At Long Last, Black Santas are Appearing Frequently in Holiday Films

Santa Claus comes in all forms, and a few recent films have proven that to be true!

We love St. Nick, don't we? We love the imagery of Santa Claus, and we do love seeing him portrayed in so many TV shows and movies for so many decades. Let's talk about the imagery, shall we?

What do we see when we see Santa? A jolly, jovial, bearded White man in a red suit and cap, and black leather boots. That's been the image we've been seeing for so long. Again, I always love seeing Santa on TV, in commercials, and in movies, because what's the holidays without St. Nick? Now, I have heard talk before about "needing to change Santa's image," but sadly, society's idea of a "trendy, new Santa" is making him slimmer. Let me be blunt: I hate when people say that Santa needs to be "healthier." That is outright bodyshaming. No time of the year is the time for bodyshaming, especially the holiday season--that special time where we can eat whatever the hell we want without any judgment.

I'm going to also be honest: even as a Black man, I never thought we'd see a Black Santa on-screen. And then, Disney+ changed the game.

On November 17, 2023, Disney+ gave us Dashing Through the Snow, which starred Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as Eddie Garrick, a social worker whose time with his young daughter ends up being interrupted by a job mission, and the appearance of St. Nick. Playing the jolly role in this film is comedian Lil Rel Howery, who I am a huge fan of and have been since I first saw him on the short-lived NBC series, The Carmichael Show (he won't be the last cast member from that show that I'll mention here). I'm trying to remember this, but that may have been my first time actually seeing a Black actor portray Santa Claus in an exclusive film, and he's not playing an "on-the-job" mall Santa, either. Howery brought his usual comedic chops to the role, and showed why he is immensely in demand; we would see him a week later in Good Burger 2.

Two weeks later, on December 1, 2023, Tubi gave us one of their original films, Hot Girl Winter. Not only did this film give us a Black Santa, but it's basically a family business situation. Jason Mimms played this variation of Santa, also named Nick, though the central focus was on Mrs. Claus herself, Jess, who was played wonderfully by Golden Brooks (Girlfriends). What I loved about this is that in this film, Santa's portrayed as a "workaholic husband," while Mrs. Claus feels like she's not receiving attention from her husband, so she goes on a big time vacay to Miami as a result. Beautiful. This film was an amazing one for sure.

On the same day that Tubi released Hot Girl Winter, Amazon Prime gave us the highly anticipated film, Candy Cane Lane, which starred Eddie Murphy as a Christmas-obsessed family man who was looking to win the annual decoration contest, to the point where he purchases decorations at a shop owned by a mysterious woman named Pepper (played in epic fashion by Jillian Bell), who is later revealed as an evil elf planning to punish those she deems "naughty." It's during the climax of the film that we see Santa make his appearance, and he's played by none other than David Alan Grier, an In Living Color legend who would later co-star with the aforementioned Lil Rel Howery on The Carmichael Show. Honestly, out of the three Black Santas I've seen this year, Grier's is the best one. He definitely had the beard for it; he had it for a few years now, but that suit, though! Absolutely epic!!

On November 22, 2023, Disney Channel gave us their holiday film, The Naughty Nine, which centered on nine kids who are on Santa's "naughty" list, banding together to head to the North Pole to take their gifts, feeling that their placement on the list was unjust. I loved this movie, because it was basically a holiday, kid-friendly version of Ocean's Eleven, with each kid having their roles. Speaking of roles, the role of Santa Claus was played by the iconic Danny Glover, or as I call him, the sane half of the Lethal Weapon duo. Unsurprisingly, Glover was fantastic as St. Nick, one of the many things I really enjoyed about this movie. I hope we get a sequel!

An absolutely amazing wave of Black Santas appearing in exclusive films this year! It's an epic show of diversity and representation on display, and we should see more of this for years to come!