While holiday movies seem to be pretty straightforward as a genre, there’s no avoiding some of the money lessons baked right into the story.
A Christmas Carol teaches us that sometimes ghostly intervention is the only way to ensure employers pay a living wage.
It’s a Wonderful Life makes it clear that a heartless commitment to capitalism is the leading cause of Christmas Eve despair (and angelic intervention).
Even Die Hard teaches us the folly of putting too much weight on fancy presents—like Rolex watches. But not all money lessons are as easy to see beneath the feel-good stories of families coming together, love conquering all, and the inevitability of shooting one’s eye out. As you settle down to enjoy these three holiday classics, keep an eye out for the financial lessons you might be picking up while watching without previously realizing it.
A Christmas Story
The hilarious and nostalgic 1983 film, set in 1940, follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker’s suspenseful quest for the perfect Christmas present: a Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock. Otherwise known as a BB gun.
The film ends with a long shot of Ralphie sound asleep, smiling, while clutching his new prized possession. Ralphie’s adult self, as the movie’s narrator, explains that it was the best Christmas present he had ever received—or would ever, in fact.
The Unexpected Money Lesson: Everything Is an Advertisement
The world of A Christmas Story (and mid-century America as a whole) is awash in constant advertisements and promotions.
Early in the film, Ralphie is disgusted to discover that the secret message he decodes using the official Little Orphan Annie secret decoder pin is just an advertisement for Ovaltine. Considering the gallons of Ovaltine he had to drink to receive the decoder pin, Ralphie’s distress is understandable.
But Ralphie’s wished-for Christmas present is also the result of canny advertising. Daisy, the air gun’s company, kept itself afloat during the Depression using innovative promotional techniques, including tie-ins with popular comic book characters. The promotional tie-in with the western comic strip hero, Red Ryder, was Daisy’s most successful, leading to more than a million rifles sold in a single year by the end of the 1940s.
Ralphie’s ill-fated trip to see Santa is also a kind of advertising. Higbee’s Department Store provided an opportunity for kids to meet Santa and his elves because their parents would come to the store to shop. Ralphie’s father, aka the Old Man, probably purchased Ralphie’s Red Ryder rifle in that very store. Not to mention the sales boost the real-life Higbee’s got from allowing A Christmas Story to be filmed there.
Even the Old Man’s beloved leg lamp in the film was inspired by old Nehi Soda ads, which featured illustrations of a woman’s legs.
Home Alone
This 1990 film finds 8-year-old Kevin McCallister accidentally left behind when his entire family oversleeps on the morning of their flight to Paris for Christmas. The little boy has to fight off two burglars, who went by the moniker, the Wet Bandits, and are determined to rob Kevin’s house while the adults are away.
The Unexpected Money Lesson: Poorer Folks Are More Generous
The opulence of the McCallister home and the wealth of the family are both important to the plot. Otherwise, the house would not have drawn the interest of the Wet Bandits and the family would not have been in a position to go abroad for Christmas.
But the family’s money doesn’t help Kevin’s mother, Kate, get home to him any more quickly. In fact, it is through the generosity of much less fortunate people that the McCallister holiday is saved.
For instance, Gus Polinski, the Polka King of the Midwest, overhears Kate trying to get a flight to Chicago and offers to let her ride in the van with the polka band. Kate makes it clear to the airline representative that money is no object in getting her back to her son, but Gus helps her out for free.
Kevin’s encounter with Santa is another example of generosity from someone less fortunate. We see the Santa complaining about the parking ticket on his beater of a car, but he is kind enough to listen to Kevin’s wish for his family back. And though Santa doesn’t have anything to give Kevin (the elf took the rest of the candy canes), he offers the boy some Tic Tacs to make sure he doesn’t leave empty-handed. This Santa is clearly not doing well financially, but offers what he can to Kevin.
What’s interesting about this fictional generosity is that it mirrors reality. Studies have shown that those who have less give more.
Miracle on 34th Street
This 1947 film finds an old man who goes by the name, Kris Kringle, filling in for an inebriated Santa impersonator at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Since he is the actual Saint Nick (a fact not revealed until the end of the movie), Kris does a bang-up job and is hired by event director Doris Walker to play Santa for the season at the Macy’s New York City store.
While playing Santa, Kris suggests to parents another store where their children’s gift requests can be found for less, which inadvertently wins customer loyalty. But a store executive has Kris confined to a psychiatric hospital—and he has to defend his own sanity in court.
The Unexpected Money Lesson: The Spirit of Christmas Runs on Self-Interest
Kris Kringle moonlighting as a department store Santa makes for a heartwarming film, but it serves up some sly commentary on capitalistic self-interest.
To start, Macy’s is prepared to fire Kris upon learning that he is referring customers to other stores. But Kris’s recommendations inspire loyalty, and Macy’s uses that goodwill to advertise the store. Macy’s is profiting off the natural altruism of the real Santa Claus.
When Kris asserts in court that he is the real deal, the judge has to rule that Santa Claus doesn’t exist in order to maintain the involuntary psychiatric hold. The judge is up for reelection and does not want the negative press he’d face by telling the world that Santa Claus isn’t real. He buys some time by asking for further evidence, rather than ruling based on the merits of the case before him.
That further evidence comes when hundreds of letters addressed to Santa Claus are delivered to Kris at the courthouse. The local post office, upon seeing one letter addressed to Kris Kringle at the New York courthouse, decides to bring him all the undeliverable Santa letters. This frees up storage space in the post office and makes the postal workers’ jobs easier.
In all these cases, the people of New York help Kris because it’s in their best interests. Though the spirit of giving and the magic of Christmas prevail, it’s only because the people around Kris are doing what’s best for themselves.
What’s Under the Holiday Cheer?
Like any other pop culture, holiday movies reflect the culture that creates it. There’s no harm in simply enjoying the sweet, touching, and funny films that we watch every year. But it’s also worthwhile to think more deeply about what these movies might be teaching us when we’re not paying attention.
Interested in more hot takes about movies? Please check out Emily’s podcast, Deep Thoughts About Stupid Sh*t. Because pop culture is still culture, and shouldn’t you know what’s in your head?
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