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Christmas movies can be formulaic, sappy, and cheesy.
No, for real.
In white holiday movies, the most significant threat is often the loss of some ill-defined Christmas magic.
ornament that returns peace to some Scandinavian-esque town square.
Those movies certainly have a place in our hearts.
Theres illness, economic uncertainty, love, loss, and tangled family ties.
In the 90s and early aughts, a few Black-centered holiday movies landed in theaters.
Some recognizable themes and tropes run through these stories: Someones usually dead, dying, or recently diagnosed.
A home or a business is often at stake.
Family secrets spill out in the third act.
Georgias lack of resources prohibits her from getting a second opinion.
Nobody deserves misery.
Its just your turn now.
Best Man HolidayisStepmom-level sad, but the most heartbreaking moments in the film are intermixed with the most joyful.
The juxtaposition of joy and mourning is never incongruous in the film.
In fact, it is unequivocally Black.
Someones Dead!
It aint a Christmas movie unless someones daddy kicks the bucket into their forever nap.
The gall of this man, even in death!
Like many Black Christmas films,A Jenkins Family Christmasis heavy on religion and the church.
If my baby wants me to hear her sing, then thats what Ill do.
A decade after her fathers death, Kandi (Amber Riley) is barely hanging on.
Its all very dire for our good sis.
Whatever it is, our happy ending finds Kandi returning to music.
Its all delightfully messy and Black camp at its finest.
Oh no!
InYou Cant Fight Christmas(2017) andHoliday Heist(2019),gentrification threatens that community.
We need to rebrand from the bottom up.
They wont be happy until they get rid of all of us.
Gentrification shapes the plot ofHoliday Heist, too, set in the South Side of Chicago.
Its facing foreclosure, and developers are hounding owner Robert Holiday (Phillip Edward Van Lear) to sell.
Still, the heartfelt beats of a traditional Christmas story shine through.
(Their love is complicated, okay?)
Black Love
I just want a compliment.
Dating as a Black woman over 30is even harder.
And Christmastime, when a family is all in your business, makes it damn near impossible.
Amid the onscreen dearth of healthy representations of Black love, these two films areessential holiday viewing.
Nancys only Christmas wish is to receivea compliment, which we all know is ludicrous.
Expecting the audience to believe Gabrielle THE FACE Union cannot get a compliment?
Outlandish, unless we consider the abysmal dating pool for Black women, and especially Black single moms.
Will you marry me?
One Kelendria Trene Rowland has moved mountains with theMerry Liddle Christmasfilm series.
Also, its nice to see Kelly Rowland, whom we remembertexting into Excel, nowtalking AIwith her sisters.
Black women in tech!
Yall Hunchin?
Family Mess
You know what?
Im gonna go get Grandma.
These characters are so caustic to each other.
Cheryl wants Rachel to learn to accept help from others.
Rachel wants Cheryl to leave Lonnie and his long-gone basketball career behind.
Christian is considering selling out the homeless shelter where his mother and her family sought refuge.
It all leads to a disastrous Big Family Dinner.
Walter finally shares that he is selling the house.
Its the balance of pain and light, stress and joy, reality and dreams.
Its real Christmas magic.
