Josette Wolthuis, lecturer in Visual Culture at Radboud University, reverses the tradition: around Christmas time, she doesn’t watch the Christmas classics but the worst Christmas film of the year. And she has a very good reason for doing so. The fact is that as a film and television researcher, she already gets to watch good films all year round.
This is why you can never get enough of Christmas films and why they connect us
The Holiday, Home Alone, Love Actually and All You Need Is Love: just a few classics for the Christmas period that you will undoubtedly watch again this year – despite the obvious storyline. What makes a Christmas film a classic? And why do they still make us feel so good year after year?
Wolthuis: “It’s grown out of a tradition. For my PhD research at the University of Warwick, I lived in England for five years. With the international group of friends I made there, we still meet every December on Zoom to watch the worst Christmas film. Selected by us. Turn on the film, bring out the wine, and the watching can begin.”
Hot Frosty
For this year, she is prepared: Hot Frosty is on the menu. A romantic comedy in which a widow brings a snowman to life in December. The snowman in question looks like a handsome man and restores the widow's faith in love. Wolthuis: “The storyline is probably cliché and chances are that there are Christmas decorations in every shot. The trailer definitely looks terrible.”
Why does she spend her precious December hours on a really bad Christmas film? “Whether a Christmas film is a classic or incredibly bad, the power of Christmas films is the feeling of togetherness.”
Nostalgia
That is a feeling Rebecca de Leeuw recognises. She conducts research at Radboud University on how stories in the media can be meaningful and inspire us. De Leeuw: “As a child, I used to watch Home Alone. I really enjoy watching it now with my children.”
Watching Christmas films together has everything to do with nostalgia, she explains: “Nostalgia is a unifying emotion, fitting for the Christmas season. Watching a film that you also watched as a child brings back fond memories of the past. And it inspires you to create new memories together.”
Predictable
Wolthuis: “The power of Christmas films also lies in their predictability. Especially at the end of the year, Christmas films are great to watch because, as a viewer, you know what to expect. Christmas classics come from Hollywood, and this is evident from the storyline. The film always has a happy ending, which is preceded by a climax and a denouement. Something always goes wrong, but you also know it will all work out in the end. That predictable story structure with a happy ending provides a comfortable viewing experience.”
De Leeuw: “At Christmas, people are more likely to opt for feel-good films. Especially if you get to watch them with other people.”
Positive feelings
All You Need is Love also plays on predictability, emotion, and the idea that viewers are together when they watch the programme. De Leeuw: “Loved ones are reunited in the programme just before the holidays. As a viewer, you may find this so moving that you get tears in your eyes and goosebumps. You are literally being ‘moved by love.’”
This emotion causes you to become more loving yourself. De Leeuw: “So we give our children or other loved ones an extra hug or we tell them we love them. Or both. In this way, seeing love leads to even more connection.”
Wolthuis: “Bad Christmas films especially tend to create positive feelings. Like my example: I get together online with my friends who live in other countries to watch a bad movie together. Because that film is so incredibly cliché, it creates a connection. It makes us laugh so much every year. So Christmas films don't necessarily have to be really good films to yield good things!”
Winter special 'Hope in dark days'
In the month of December, Radboud Recharge presents a series of stories about hope in dark days. The series offers tips and insights to provide new perspectives on the sometimes restrictive Christmas traditions, creates space for hopeful research, and shines a scientific light on the gloomy news.
Contact information
- Organizational unit
- Behavioural Science Institute
- About person
- Dr J.M. Wolthuis (Josette) , Dr R.N.H. de Leeuw (Rebecca)
- Theme
- Behaviour, Media & Communication, Society, Winter Special