It’s hard to imagine Christmas without Christmas movies, whether they’re old favorites like It’s a Wonderful Life or A Charlie Brown Christmas, edgier picks like Love Actually or Die Hard, or—especially—the kinds playing on loop on the Hallmark Channel during its Countdown to Christmas.
Only a Grinch could fail to innocently enjoy Christmas movies. As a political scientist, however, it’s my professional curse to be unable to enjoy anything without analyzing it to death. And Christmas movies have an odd habit of showing how Americans relate to the rest of the world.
