Freedom Area High School's Student Newspaper

FHS Press

Freedom Area High School's Student Newspaper

FHS Press

Freedom Area High School's Student Newspaper

FHS Press

Surviving the holidays, movie by movie

I knew Christmas was close when my aunt made me devote an entire day to her while she awfully acted out cheesy Hallmark channel movies. I’m not a huge fan of every Christmas film, and I’m the type of person who really only wants to watch the same movie one time; but, there are a few that I do enjoy. One of my all-time favorites is “A Year Without a Santa Claus.” I remember making my mom put this into the VHS player every single day for the entire month of December – and even more often – for my little brother and I to watch. The Heat Miser and Snow Miser are definitely the most memorable parts of the movie. I can’t help but sing along when I hear the trombone start their little theme songs, no matter how bad or lame I sound. This is probably one of the only movies that I can watch every year. Another great movie is “Elf.” The first time I saw it, I laughed so many times. It’s still even moderately comical to me now. However, the reason I think I like it isn’t just that it’s funny, “Elf” is pretty original and not just another typical Christmas movie about Santa and the North Pole. The end is still fairly predictable, but not in a bad way at least. The list of Christmas movies that I hate is far longer than the ones I like. I’m not sure what it is, but seeing holidays portrayed in a movie or on TV really annoys me. Why is it that Christmas in a movie is so dreadfully stereotypical? Families are always gathered around a perfect fireplace, describing the night to be magical, with everyone constantly happy. Maybe it’s just my family, but my parents rarely look forward to the season. They spend the whole month complaining about the list of things I asked for, instead of baking cookies for Santa like the other moms and dads are doing on TV. “It’s a Wonderful Life” is more than guilty of this dramatization of supposed Christmas cheer, minus the whole emotional breakdown of George Bailey’s. I have tried so hard to like this movie, but something about it makes me hate the 1940s. My mom watches it every year when she decorates our 16 feet tall tree by herself – which is mostly her fault due to the fact that she puts that movie on in the first place. Clarence’s truly astounding advice rings throughout our entire house until “remember George, no man is a failure who has friends” pierces through my closed bed room door and forces me to put on headphones. I will admit though, it has its moments and definitely is not the worst movie ever made. That title rightfully belongs to “The Polar Express.” I saw it once and regret every second of the 1 hour 40 minute run time. There were special effects that were far from special and the characters seemed more like inanimate objects then the humans they were supposed to be. The story was boring and the movie generated too much hype for it to deliver like it did. Even though I’m not a fan of all Christmas movies, I really do enjoy a few. I can’t imagine a Christmas without spending a few nights watching whatever version of “The Christmas Carol” they have come up with this year.