How Movies Have Played a Perpetual Role in my Celebrating of the Holiday Season

What is it about holiday movies?

Movies set during a specific time of the year when anxiety is rampant and moms brawl over which Nintendo little Johnny wants to buy their 47th copy of Grand Theft Auto V for doesn't sound like an excitable affair... Yet, there are those movies we absolutely must watch during the month of December in order to have a successful holiday. Perish the thought of concluding the month without a rewatch of Home Alone!

Beloved holiday traditions have been tweaked this year and I thoroughly hope next year's holiday season will veer toward that norm we're all craving.

I would like to share with you my experience as a young Muslim growing up in Canada and the everlasting effect Christmas movies had on me during this impressionable time.

Turning the Clashing of Cultures into Compatibility

My parents immigrated to Canada from Afghanistan in the 1980s. Both my older brother and I were born in Toronto, Ontario and visited the Motherland in 2003. As a 9 year old whose most adventurous feat at the time was going to Niagara Falls for a weekend, let's say my experience heading to a war-torn country for three weeks wasn't an ideal vacation.

During my younger years, I adored seeing twinkle lights illuminate in the nighttime and the idea of an old man traveling across the world gifting children whatever they wanted.

While religion continues to play a vital part of my existence, the cultural aspect of being both an Afghan and Canadian weighed on me during this time. Christmas as a concept was something many associated with specifically being Christian, not realizing it is entirely possible to appreciate the many components that make up a society. Young Afghans I knew would question my admiration for the holiday. My parents brought me to see Santa after prayers and my mom would send my letters addressed to the North Pole because they saw how happy it made me. I wasn't going against my culture, I was embracing both.

Now cuddling up and watching holiday movies? This was a crucial element of my upbringing and remains so as the years progress -- It's A Wonderful Life! Elf! Christmas Vacation! Oh me, oh my!

(During a watch of the latter film, my parents were astonished with just how similar its depiction of the Invasion of the Families was with our annual celebration of Eid.)

One masterpiece reigns supreme for me, however, and I will tell you about it as long as you put that cookie down. Now.

Let's discuss "Jingle All The Way"

I've watched the 1996 Arnold Schwarzenegger-led holiday romp about a father desperately searching for a Turbo Man doll once a year every year since I was ~7 years old. I probably viewed it every week in December from the ages of 8-15. This is all to say: I am intimately familiar with this movie and watching it only brings back joyous memories of my brother and I reciting the dialogue at each other during random moments throughout the day.

We screened it for my sister-in-law and her sister last year. 'Twas the first time they'd heard of the film when all through the night, not a creature was stirring, although you could definitely hear us chirping during the Santa fight... Despite the unhealthy amount of times I've watched it, Jingle All The Way remains a mainstay in my holiday season watches.

Holiday movies transport the viewer to a time when their most monumental of decisions involved which movie to rent from Blockbuster. I truly hope everyone's current holiday season contains a similar glimmer of jubilation felt during that time.

Except Booster... Nobody likes Booster.