Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
As of this writing, there are just a few days left before Christmas. Hopefully, most of us have done all of our Christmas shopping — I have not — and are preparing to settle into the quiet before the Christmas morning storm (in many of our homes). The quiet before the storm is usually when families are gathered doing Christmas-y things either with music (shouts out to Donny Hathaway’s original and definitive version of “This Christmas,” written with Nadine McKinnor) or movies. I know in my house, we all sit around and fire up some streaming service and scroll through to whatever movie tickles our fancy.
And that’s where the issue lies (such that there is one, more on this later): There are just way too many options nowadays. I hear you looking at me: “Panama, isn’t that a good problem? There are so many Black Christmas movies! Isn’t that what we’ve been fighting for?”
I suppose, but not really. But I hear you. And I agree that it’s inherently a good thing to have many Christmas movies to pull from nowadays. There are even Christmas movie franchises — Kelly Rowland has a trio of Lifetime Christmas movies: “Merry Liddle Christmas,” “Merry Liddle Christmas Wedding,” and “Merry Liddle Christmas Baby.” That is progress. You can literally go an entire Christmas season and only watch holiday movies that center Black stories.
Right now, as I fire up Prime Video, here’s what pops up instantly on the BET+ featured movie row: “So Fly Christmas,” “Never Alone for Christmas,” “Christmas Angel,” and “A Wesley Christmas Wedding.” If I keep scrolling, the Christmas films keep on keepin’ on. BET+ must have spent a fortune (okay, they dropped a bag or two) making Christmas movies. I even watched a BET+ Original movie called “The Christmas Ringer,” which is essentially a remix of “The Gospel” and “The Fighting Temptations,” rolled into one.
Here’s the thing, I watch ALL of the Christmas movies. I open my streaming apps, pick a movie and let it rip. But here’s my issue, and why I posed the question in the first place of whether or not there are too many: None of these films quite stick to your ribs like prior films. I don’t know if that’s because there are too many or if I’m just stuck with the classics.
For instance, I still remember when I was in my teens spending the night at my best friend’s house and we sat down and watched the stop-motion films like 1964’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and 1979’s “Jack Frost.” But we also had movies like “Home Alone” and “A Christmas Carol” (the 1984 version). Granted, none of those films centered the Black experience (or featured many, if any, Black people) but there weren’t a ton of options so we’d just watch them.
Now, I’m wondering if there aren’t too many to watch because even I, who watches them all, can’t decide what to turn on because a new, definitive Christmas classic hasn’t really shown up in years. I suppose, “This Christmas,” the 2007 ensemble film starring what feels like everybody (Loretta Devine, Delroy Lindo, Chris Brown, Idris Elba, Regina King, etc.), is a Black family classic now as is, maybe, “The Best Man Holiday,” or even “Boxing Day,” which gives us some international flavor. But when I think of a Christmas must-watch, I’m kind of at a loss. And then I just default to “Home Alone,” “Elf,” and “The Santa Clause.” Which are all short on people of melanin.
Again, maybe this is making a problem where there isn’t one because there absolutely are movies worth watching; I’ve written articles about them. The Lifetime model of making as many of the same movies over and over and throwing a Christmas tree in there does, in fact, increase the amount of options we have, and that’s what most of us want – options. I just wish there was a staple, modern Christmas movie that I wanted my kids to hold on to the way I did the movies from my youth. Again, possibly a problem of my own making — maybe “Jingle Jangle” will become that for my kids. Who knows?
What I do know is that the sheer volume of Christmas movies does make it harder to settle on a movie to fold into a family tradition, but I guess that’s just a decision my family will have to make for our peace of mind. So excuse me as I go sift through all of the Christmas movies that feature weddings, bad credit, choirs and ex-flames to find a movie my kids might enjoy. Not that they don’t enjoy a good wedding in an obscure town with magical clocks, but they really would rather play the Nintendo Switch than see how that love story unfolds.
Maybe I’ll just introduce them to “Friday After Next” and call it a day — at least I’ll get a kick out of it.
Merry Chrimmuh.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest), but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said: “Unknown” (Blackest).
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