Christmas is just around the bend and people everywhere are getting their houses and presents prepared for the 25th of December. Trees are being decorated, lights are blinding our eyes, and we’re listening to the same 40 songs on repeat for the month. But out of all the traditions that could possibly exist, why is it that people are obsessed with cheesy Christmas movies? We have a whole channel dedicated to making us cringe (Hallmark - we’re looking at you) and other streaming services (Netflix, why?) dedicated to stuffing us with all the disgusting romance you can feast on for the holiday season.
According to Psychology Today, holiday movies are so popular because they feed the two types of happiness that people experience: hedonic and eudaimonic. The first (hedonic) is happiness that comes from pleasure and enjoyment, while the second (eudaimonic) is happiness from events in your life that create meaning and purpose. When people see scenes of attractive people, caroling, food, and happy endings, it makes them feel fuzzy and warm inside, giving us hope in the holiday season of finding connections and maybe, possibly, finding romance. People like to feel good about themselves, and movies about finding princes and reconnecting with loved ones in small towns give them joy, for some reason or another.
Unfortunately for me, these movies just make me want to bang my head on a wall and wail for the state of the film industry. Maybe it’s the fact that I am not a fan of romantic comedies in general or the over-optimism that the Christmas season brings; they just aren’t for me. The way that every “ordinary” white woman can somehow catch the eye of the most eligible white bachelor (more often than not some type of royalty or rich person) is quite inconceivable to me; I would believe that historically, Captain Jack Sparrow did find Davy Jones’ Locker before I would believe the majority of Christmas movie plot lines. And yes, I know that they aren’t written for believability, but there has to be more of an element of groundedness to them, because people don’t look that good after trekking in the snow in heeled boots for hours. To me, they are some of the worst films ever.
With all that being said, psychology or not, there are the few who do not feel the same joy while watching people get together in the most impossible of circumstances; and there will always be one less person watching them this holiday season, solving the problem of world hunger in their spare time.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.