Why Feel-Good Christmas Movies Make Us Happy: ‘Love and Family’
By Movieguide® Contributor
The holidays are here, which means many people are indulging in all the cheesy, feel-good Christmas movies. But what is it about these films that we love so much?
Dr. Pamela Rutledge, director and media psychologist of the Media Psychology Research Center, explained.
“You would almost be disappointed if they weren’t a little cheesy and predictable, because that’s why you’re there. You’re there to have a feel-good movie,” she said. “This lowers stress, and it reinforces feelings of hope and renewal and all of those things that Christmas is supposed to bring.”
She added, “It gives you hope that we will all find love and family.”
Rutledge also noted that many are still dealing with the “psychological effects” of the pandemic.
“For two and a half years, everyone’s antennae were up and hypersensitive to any kind of threat,” she explained. “[And we know] once you give someone chronic stress, their brain doesn’t just automatically go back. This hyper vigilance makes people anticipate threat rather than look for the good things.”
Psychologically speaking, a feel-good, predictable Christmas movie releases dopamine and oxytocin. “Sort of a win-win,” Rutledge added.
Networks like Great American Family and its new streaming platform, Great American Pure Flix, create feel-good Christmas content to inspire and bring viewers joy.
“As the flagship linear TV network, Great American Family features original Christmas movies, rom-coms and classic series that celebrate faith, family and country. Pure Flix is a leading faith and family streaming service that inspires, uplifts and entertains with content that you can confidently stream with the entire family,” the network says.
Throughout the holiday season, the network has released 20 new movies featuring stars like Candace Cameron Bure, Danica McKellar, Jill Wagner, Trevor Donovan, Lori Loughlin and more.
Bure’s MY CHRISTMAS HERO premiered on Nov. 24. Part of Movieguide®’s review reads:
MY CHRISTMAS HERO is a powerful Christmas drama laced with many lighthearted moments. There are many great scenes honoring sacrifice, heroism, helping others, hope, and love. There are a few scenes referring to the Nativity Story, including mentioning the importance of Christ’s birth and sacrifice for human beings. Several heartrending scenes show the sacrifices and heroism that American servicemen have made for the country and the people in it. In addition, MY CHRISTMAS HERO extols the power that successful American businesses have to make life better for the community and people around them.
Movieguide® previously reported on GAF CEO Bill Abbott’s hope for the network:
We want to be a place that you can come to, and you click on a movie, and you know you’re going to get a certain experience. And that means faith. That means family. That means country. That means supporting the things I think that are very important to our culture and very important to people and that they don’t get from the typical media outlet.”
“There will be a plethora of Christmas movies and faith-based movies and things like DIVINE INFLUENCER that are coming to the platform that will be just tremendous,” Abbott shared. “But, you know, one of my favorites is AN UNLIKELY ANGEL, which is a movie starring Jillian Murray, who we’ve worked with a lot on the Great American Family side.”
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