Hiya!

So, it’s the holiday season and, just like with every year, there’s a debate which springs up: is Die Hard a Christmas movie? For me, there shouldn’t be any debate: Die Hard is indeed a Christmas movie. It’s a truly unconventional and untraditional Christmas movie, for sure. There’s no yuletide messaging or anything like that in Die Hard, true. Even with all of that, I still feel in my heart of hearts Die Hard is a Christmas movie.

In the other corners of the Interwebs, it seems like another “is [insert movie name here] a [insert holiday name here] movie?” debate has actually been raging on. It’s generally been overshadowed by Die Hard, of course, but arguments have definitely sprung up because of this. That would be if Addams Family Values is a Thanksgiving movie. While I would love to be contrarian and agree with that statement, I cannot in good faith do so. Although I do believe Die Hard is a Christmas movie, I cannot say Addams Family Values is a Thanksgiving movie.

Before you take out your pitchforks and hunt me down like the monster I am for disagreeing, I do have my reasons for saying Addams Family Values is not a Thanksgiving movie. Weirdly enough, it’s for the same reasons why I say Die Hard is a Christmas move. So, put down your torches and let me try to explain myself by critiquing why Die Hard is a Christmas movie first.

First off, my partner over here on 3rd World Geeks already wrote a piece explaining why he believes Die Hard is a Christmas classic. You might not have read it so I’ll just cover what he said with broad strokes.

First, Die Hard is basically infused with Christmas in it! The entire movie is set during a Christmas party! The soundtrack features a lot of Christmas music like Frank Sinatra‘s Let It Snow and Run DMC‘s Christmas in Hollis! There are lines specifically referencing the holiday and Santa Claus! Sure, some of these lines are said with more than just a hint of irony… but they would feel totally out of place if they were said any other time of the year!

The second and biggest reason is watching Die Hard during the Christmas season has become a macabre tradition in my household. I can’t remember specifically when it all started as I was pretty young back them. What I do remember is my older brother flipping through the cable TV channels with the rest of the family and stopping during the scene where Hans Gruber and one of his henchmen cornering John McClane and trying to shoot him.

When they weren’t able to, Hans Gruber orders his guy to “shoot the glass” before throwing a grenade at John McClane in the hopes of finally getting rid of him. I’m glad my parents allowed me to watch such glorious, bloody violence during my formative years. Anyway, after this, my brother took out a TV Guide magazine and noted the next time Die Hard would be showing so me and the rest of my family can watch it from the start. It just creeped up on us and, ever since that time, we would gather around the TV as a family to watch Die Hard during this wonderful holiday. As the old saying goes, “It’s not Christmas until Hans Gruber falls from Nakatomi Plaza!”

So, there are essentially a couple of points as to why Die Hard is a Christmas movie to me. The first is the film revolves around the holiday and, if you take out the holiday setting, a lot of stuff would need to be reworked to make it make sense. The second point would be more for tradition. If we skip watching Die Hard during this time, it wouldn’t feel like Christmas to me.

Addams Family Values fails in both this points when it comes to Thanksgiving.

For those who say Addams Family Values is a Thanksgiving movie, their main argument is the play Wendesnday, Pugsley and the rest of the outcasts of Camp Chippewa have to put on based on the First Thanksgiving. Don’t get me wrong! This is a brilliant scene and one of the most memorable ones in the film as Wednesday organizes a revolt right smack in the middle of the performance.

Now, I have to ask: is this one scene enough to call the entire movie a Thanksgiving film? I mean, the rest of Addams Family Values doesn’t revolve around Thanksgiving in the least. Let’s focus on the play itself. Sure, it’s about the sanitized version of the First Thanksgiving. I’ll give you that… but that’s about it!

The central plot of Addams Family Values is actually about how Debbie, a black widow serial killer, wants to marry Uncle Fester and get his millions before offing him. When Wednesday comes close to figuring out her plan, she convinces Gomez and Morticia to ship their kids to camp to get rid of them. There’s nothing remotely connected to Thanksgiving in the film until the play!

Then we have the camp itself. Now, who sends their children to camp during Thanksgiving? No one! That’s because they were sent to summer camp! If I know my seasons and dates, Thanksgiving doesn’t happen in the summertime! Once again, no connection to Thanksgiving!

Finally, on a more personal note, I’m from the Philippines so we do not celebrate Thanksgiving over here. So, it’s definitely not a tradition to watch Addams Family Values during Thanksgiving because we don’t venerate it. No holiday, no holiday tradition!

So, to me, while I can wholeheartedly agree Die Hard is a Christmas movie, I cannot do the same with the question of is Addams Family Values a Thanksgiving movie. Besides that one scene, there really isn’t all that much Thanksgiving in it. I also can’t say it won’t feel like Thanksgiving if I don’t watch it because we don’t carve up a big bird and argue with family members around the dinner table during November. That’s what Christmas Eve is for in my household!

However, as with the entire Die Hard is a Christmas movie debate, I’m more of the mindset that you should do you. There isn’t a mathematical formula for coming to a conclusion here because the answer is purely subjective, not objective. If Addams Family Value is a Thanksgiving movie to you, more power to you! I’ll leave you alone and you leave me alone when I say Die Hard is a Christmas movie.

Deal?

Byee!

Would you say Die Hard is a Christmas movie? Do you think Addams Family Values should be a Thanksgiving staple? Let me know in the comments section below!