November 26, 2007
Now showing: Christmas films are darker, more depressing
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The 21st century Christmas movie is moving away from Scrooge and Tiny Tim to scrutinizing Santa Claus and addressing other modern realities of the holiday season, says a Purdue University film and Charles Dickens expert."The Christmas films of the new millennium have taken two forms," says William J. Palmer, a professor of English. "The first is a very dark form, almost a black humor approach about Christmas ideals and the joyful season. Some examples are the recent films 'Bad Santa,' 'Deck the Halls' and 'Surviving Christmas.'"
The second type focuses on the deconstruction of Santa Claus, as seen in movies like "Elf," "The Santa Clause" and "Fred Claus."
"These take a very postmodernist view of Santa Claus by showing that every story has two sides," Palmer says. "The holiday hero really has a dark side. Plus, Christmas for some people is a time of utter despair and loneliness, and that depression can be exacerbated by the season that focuses on love and families."
Even though the Christmas movie genre has evolved, almost all holiday movies have elements that are derived from "the ultimate Christmas film, Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol,'" Palmer says. This movie, along with its faithful adaptations, defined the Christmas movie genre for decades by reinforcing the theme of redemption found in films like "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street."
"The redemption theme began to disappear in the 1980s when the second phase of Christmas movies emerged with themes of materialism," Palmer says.
"A Christmas Story" started this theme in 1983, and others, such as a "Christmas Vacation" and "Scrooged," followed.
"Materialism was certainly present in the earlier films - after all Scrooge was all about money - but the interest in materialistic things was really a reflection of the 1980s and '90s lifestyles.
"Just like the black-and-white films of the 1940s and '50s, which was an era of powerful Christian belief, movies reflect an era and a way of life. Now, our most recent Christmas movies seem more interested in making us laugh than providing a Christmas message."
Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu
Source: William J. Palmer, (765) 494-3729, wjpalmer@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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