Perhaps it is a matter of being a middle-aged guy, and have something dawn on me for the first time. Or maybe it’s the relentless barrage of 21st century Christmas movies on cable. But I’m having a hard time thinking of a recent Christmas movie that doesn’t have romance as the reason for the season, if not a major sub-plot in the affair. And even in the so-called Golden Age of black & white …
Crystal posted 0n one of my favorite Christmas movies, The Bishop’s Wife. The romance, of course, involves an angel flirting with the divine Loretta Young, who finds a renewal of sorts in her own marriage as her clerical husband recovers his priorities.
I really can’t think of any Christmas film done in the past decade or two that doesn’t involve romance. There are some pretty good tv ones, like A Boyfriend for Christmas, which I found rather decent. And of course, Elf, the newest one to get the round-the-clock (it seems) treatment recently reserved for A Christmas Story. Maybe that latter one was the last holiday movie made without the suspense of courting, kisses, and who ends up with whom.
As Christmas gets dragged into its annual war over secularism, greed, religion, nobody seems too bothered by the simple girl-meets-boy overshadowing the manger. Maybe mistletoe’s in the air.
22 December 2011 at 7:05 pm
Todd, how did you miss citing the epitome of films that capitalize on your premise: LOVE ACTUALLY?
It’s so sanguine and, uh, loveable, that it is almost England’s apology for Scrooge.
22 December 2011 at 7:07 pm
PS. I love THE BISHOP’S WIFE. Watched it last year first time. Cary Grant, however, cannot play an angel for spit, though, tho’ he tried valiantly.
22 December 2011 at 7:52 pm
Never saw Love Actually. And as for Cary Grant, my wife concedes he’s angelic in mostly any role he does.
22 December 2011 at 8:40 pm
Thanks for the mention :)
I did see a Christmas movie that wasn’t about romance, though it was about love … The Wool Cap. I liked it very much.
23 December 2011 at 9:16 am
Well a festival of Light in the darkest part of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere, at least) is a pretty romantic backdrop. There are a lot of rings that get presented and promises made at this time of year. It’s no surprise that this shows up in the stories that we tell (i.e. our movies). Even the older movies had their romantic plots (Miracle on 34th St, It’s a Wonderful LIfe), so I don’t really see this as all too new.
I agree with Charles – Love Actually is a terrific seasonal movie with a big heart. Richard Curtis may not be a Bill Forsyth, but it’s still worth a look.