifacts that shape how Americans understand and celebrate Christmas. They function as modern storytellers, teaching values and creating shared cultural experiences.
Movies as Cultural Teachers
Understanding Christmas movies helps students:
- Recognize how media shapes cultural traditions
- Think critically about messages in popular entertainment
- Understand American values and how they’re communicated
- Develop media literacy skills
- See how representation in media affects cultural understanding
According to scholar Christopher Deacy, Christmas movies reflect our deepest values and show us idealized versions of ourselves. They create worlds where problems are solved, families reconcile, and love conquers all.
“It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946)
The Values Reflected:
- Community matters—every person is vital to the fabric of society
- One person’s life touches countless others in ways we cannot see
- Sometimes staying put and serving your community is more important than seeking adventure
- Even in our darkest moments, life has profound meaning and purpose
- Material success is less important than personal relationships
Cultural Impact: This film has become a annual ritual for many American families, reinforcing values of community service and the importance of the individual.
“The Family Stone” (2005)
The Values Reflected:
- Families should embrace differences rather than enforce conformity
- Open communication leads to understanding and reconciliation
- Being authentic is more valuable than being perfect
- Love comes in many forms and challenges our assumptions
Notice the Pattern: Family, community, love, relationships, authenticity. Christmas movies consistently reinforce these core American values, creating a shared cultural vocabulary about what matters most.
According to S. Brent Rodriguez-Plate, watching Christmas movies functions similarly to religious rituals. Holiday movies work like secular rituals, connecting people to transcendent values:
- The power and importance of family bonds
- The meaning of true love and authentic connection
- The significance of home as both physical place and emotional refuge
- The possibility of reconciliation and forgiveness
- The triumph of good over materialism and selfishness
The Ritual Elements of Annual Viewing
Christmas movie watching exhibits characteristics of ritual behavior:
Predictability:
- We know the storylines and outcomes
- The familiarity provides comfort and security
- We anticipate favorite scenes and dialogue
Repetition:
- Same movies watched at the same time each year
- Creates a sense of continuity across years
- Marks the passage of time and life stages
Gathering:
- Families intentionally come together for this shared experience
- Creates opportunities for multigenerational bonding
- Establishes family traditions and inside jokes
Emotional Response:
- We cry at the same moments year after year
- Shared emotional experiences create family bonds
- Provides catharsis and emotional release
Teaching Point: Just as religious rituals use repetition and predictability to reinforce values and create community, Christmas movies serve a similar function in secular American culture. This helps explain why people watch the same films repeatedly—it’s not just entertainment, it’s a form of cultural practice.
One of the most consistent themes across Christmas movies: Christmas isn’t about presents or material things—it’s about family, love, and togetherness.
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas”
The Central Message: After the Grinch steals all the presents, decorations, and food from Whoville, the Whos gather together and sing anyway. Christmas came without packages, boxes, or bags. Christmas, the Grinch realizes, doesn’t come from a store—Christmas means a little bit more.
What It Teaches: Material possessions are not the source of holiday joy; human connection and community spirit are what truly matter.
“A Christmas Carol” (Various Adaptations)
The Message: Scrooge’s wealth cannot buy happiness, health, or redemption. His transformation comes through reconnecting with people and embracing generosity of spirit, not material generosity alone.
“Elf” (2003)
The Message: Buddy’s childlike joy and genuine enthusiasm for Christmas spirit matter more than the commercial Christmas products his father’s company produces.
The Irony Worth Discussing: Movies that tell us “Christmas isn’t about buying things” are themselves products we buy, rent, or subscribe to streaming services to watch. This creates an interesting paradox: we consume media that tells us not to consume.
Critical Thinking Question for Students: Why do you think so many Christmas movies have this anti-materialism message, even though the movies themselves are products being sold to us?
Film critic Katelyn Mensah has noted an important gap in Christmas movie representation. While Christmas films are numerous, those featuring Black families at their center remain relatively rare, making them particularly significant when they do exist.
“While there aren’t many, Christmas films with Black families at the focus are, for me, the best and most positive portrayals of family life, something that isn’t often shared in blockbuster films.”
— Katelyn Mensah, Radio Times
Why Representation in Holiday Films Matters
- Visibility: Seeing yourself reflected in holiday media affirms that your family’s celebrations are valued and “count”
- Positive Portrayals: These films often showcase strong family bonds, joy, and celebration without relying on stereotypes
- Cultural Specificity: They can highlight specific cultural traditions within Black communities while maintaining universal themes
- Expanding the Canon: They broaden what we consider “typical” Christmas celebrations
Notable Films Featuring Black Families
“The Best Man Holiday” (2013)
What It Shows: A group of college friends reunite during Christmas, dealing with marriage, parenthood, career challenges, and illness with humor, love, and faith.
Why It Matters: Centers adult Black friendships and family life with nuance, depth, and authenticity.
“Almost Christmas” (2016)
What It Shows: A family gathers for their first Christmas after losing their matriarch, navigating grief, conflict, and reconciliation.
Why It Matters: Portrays a multi-generational Black family with complexity—showing both dysfunction and deep love.
“This Christmas” (2007)
What It Shows: The Whitfield family reunion reveals secrets, dreams, and challenges, ultimately celebrating resilience and togetherness.
Why It Matters: Showcases Black excellence across generations while keeping the focus on universal family dynamics.
Teaching About Representation
For Younger Students (K-2):
- “Do the families in Christmas movies look like your family?”
- “What are different ways families celebrate Christmas?”
- Show diverse holiday books and films featuring various families
For Older Students (3-5):
- “Why is it important to see different kinds of families in holiday movies?”
- “What happens when only one type of family is shown in movies?”
- “How do movies help us understand people who are different from us?”
- Discuss how representation affects how people feel about themselves and others
Key Teaching Point: When students see diverse families celebrating holidays in films, it teaches that there isn’t just one “right” way to celebrate, and that all families’ traditions are valuable and worthy of being shared. It also helps all students develop empathy and understanding for experiences different from their own.
✅ DO:
- Use movies as texts for media literacy analysis
- Discuss the values movies portray and why
- Compare how different time periods portrayed Christmas
- Explore why people find comfort in these films
- Analyze who is represented and who isn’t in holiday films
- Connect to broader discussions about American culture and values
- Include diverse films that represent various families and traditions
- Discuss the difference between reflection and creation of culture
❌ DON’T:
- Assume all students celebrate Christmas
- Use movie watching as just “filler” time without educational purpose
- Ignore the commercial nature of these films
- Present one type of Christmas celebration as the “normal” one
- Show only movies featuring one type of family
- Forget to acknowledge students who don’t celebrate Christmas
Age-Appropriate Discussion Questions
Grades K-2:
- “What makes the family in this movie happy?”
- “How is this Christmas different from your family’s celebrations?”
- “What did the characters learn by the end?”
- “Does this family look like families you know?”
Grades 3-5:
- “What values does this movie say are important?”
- “Why do you think this movie always has a happy ending?”
- “How does this movie show what Christmas ‘should’ be like?”
- “What kinds of families do we see in most Christmas movies? What kinds don’t we see very often?”
- “Why might it matter who gets to be in Christmas movies?”
- “How might someone feel if they never see families like theirs in holiday movies?”
- “What is this movie trying to teach us about what matters most?”
Cross-Curricular Connections
Media Literacy:
- Identify the intended audience for different Christmas films
- Analyze how music, lighting, and cinematography create emotion
- Compare how different decades portrayed the holiday
- Discuss who makes these movies and why
Social Studies:
- Examine how American values are communicated through film
- Compare Christmas traditions across different cultures
- Discuss how representation in media affects society
- Explore how traditions change over time
Language Arts:
- Identify story structure: problem, climax, resolution
- Analyze character development and motivation
- Compare book versions to film adaptations
- Write reviews or alternative endings
Art:
- Design movie posters that convey themes
- Analyze color symbolism in holiday films
- Compare visual styles across different eras
- Cultural Texts: Christmas movies are more than entertainment—they reflect and actively shape American values, creating a shared cultural vocabulary about what matters most during the holidays.
- Modern Rituals: Watching Christmas movies functions like secular rituals, using repetition, predictability, and shared experience to reinforce values and create community bonds.
- Alternative Realities: Films create idealized worlds where problems are solved and values triumph, offering viewers hope and emotional catharsis during a season that can be stressful.
- Consistent Themes: Family connection, authenticity over materialism, reconciliation, and the importance of community appear across virtually all Christmas films, regardless of when they were made.
- Representation Matters: Who appears in Christmas films and how they’re portrayed affects how people see themselves and others. Films featuring Black families and other underrepresented communities provide important positive portrayals that expand our understanding of holiday celebrations.
- Media Literacy: Christmas movies provide excellent opportunities for teaching critical thinking about how media shapes culture, the paradoxes of consumer culture, and the power of representation.
- Inclusive Teaching: Using Christmas movies in education requires acknowledging that not all students celebrate Christmas while still helping all students understand this significant element of American popular culture.
Final Thought
Christmas movies offer a window into American values and culture. By teaching students to view them critically and thoughtfully—considering both what they show and what they don’t show—we help develop media literacy skills that extend far beyond the holiday season. Understanding these films helps students recognize how all media shapes our understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our world.
