-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
Why do people think that Die Hard is a Christmas movie?
- Thread starter Ballpoint Ren
- Start date
It is contrarianism, which is why the cynic in me agreed it's an attention grab. Arguing this is arguing for the sake of arguing, when it's clear what people are looking for.
There's a difference between arguing the controversial opinions for the sake of contrarianism, and pionting out contrarianism. You're being contrarian and intentionally obtuse. You keep turning this like a "gotcha!" moment, but it's really not. The arguing in this thread is trying to figure out how this became a meme, when it's clear what people mean by christmas movies.
It has Christmas elements but this thread could be set during any time of the year.
I don't care if people say Die Hard is or isn't a Christmas movie. However if you are one of the misguided souls who think Die Hard is not a Christmas movie, you also have to say Home Alone is not a Christmas movie. You can't have it both ways.
Lol don't mean to be a scrooge, again I'm a pretty cynical person. It's just pretty clear what you're going for. It's like when you say goodnight to someone past midnight and they're like "ooo you mean good morning right!?" If you look at the conversation objectively it's clear why arguing against it is different than arguing for it. You're allowed to argue however you want, but in this particular debate I always see the same exact gotcha arguments and sort of "you just don't get it" tone.
I don't see how anybody can say this. The entire soundtrack and score is built around christmas music, he makes a christmas wish to lose his family and then makes a christmas wish to get them back, and the entire payoff is that his christmas wish came true and that the best gift of all is family. The entire tone is built around family hijinks not around a badass cop taking on terrorists. Also one is a lighthearted, albeit dark in retrospect, family movie, while the other one is a mega violent, vulgar action movie with gore and intense scenes. It's not even close to compare the two at all.
Your better argument is lethal weapon or gremlins. Gremlins is closer to a christmas movie, but I still wouldn't recommend that in the genre either. If all of these are christmas movies, then why don't we talk about eyes wide shut?
The main argument I see against Die Hard not being a Christmas movie is it could take place any time of the year. The same can be true for Home Alone. In fact that is even more true for Home Alone as it could easily happen at Easter or Thanksgiving or any other time like a family wedding or whatever. Die Hard needs to happen at Christmas as that is the only time office parties happen.
I posted to ask a question. I thought it was pretty obvious.
Edit: I haven't read the whole thread, but I'm at least the second person you have responded to with "Why are you posting in my thread". Did you not want people to respond?
Last edited:
I don't think its a Christmas movie, I type that with confidence. I appreciate the connections to the holiday though.
That's not the argument I literally just made. Also office gatherings absolutely do happen outside of christmas. Either way an office gathering is not inherently christmassy and is simply a plot device. In home alone it's a plot device in a way to get his family traveling, but again the christmas season plays a role in basically everything that happens in the first in second one, which again the overall message being "material things are fun, but the best gift of all is family". They are straight up light hearted family movies, again vs. a top tier action movie complete with gore and vulgarity.
it's not a meme. Die Hard has been considered a Christmas movie for at least 20years, long before memes were a thing.
The party is a Christmas party:
Carl Winslow would not be in this movie if it wasn't a Christmas movie:
Also, there'd be more cops around if it wasn't Christmas, so it would have been handled differently.
Even a GERMAN references Christmas:
Also, the "ho ho ho" bit.
Carl Winslow would not be in this movie if it wasn't a Christmas movie:
Also, there'd be more cops around if it wasn't Christmas, so it would have been handled differently.
Even a GERMAN references Christmas:
Also, the "ho ho ho" bit.
Of course its a Christmas movie.
If you take out every single action scene and made the movie about what was left, you would have a boring ass Christmas movie, but a Christmas movie nonetheless.
If you take out every single action scene and made the movie about what was left, you would have a boring ass Christmas movie, but a Christmas movie nonetheless.
Why are so many people in this thread trying to rewrite history and claim that "Die hard is a Christmas movie" is some new bandwagon people are jumping on? I'm in my 30s and it's been considered a Christmas movie since I was a kid. If anything, the argument that it's not a Christmas movie is something I've only really seen popping up in the last few years.
Not in the context of "Saying Die Hard is a Christmas movie is just a tired meme".
"It's a Christmas movie"
"Well, ackchewally..."
I feel like I'm on the right side of this argument tbh!
I'll say this. I remember I first heard someone call Die Hard a Christmas movie back in high school, possibly junior high around 20 years ago. It was a joke then. No one took it seriously. It was a meme then that's taken on a weird serious life of its own.
This is an excellent analysis that I agree with. Die Hard is about love and the desire for family togetherness overcoming greed/materialism. The arguments against Die Hard as a Christmas movie stop dead at the surface level of violence, and "it's just set during Christmas" ignores the obvious follow-up exploration of why a Christmastime setting was chosen and constantly referenced throughout the film (hint: amplifying themes).
It wasn't a meme then. In the UK for at least the last 20 years it's shown every Christmas on terrestrial television, multiple times usually during that 2 week period, but never at any other time of year. Someone saying it as a joke doesn't mean it hasn't widely been considered and accepted as a Christmas movie for decades now.
Ultimately I really don't care who does or doesn't consider a Christmas movie because what constitutes a Christmas movie is entirely subjective. I just hate this narrative that calling it a Christmas movie is some new meme when it's been considered a Christmas movie by many for basically as long as it has existed.
No one's calling it new and it's not widely accepted as a Christmas movie as pointed out by a poll posted earlier in this thread.
Here's the thing, is the theme of the movie about Christmas, or is the theme about something else. You can set a movie around christmas, but if the theme doesn't make it where the theme has a connection to the holiday, then no, it's not a christmas movie.
Home Alone covers the idea of family and togetherness, things that connect to the holiday. Die Hard is about saving people not so much about the idea of loving your neighbor and spreading hope and peace between people. (Edit: Points for the whole materialism/greed aspect) You could have had this for the New Years eve party, or the Anniversery of the company or the 4th of July. I don't even think the book took place during Christmas, did it?
This is like the dumb argument of "Is Nightmare before Christmas a Halloween movie or a Christmas one?" It's clearly a Christmas movie the whole story revolves around the Holiday, it came out roughly a few weeks before Christmas, etc.
Home Alone covers the idea of family and togetherness, things that connect to the holiday. Die Hard is about saving people not so much about the idea of loving your neighbor and spreading hope and peace between people. (Edit: Points for the whole materialism/greed aspect) You could have had this for the New Years eve party, or the Anniversery of the company or the 4th of July. I don't even think the book took place during Christmas, did it?
This is like the dumb argument of "Is Nightmare before Christmas a Halloween movie or a Christmas one?" It's clearly a Christmas movie the whole story revolves around the Holiday, it came out roughly a few weeks before Christmas, etc.
There are definitely people in this thread trying to pass it off as a recent thing, and that poll suggest that 25% of people thought it was. 25% of a population would be considered "many".
OP
OP
I mean, you asked why argue against it my dude. If you think it's something not worth discussing then what are you doing?
Just saw it on the big screen in the UK. The musical score literally has sleigh bells in it, it's about a man trying to get home for Christmas to see his family.
Asking why you are arguing against it and saying something isn't worth discussing is two different things.
Last edited:
