Let’s face it, this year has been… well, it’s been objectively shit. But if there’s one thing 2020 can’t take away from me, it’s my Christmas spirit. I’ve always had a ridiculously strong love for Christmas, but I think over the last 7 years since I’ve had the ability to actually buy presents with my own money and since my nieces and nephews have become older I’ve become obnoxiously obsessed with the time of year. So I decided to write a piece about the shows, movies, and books that make me feel extra Christmasy. These pieces of media either remind me of the festive period or are my new festive period obsessions.
Shows: ‘Dash & Lily’ and ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – ‘Christmas show’ ’
Dash & Lily— When you think of Christmas media you think of cheesy films about lost Christmas spirit and finding holiday romance, but a festive period themed TV show? That’s new. When it comes to TV shows, they tend to do holiday specials but a whole show about Christmas is pretty ingenious. The show follows a Christmas obsessed young woman (I felt seen) who hatches a plot to find some Christmas romance through a little red book of clues. In comes cynical anti-holiday Dash who finds the book and discovers the magic of Christmas. It has all the best parts of a cheesy holiday movie but you’re allowed to stick with the characters in a way that feels more authentic (a character like Dash doesn’t suddenly stop hating Christmas over a 1hr30 timeframe). It was fun, the acting was actually pretty decent, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My only qualm with the show is that the last episode, in trying to portray that they only had a limited amount of time left before [insert the important event here], it just ended up seeming a little rushed.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – ‘Christmas Show’— This is one of the few Christmas episodes of television that actually stayed with me. Will, The Banks, and their extended family meet up at a cabin over the holidays and naturally in true Fresh Prince nature everything goes from bad to worse: from Will finding out his mum has a new boyfriend to the kids being tied up with Christmas lights and robbed. It is all around just a great episode of TV and does the whole ‘in the end Christmas is all about family’ trope perfectly. It also has the iconic ‘Hey! Wait a minute. You guys are drowning me out. My gift to you is a solo’ ‘Carlton, you can still sing solo. So low that we can’t hear you’.
Fun Fact: This is the episode where the iconic ‘Carlton dance’ is first introduced
Honourable mentions: ‘Blackadder’, ‘he hilarious live episode of Eastenders where Bradley dies
Movies: ‘Home Alone’ and ‘Sister Act 2’
Home Alone— There is really no argument here- ‘Home Alone’ is easily the best Christmas movie. What could really beat peak Maculay Culkin in full hijinks mode?From foiling the robbery at his home with completely hilarious (and quite frankly unrealistic) booby traps, the hilarious way he would use characters in movies to pretend his parents were home, and the incredible comedic timing of Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as ‘Harry and Marv’, this movie is untouchable.
Sister Act 2— Okay, okay, so I know what you’re thinking… how in the hell is Sister Act 2 a festive season movie? Let me explain: if you grow up in the UK, you know every year on New Year’s Day for some strange reason they play Sister Act 2. Why? I literally have no idea. I do know however that Whoopi Goldberg, Lauryn Hill and the one guy from City High made a movie that has easily earned its spot as a cult classic and is one of the few times where the sequel is better than the original. For anyone who has been living under a rock, the film follows Sister Mary Clarence (Whoopi Goldberg) who returns to the Convent that protected her in the prequel to teach music at their sister school. We later discover the school is going through financial hardship and may have to close down, and naturally they find a musical solution to the issue and enter a gospel competition after bringing together a reluctant group of students and showing them what they are truly capable of. It has a really special place in my heart for a number of reasons; my aunt used to have a New Years Day party and It would definitely be on in the front room and I also remember my form class in secondary school performing it at our talent show (I still have the joyful joyful rap memorised).
Honourable mentions: ‘Home Alone 2’, ‘The Greatest Showman’ (please don’t jump me T), ‘Jingle Jangle’
Books: ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ and ‘Amazing Peace’
– C.S Lewis
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe— A classic piece of fantasy, CS Lewis’ ‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’ always reminds me of Christmas. The coming of Father Christmas in the book is significant to the story as it represents the children’s success in Breaking the White Witch’s curse and it is where they are given their special gifts that have important roles throughout the books. But mostly this book reminds me of one of my favourite primary school teachers, Miss Thompson, who was obsessed with this book and the entire series. So every year just before Christmas break we spent our reading time in her classroom, sitting on the carpet, legs crossed, listening to her tell us the stories of these four incredible siblings. It is probably my earliest memory of my love of the fantasy genre. So every year around this time I think about how excited I was to enter the magical world of ‘Narnia’ and it is a constant reminder of how magical Christmas could and should be.
Amazing Peace— This poem by the great Maya Angelou is a clear reflection of the way Christmas can seem to rectify all the hardships that we go through in a year and asks us to find joy in our family and in religion. ‘Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters, Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope’ this poem and this line in particular feel particularly relevant this year.
Honourable mentions: ‘Little Women’ ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’
Small, Silver and Hardback 