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Generation X-mas: Are your holiday movies snarky or sappy?

Are George and Mary Bailey perennial guests at your holiday celebration?

Or is Ralphie Parker’s quest for a Red Ryder BB gun a more relevant Christmas story?

That’s the question posed by Time last week. In a 2006 poll, A Christmas Story was the favorite holiday movie among ages 18–41, while the older demographic picked It’s a Wonderful Life

or Miracle on 34th Street. Perhaps, speculates the article, Generations X and Y find Ralphie’s memories a bit closer to their own.

As one who falls squarely in the Baby Boomer generation, I’m unwilling to sacrifice either George or Ralphie. Sure, A Christmas Story is much more fun to watch with friends (especially if you take a drink whenever somebody says

“you’ll shoot your eye out”). But I always find a few melancholy hours during the holidays to curl up with my cats and cry my way through Bedford Falls. And I always have time to see the adorable face of an eight-year-old Natalie Wood as she comes to believe in Santa Claus.

What other movies make the holidays bright? Here are a few of mine.

Christmas Vacation — Although I snobbishly claim not to like slapstick, this movie makes me laugh every time. And nothing says holiday spirit like a speech from Dad (Chevy Chase).

“We’re gonna press on, and we’re gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f—ing Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he’s gonna find the jolliest bunch of a–holes this side of the nuthouse.”

Scrooged Of all the takeoffs on A Christmas Carol, this is my favorite. I confess a bias toward anything Bill Murray

does, but Scrooged is so chock full of meta goodness that I catch something new with every viewing. Besides, Carol Kane is the Ghost of Christmas Present. The world needs more Carol Kane.

Love Actually — Yeah, I know it’s sappy and sentimental. But it’s also warm and funny and, eventually, a little gay. I have friends who just don’t get why I love this movie. I could claim that I simply want to watch Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley and Laura Linney. Truth be told, though, I don’t get why I love it, either. I just do.

Let’s see. That’s three snarky and three sappy. That makes me a snarky sap. How about you? How do you like your holiday movies? And what seasonal movies will you be watching between now and the New Year?

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