Don’t Be a “Grinch” About Cheesy Christmas Movies

“Hallmark movies are God’s gift to the world,” said junior Lily Parzych.

“They’re terrible and perfect.”

The Hallmark channel is often considered the bastion of Christmas rom-coms. While other channels and streaming services like Netflix also make light, often cheesy Christmas movies, it’s hard to top the 136 original holiday movies Hallmark has made since 2008.

Many people call such movies “cookie-cutter” as a negative, but others say the repetitive plots are part of the appeal.

“They all seem to revolve around a high-powered city girl who somehow breaks down in the country, falls in love with the good ol’ boy, finds the true meaning of Christmas and there’s a dog in there,” said film teacher Harold Funderburk.

Junior Meaghan McAfee said she loves such movies because of the exaggerated stories.

“I love cheesy Christmas movies because the holiday season is the best time of the year and these movies overexaggerate the joy,” McAfee said.

The excessive happiness, she said, is what people need around this time of year.

Photography and graphic design teacher David Batterman, who runs the “So Bad They’re Good Movies” PAWS, thinks the “bad” traits of these movies is actually what makes them fun for people.

“The thing that’s enjoyable about rom-coms in general and Christmas movies in general is their predictability,” he said.

Alongside the formulaic plot, there are other elements that seem omnipresent in these movies.

“There’s never been a Hallmark movie taking place at Christmas where the couple has not had a montage playing in the snow,” Parzych said.

Christmas rom-coms are sometimes considered “bad” movies, but Funderburk said that perception may not be deserved.

“You can say a movie is bad because you don’t like it, but that doesn’t make them bad,” Funderburk said.

Although the stories and dialogue may be cheesy, he said, the movies are well-made and well-produced.

“I think maybe we [guys] like to bash these ‘bad’ movies because it’s not our cup of tea,” he said of people who insult such movies.

One can argue that any movie is bad, he said, but ultimately people tend to disregard movies simply because they don’t personally like them.

And for those who want to watch a Christmas movie that’s actually bad, Batterman suggests “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” (1964).

“The worst is definitely ‘Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.’ I cannot recommend this enough,” said Batterman.

“You can watch the whole thing on Youtube because,” he said with a pause, “it’s available.”

If you decide to watch “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” or any other Christmas movie this season, remember that even if you don’t like it, somebody does.

The morals may be cheesy, but they’re also about being kind to others and spreading happiness.

“I think people just don’t like them because they have terrible Christmas spirit,” said McAfee.

“They’re grinches.”