CULTON: Terrible Christmas movies hit the spot
Published 7:57 am Thursday, December 26, 2019
In the last few weeks, my Netflix queue has been overrun by objectively bad Christmas movies.
“A Christmas Prince.” “No Sleep ‘Til Christmas.” “Holiday in the Wild.” “The Knight Before Christmas.” “Let it Snow.” “Santa Girl.” “Christmas Inheritance.” I’ve seen them all, and they are all terrible. They recycle identical plots and set designs, yet at the same time, none of the storylines or characters make any sense.
These movies are, plainly put, bad. But I can’t get enough of them. I love each and every one. I love curling up on the couch, a cup of hot chocolate or a glass of wine in one hand and a holiday cookie in the other, and watching these mind-numbing movies. It is a tradition I look forward to every year, and I’m not the only one.
According to the Hallmark Channel, four million viewers tuned in to watch its holiday Christmas movie line up when it aired live in 2016, and additional viewers caught up after the fact through recordings and streaming services.
It’s a known fact that these movies are not high-quality cinema — it’s been a joke for years. So why do we all love them so much?
According to some, the reason is psychological. Earlier this year, behavioral scientist Pamela Rutledge spoke to CNBC about the topic. She said that formula, simplicity and predictability of the Christmas movies could be rewarding to the viewer and help bring down stress levels during the busy holiday season. Additionally, she said the lack of realism in these movies can act as a form of escapism.
In my personal opinion, you know that of a 24-year-old who is not a behavioral scientist, I think the answer is even more straightforward. These movies have become a part of our Christmas traditions, and our traditions make the holiday season unique and bring us closer to our loved ones. After all, I don’t think most of us are watching these movies by ourselves. We are watching them with our close friends and family members, taking in the comfortable familiarity of the stories or — if you are like my friends and me — mercilessly making fun of the characters and ourselves for watching them.
No matter the reason you might watch one of these saccharine films, I think we can all agree that there is a unique delight in watching them around the holidays. And if you are the kind of person who fancies themselves above such movies, I would encourage you to tune in for one anyways. At the very least, I guarantee you will get a laugh. At the very most, you might be giving your brain a much-needed rest.