Why New Trend of Excessive Christmas Movies Will Turn Off Viewers
By Movieguide® Contributor
Fans of Christmas movies usually know what to expect, but a new trend has some rethinking holiday romances.
Christmas movies like Netflix’s HOT FROSTY and THE MERRY GENTLEMEN and Lifetime’s A CARPENTER CHRISTMAS ROMANCE and CHRISTMAS IN THE SPOTLIGHT all feature more excessive content than Christmas movies past.
HOT FROSTY focuses on Kathy, a widow who “magically brings a handsome snowman to life,” per Netflix. While the premise seems sweet, the movie itself contains multiple references to the snowman-turned-human’s body.
However, even the stars of HOT FROSTY have made it clear they aren’t entirely comfortable with the movie. Dustin Milligan, the actor who portrayed Frosty, admitted to the New York Times that, as someone with a “history of body dysmorphia and disordered eating,” the role was a bit tough for him to navigate.
Meanwhile, THE MERRY GENTLEMEN takes a cue from strip club comedy MAGIC MIKE, featuring a male dancing revue performance put on to save a local concert venue.
Robert J. Thompson, the director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, told the NYT that these movies are “by no means ’50 Shades of Christmas,’” adding, “The point is not to become sexier and sexier with more and more nudity.”
However, many Christmas romance movie fans don’t want to see movies with excessive content like this.
Dr. Pamela Rutledge, a media psychologist and director of the Media Psychology Research Center, told CBS that viewers want to see a “feel-good movie.”
“This lowers stress, and it reinforces feelings of hope and renewal and all of those things that Christmas is supposed to bring,” she explained. “It gives you hope that we will all find love and family.”
READ MORE: WHY FEEL-GOOD CHRISTMAS MOVIES MAKE US HAPPY: ‘LOVE AND FAMILY’
In fact, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, widely considered the best Christmas movie ever made, features no sexual content. Instead, it focuses on family, friendship and doing kind things for others.
READ MORE: MOVIEGUIDE®’S FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIES: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
Candace Cameron Bure, a longtime star of Christmas movies and chief creative officer at GAF, told Parade that people gravitate towards these movies because they “feel like the comforts of home.”
“People [are] going to fall in love,” she explained. “There’s a happy ending. You’re going to have all the feels in your heart. All the reasons why these movies get made fun of are the very reasons they’re so beloved.”
READ MORE: HOW CANDACE CAMERON BURE BECAME THE QUEEN OF CHRISTMAS MOVIES
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