Brace yourselves, everyone. It’s time for the annual argument of “is Die Hard a Christmas movie?” Actually, the argument is a lot bigger than that.

There are a whole lot of movies that get air time at Christmas that aren’t really “Christmas movies.” To be an actual Christmas movie, the feature should focus on the holiday itself – either the celebration of the holiday or the reason behind the holiday. Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, Elf, and the multiple versions of A Christmas Carol fit this bill.

But a whole lot of what we watch during the Christmas season aren’t movies that celebrate an aspect of the holiday. The reality is that Christmas is used as a plot device or a setting for the story in several of these movies, or is something that happens within the course of the narrative but doesn’t actually affect the plot. Now, I want to stress that these movies are COMPLETELY acceptable choices to watch during the Christmas season (within reason – please don’t let a five year old watch Die Hard). But there are a lot more of these movies than you think. Let’s have a look at some of them.

1) There’s a Christmas scene!
One of the most obvious movie categories that we often get treated to during the movie marathons of Christmas are the entire Harry Potter movie series and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Out of all the movies that get broadcast during this time of year, these are the most confusing. Basically, it is the decision of whatever executives who are in charge of programming that make the decision that if a movie even mentions Christmas, then it’s a “Christmas movie.” But since every single Harry Potter book has a celebration of Christmas (even in sad and desperate times), this means that every single Harry Potter movie (save for the last one, as it was part two of the final book) would fall under the umbrella of “Christmas movie,” and nobody believes that. The same goes for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. There is a beautiful Christmas scene within the book, which is a pertinent plot point because it demonstrates that the White Witch’s power over Narnia is failing with Aslan on the move, but the single scene does not make it a “Christmas movie” any more than it would make it a “Christmas book.” Go ahead and watch the movies if you want, but these most definitely are not true “Christmas movies.”

2) Christmas as a plot device
Now we get into stickier and more debateable territory, because this is where Die Hard shows up. And people are PASSIONATE about this movie.

I'm fully expecting judgement from this, but i finally watched Die Hard for the first time & not only was the movie some of the greatest 2 hours and 15 minutes ever, but it is in fact a christmas movie 🤣 pic.twitter.com/ZF5seOmVRB

— Miranda 🎮 (@Mirandalorians) December 16, 2023

There’s even a debate about which holiday the movie should actually represent.

"Actually, Die Hard — a story about a desperate insurgency against a vastly superior invading force, requiring the near-miraculous marshalling of limited resources — is a Hanukkah movie."
– Jacob Broganhttps://t.co/XzOfz0TNLP

— Jonathan E. Slutzman (@SlutzmanMD) December 18, 2022

But back to our discussion here. The plot of Die Hard has nothing to do with the Christmas story, but Christmas is both the setting and the plot device of the narrative. Without the Christmas party being held, our hero would have never shown up to save the day. In this case, Christmas is the driver of the story, but not the point of the story. The point of the story is to watch the bad guys get systematically picked off during their attempted heist.

Home Alone also fits into this category, because the entire reason that Kevin is accidentally left at home by himself is because of the family’s big trip overseas for Christmas. The Nightmare Before Christmas also uses Christmas as a plot device, but isn’t truly about the holiday itself. But one of the movies that also uses Christmas as a plot device is… wait for it… It’s A Wonderful Life.

I can hear heads exploding from my keyboard. But think about the plot of the movie. George Bailey’s angel visitor shows up on Christmas to show him that his life has had purpose and meaning, even if he couldn’t see it in the depths of his own agony and troubles.

The movie itself is not about the Christmas season or the Christmas holiday, but the holiday is the catalyst for the supernatural visitation. It is a profoundly significant movie that held great personal meaning for its star, Jimmy Stewart, who was one of many Hollywood stars who served with great distinction during World War II. It’s A Wonderful Life was never intended to become a Christmas classic, and it was not marketed that way when it was released.

When it was first released, “It’s a Wonderful Life” was not intended to be a Christmas movie. It initially flopped at the box office and the film’s copyright was not renewed, according to Turner Classic Movies.

This meant that in the 1970’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” was cost-free for broadcasters to air repeatedly. Audiences began to take notice of this less-than-jolly movie that flooded the airways at Christmas time, and thus a holiday tradition was born.

NBC, which now owns the rights to the film, broadcasts “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Christmas Eve every year. In 2016, Variety reported that the network’s 42nd Christmas Eve airing of the program brought in 4.5 million viewers.

It’s A Wonderful Life is certainly a movie worth watching, but it isn’t necessarily a “Christmas movie.” But don’t let that stop anyone from watching it during this season. And the same goes for Die Hard, if that floats your boat.

3) The Christmas season as the setting
There are many, many movies that fit this bill, especially because movies that fall under the “Christmas as a plot device” category can easily fit into this one. But there is a distinction, and one of the movies that is among my personal favorites is the 1953 war classic Stalag 17. Based off the 1951 stage play and set in a German POW camp full of American NCOs, the story takes place during December 1944, and the men in the camp celebrate Christmas during the story – and the Red Cross packages they receive right before the holiday come in handy. The Christmas holiday is not central to the narrative, but it is very present as the setting.

Another movie that uses Christmas as the setting, but not part of the plot, is the first Lethal Weapon movie (which should get almost as much play as Die Hard in the genre, but doesn’t), and Sleepless in Seattle begins at Christmas and uses the holiday as the opening setting, but quickly moves on for the plot to progress to Valentine’s Day. And I’m sure there are even more movies on this list I haven’t brought up.

No matter what you want to spend your time watching this Christmas, I hope you enjoy it and can share it with someone you care about. Even if it’s Die Hard. But if it’s the Star Wars Holiday Special, we might need to talk.

Featured image via Pixabay CC0 1.0 license, cropped