“Now I have a machine gun, ho ho ho,” the main character of Die Hard, John McClain, played by Bruce Willis, wrote across the chest of a dead terrorist. As all odds are stacked against him, he fights off a group of terrorists at his estranged wife’s office Christmas party.
In a recent survey of Arcata High students 67% of participants said they consider Die Hard to be a Christmas Movie.
This debate is a hot topic among fans of Die Hard. Critics argue if this movie is able to be labeled as a Christmas movie. To get to the heart of this discourse, we first have to define the parameters of the Christmas movie genre.
Freshman Kingston Lee first watched this movie with his family during Christmas, inspired by a debate regarding the movie’s status as a Christmas movie. “To be a Christmas movie, it has to have Christmas around its main plot, enhance the plot forward, or drive the characters’ actions and decisions,” Lee said.
“The events of Die Hard couldn’t have taken place without it being a Christmas movie.” Junior Dylan Scofield claimed. Scofield brings up a good point, being the only reason that John McClain was in the building at the time of the terrorist’s takeover was because of the Christmas party being held in the office there. .
Arcata High sophomore Kona Bettenhausen is solid on the stance that Die Hard is a Christmas movie. “For me it’s always been a movie that I watch during December or Christmas time. And the movie ends with a Christmas song, I can’t remember which one,” Bettenhausen said. That Christmas song is “Let it Snow” by Jule Style.
“To be a Christmas movie it should be centered around ideals of Christmas holidays, like giving or Santa Claus,” senior Juniper Otter said. She’s skeptical about how much Christmas is involved in the movie. “Even if it’s set at Christmas time, [that] doesn’t make it a Christmas movie.” Even with Otter’s stance on Die Hard not making the cut for Christmas Movie status, she remains open minded. “Although I do think other people’s opinion on Die Hard being a Christmas movie is valid.”
