I would read this version to my kids.
[clearly hurt] Dude…
Armando almost convinced me to change my vote. Then I realized he’s such a wordsmith, he didn’t actually make a case for Die Hard not being a Christmas movie at all. He just made an emotional appeal to me thanks to my frustrations with the ubiquity of bacon. To which I say, preach it, brother.
Just to help @BrianRubin’s slow descent into madness, I also have never seen Die Hard. I saw a Youtube clip of the famous glass walking scene once, set to funny music, though, so that probably counts.
Sweet.
Sweet.
Sweeeeet.
Sweet.
Sweet.
Yeah the bacon meme is cringey as hell but Die Hard is my favorite Christmas movie so fuck y’all haters.
YOU WROTE ALL THAT DRIVEL HAVING NEVER SEEN THE THING?!?! NO MORE BACON FOR YOU. FOR A YEAR.
All you get to do is smell my bacon.
You really get me dude, and I appreciate that.
This genuinely made me laugh. And there is a reason that my argument basically came down to "it’s weird that a violent action flick is appropriate for a peaceful holiday. . . "
I’ll probably watch it someday. Just not Christmas day. Because my dad will inflict a looping run of A Christmas Story on the entire family from dawn till midnight.
Can I at least avoid the bacon meme for a year, too? I think it might be worthwhile, then.
Bacon is a Christmas food.
I recently learned that all those “uncured” bacons that claim to have no nitrites actually contain no artificially derived nitrites and instead just soak the meat in boiled-down celery juice. . . which is rich in nirites.
I’ve actually never seen Die Hard myself. Maybe someday…
We should have an online Qt3 Watch Party so all you freaks who haven’t seen it can watch it together with those of us who have.
@divedivedive First, let me say, sir, that this entire debate is in the spirit of brotherly love. No hate here for either opinion. I would be the first to show up at your door for Christmas if I knew where you lived, and I would watch any definition of Christmas movie with you. (As long as you have good beer.)
So this part:
This was an actual earnest question, though slyly playful in my wording. And it drives the heart of the actual debate. How do we define a Christmas movie if it is to be accepted as one. A movie set at Christmas? One with Christmas music and references? One with some angle toward the Christian religous angle of the birth of Christ? One with Santa? Carols? Gifts? Coming home to family? Laughs? Cries?
And so when I said this:
But there are no rules that say Die Hard -cannot- be one. So … it is.
I was driving to the heart of the issue. It’s pretty clear that you define a Christmas movie differently than others here. To be fair, the representation here is low of the naysayers for Die Hard. You are not alone though, certainly there are probably millions or billions of people who do not think it is a Christmas movie, or have never even seen the movie. I was communicating that there isn’t a definition for Christmas movie because it is such a broad concept that nearly anything could apply.
- Pause for eye-roll and face palm here that we have not one but TWO QT3’ers that have yet to see it. We have failed ourselves here. We must rectify this as an issue, Christmas aside. -
I think you’re also stopping on the speed bump of cross genre. You can have a little peanut butter AND chocolate in a Christmas movie, action is still acceptable, hell, Home Alone isn’t partially action? There’s very little giving in it as well. Helping, overcoming fears, even stopping bad guys. Sound familiar?
What about Holiday Inn? Also considered a top (older) Chistmas movie. No giving, but it gave us White Christmas. What about A Christmas Story, surely we have a winner there, right? No giving. Well, we do have receiving of a gift, the famous Red Ryder BB Gun. And we have a lot of comedy. Does the shooting of the BB gun count as a gunshot? Because I can think of another Christmas film with them. What about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, surely that is a huge Christmas classic. Lot’s of giving in there, right? Not so much, actually. We have some bullying, some running away, some formulation of the thought that maybe the characters will fit in elsewhere, then the trek home, fighting with a Bumble … wait … none of this is really about Christmas until the VERY end of the movie when Rudolph actually leads Santa’s sleigh, and the subsequent song for the ages.
Obviously I’m cherry picking here a bit, but you can hopefully understand my point. There is no definition. If a movie reminds us of Christmas, or family, or makes us smile and laugh or hum a Christmas tune, well then it should count. So, in my humble opinion, Die Hard works.
Dude, I have no hate here. Growing annoyance, yes, a bit. Probably should have counted to one hundred before I wrote that last post. And re-reading this latest one I feel it growing again, as you start picking apart my suggestion of ‘giving’ as if that’s the only thing a Christmas movie can be. Look, I’m not going to rules-lawyer this thing to death. I’ll have to paraphrase Potter Stephens and say that I know a Christmas movie when I see one. Clearly you and everyone else does too, and that’s fine. Not like I’m going to drive to your house and disconnect your Netflix. But I’m beating a dead horse here.
In the spirit of giving, I am stepping off here, yes, for reals this time. It was fun arguing for a while but I’ve said about all there is to say. Except this: while I agree you have every right to call Die Hard a “Christmas movie”, I maintain that doing so renders the phrase meaningless. And merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
Man it’s quite okay. As mentioned I’m just chatting back with you, no hate. I too shall step away from replying, sir. Let us instead argue over something more important. What is the best game on Steam sale right now, because I have money apparently burning a hole in my pocket?
I will offer this too, you’ve seen it. Others here have not, how on earth does that happen?
I honestly have no idea how you get to adulthood without having seen Die Hard. Maybe it’s a relic of a bygone time, and we’re all just old farts. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen it.
As far as best game on Steam I couldn’t begin to say, but I will point out that I’m thinking about buying The Return of Obra Dinn, since it looks really interesting. But you probably have to be into puzzles to be interested.
And as god as my witness, this will be my last post in the thread.
