Cinderella a victim of bullying Christmas movies are much more than kitsch with a happy ending
In the Christmas movie "The Little Lord", even the hard-hearted Earl suddenly shows his softer side. The Christmas movie genre should not be dismissed as kitsch, says media researcher Irmtraud Hnilica.
Image: dpa
Christmas films such as "Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella" are often considered kitschy and predictable, but have much more to offer, says the expert.
Image: dpa
In the Christmas movie "The Little Lord", even the hard-hearted Earl suddenly shows his softer side. The Christmas movie genre should not be dismissed as kitsch, says media researcher Irmtraud Hnilica.
Image: dpa
Christmas films such as "Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella" are often considered kitschy and predictable, but have much more to offer, says the expert.
Image: dpa
Christmas movies warm the heart and are wrongly considered kitschy and predictable, says a researcher. They show a lot of real life before the obligatory happy ending.
25.12.2024, 18:58
25.12.2024, 21:49
dpa
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- Critics often find Christmas movies cheesy, saccharine and predictable.
- A media researcher disagrees with this criticism.
- These films tell a lot about everyday problems, dating and failed relationships, about patchwork, poverty and social hardship.
"Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella", "Love Actually... Love" or "The Little Lord" - Christmas films flood TV and streaming services during the long festive period. Critics often find them kitschy, saccharine and predictable - wrongly so, says media researcher Irmtraud Hnilica. Before the genre-typical happy ending, comedies and fairytale films tell a lot about everyday problems, dating and failed relationships, patchwork, poverty and social hardship.
10 minutes of happy endings, 80 minutes of real life
"Only the last ten minutes are happy, the 80 minutes before that often show real life," says the researcher, who has been studying Christmas films for years and has published two books on the subject together with two colleagues. In the happy ending, socially disintegrated characters such as the green Grinch, who wants to steal Christmas, or the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" are brought back into the community. "The films also discuss how social integration can succeed."
In the classic Christmas movie "Actually... Love" from 2003, for example, little Sam lives alone with his stepfather after his mother dies of cancer, while the writer Jamie is cheated on by his girlfriend and brother. "The Little Lord" shows poverty and devastating living conditions as the earl rides through the village with the little lord.
Who forgets their son at home?
The two particularly popular Christmas films "Kevin - Home Alone" and "Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella" also draw their suspense from less romantic family relationships: Who forgets their eight-year-old son at home - like the McCallister family forget their Kevin in the movie when they go on vacation? And by today's standards, Cinderella would be a clear victim of bullying in her family.
According to the researcher, part of the Christmas movie is that angels or fairytale twists may also help with the resolution. For example, in one of the original Christmas films "Isn't life beautiful?" ("It's a Wonderful Life") by Frank Capra from 1946, in which the angel Clarence stops the world-weary businessman George, played by James Stewart, from jumping into the water.
Watching a Christmas movie instead of talking
Films like Capra's were made after the Second World War at a particularly bleak time, says the researcher. With their typical aesthetics of snow, Christmas trees, carriages and bells as well as red, green and gold colors, the films have shaped today's cultural concept of Christmas as a whole. Before that, in the 19th century, Christmas cards still showed a much more sober image of the festivities, Hnilica has found in evaluations.
So a little romance is allowed. And watching Christmas movies together - whether you like it or not - definitely has a positive effect: "As a social media ritual, watching Christmas movies together also helps to regulate emotions," says the researcher. "While the Christmas movie is on, you are relieved of the sometimes somewhat stressful family communication."