OPINION: I’m glad we have so many viewing options on so many things now, but has it ruined the communal aspect of watching Christmas movies as a family?
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more
Now, I’m wondering if there aren’t too many to watch because even I, who watches them all, can’t decide what to turn on because a new, definitive Christmas classic hasn’t really shown up in years. I suppose, “This Christmas,” the 2007 ensemble film starring what feels like everybody (Loretta Devine, Delroy Lindo, Chris Brown, Idris Elba, Regina King, etc.), is a Black family classic now as is, maybe, “The Best Man Holiday,” or even “Boxing Day,” which gives us some international flavor. But when I think of a Christmas must-watch, I’m kind of at a loss. And then I just default to “Home Alone,” “Elf,” and “The Santa Clause.” Which are all short on people of melanin.
Again, maybe this is making a problem where there isn’t one because there absolutely are movies worth watching; I’ve written articles about them. The Lifetime model of making as many of the same movies over and over and throwing a Christmas tree in there does, in fact, increase the amount of options we have, and that’s what most of us want – options. I just wish there was a staple, modern Christmas movie that I wanted my kids to hold on to the way I did the movies from my youth. Again, possibly a problem of my own making — maybe “Jingle Jangle” will become that for my kids. Who knows?
What I do know is that the sheer volume of Christmas movies does make it harder to settle on a movie to fold into a family tradition, but I guess that’s just a decision my family will have to make for our peace of mind. So excuse me as I go sift through all of the Christmas movies that feature weddings, bad credit, choirs and ex-flames to find a movie my kids might enjoy. Not that they don’t enjoy a good wedding in an obscure town with magical clocks, but they really would rather play the Nintendo Switch than see how that love story unfolds.
Maybe I’ll just introduce them to “Friday After Next” and call it a day — at least I’ll get a kick out of it.
Merry Chrimmuh.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest), but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said: “Unknown” (Blackest).
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The post I think there might be too many Christmas movies — hear me out. appeared first on TheGrio.
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