Why I am Rethinking my Hallmark Christmas Movie Addiction

I don’t admit this to many people.  It’s a bit embarrassing I guess.  I teach English, love literature and writing, yet I have a secret obsession.  It’s nothing racy; it’s quite innocent in fact.  So, what is this secret?  I love, as in LOVE, cheesy romances, especially Hallmark movies.  Consequently, one highlight of my holiday season is the yearly arrival of something called The Countdown to Christmas.  If you don’t know what this is, it is the showing of Hallmark Christmas moves 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from Halloween-at least this year-to New Year’s Day.  This means that any time I can find 15 minutes in my day or have insomnia at 2 am, Hallmark is there for me, ready with movies full of idyllic small towns, sweet romantic moments, Christmas spirit, and sickeningly happy endings.  What could be better?

Now, if I’m honest, Hallmark Christmas movies have morphed.  While they have successfully added more cultural diversity to their lineup, they have, in turn, completely removed the true meaning of Christmas.  Sure, the mention has been minimal at best-a Christmas Eve service at most-but now it is nothing more than an inclusion of “Joy to the World” or another genuine Christmas carol in the background. 

Lately, I have been truly questioning my love for this tradition.  How much of my holiday excitement should come from these Christless flicks?  Should I be supporting a tradition that promotes Christmas spirit for the sake of some obscure joy we are supposed to feel for no particular reason or some belief in an imaginary figure we all know doesn’t exist? 

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I still love these movies and will watch them from time to time.  But this disillusionment with my beloved Hallmark Christmas movies-and those like it-has also caused me to evaluate the Christmas movies my kids and I watch.  Now, we are fairly diligent about what our kids watch, a task becoming more and more difficult now that my oldest is in high school.  Like many Christian parents, we are always looking out for appropriate movies they can watch, holiday movies especially.  Just last night, my younger son watched a movie related to a book he read in school last year called A Boy Named Christmas.  It is an adorable story about a boy who finds out that his recently decease mother had named him “Christmas” after a holiday celebrated by a magical village of elves she visited as a child.  Was there any mention of Christ or his birth? Of course not. 

When my children were little, I quickly found that the only mainstream movie that actually acknowledged the true Christmas story was A Charlie Brown Christmas.  In all reality The Cat in the Hat, while he may know a lot about other topics, does not know a lot about Christmas at all.  Neither do any of the other beloved children’s characters, unless the character is Bob the tomato from Veggie Tales.

My logical side tells me not to worry. “It isn’t any big deal, the secularization of Christmas,” it says.  “People really know the true meaning deep down.”  But I know the truth.  See, I have taught in public school for over 20 years.  About 13 years ago, I did a fun analogy lesson with some 9^th graders right before Christmas.  It included many holiday examples, religious and secular.  One question included Christmas is to ________________ as July 4^th is to independence.    Much to my surprise, they couldn’t figure out the origin of Christmas for several minutes until one boy with a Catholic background finally said, ”It’s a birth”. Now, this scenario may not be the case in every class, but it is a warning to us of the toll that wiping the holiday clean of Christ has taken on society as a whole. 

Now, I have to ask myself if my children or I should be watching any movies that deny the true meaning of Christmas.  Well, my guess is that we will continue to watch holiday movies from time to time.  At the same time, I do have a responsibility as a Christian and parent not to perpetuate this blatant disregard for the true meaning of this foundational holiday. 

I’ll admit, I am not exactly a fan of the catch phrase trend which includes “Keep Christ in Christmas” and other such sayings, but I am prayerfully asking myself what my responsibilities are during this sacred time of year.  Lord, turn my heart towards you alone during this time of year.  Please grant me the wisdom to speak about and value your birth and the gospel instead of promoting a faceless spirit or empty consumerism. May I continually respond as the shepherds did saying, “Let’s go the Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened . . . “ (Luke 2:15).