By O’Connor Daniel | Reporter
With finals approaching and Christmas lights beginning to illuminate campus, Baylor students and professors are settling into the movies that define the season, from black-and-white classics to childhood favorites and family traditions passed down for decades.
For many, Christmas films serve as the unofficial start to the holiday break. Orlando, Fla., senior Charlotte Weir said her family’s Christmas Eve tradition always centers around “Elf.”
“My favorite Christmas movie is Elf because my family watches it every Christmas Eve and quotes the entire movie,” Weir said. “I think anyone else would hate watching it with us because we are so annoying with how much we quote the lines.”
Weir said the tradition also connects to her mother, whose birthday is on Christmas Day.
“This has been such a constant tradition in my life that I can’t even think of the first time I watched it,” she said. “I just know I was in my matching Christmas PJs sipping hot chocolate with my family. I don’t have a single bad memory attached to this film.”
Classic Christmas films continue to resurface each December, sustained by the themes at the center of Christmas.
Film and Digital Media professor Corey Carbonara said classics like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Miracle on 34th Street” continue to return each year because they reflect the purpose of Christmas.
“I believe the reason why these classics and other films that I consider to be classic Christmas movies that continue to come around every single Christmas is because of their underlying theme: the wonderful gift of giving and loving, which is what Christmas is all about,” Carbonara said. “Giving and loving stem from the fact that God is love and these stories bring to the screen the best of who we are, made in God’s image and given the ultimate gift of all — his only begotten son. Jesus Christ, our savior.”
It is in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ that we are given the incredible insight to see first-hand how we actually make a difference in other people’s lives,” he said. “And in ‘Miracle on 34th St.’ we see the impact of Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, who by his very nature teaches us to be kind and generous to all, and that the greatest gift given is love.”
He also pointed to a few personal favorites.
“Another wonderful movie that is a favorite of mine is ‘A Christmas Story,’ and the lovable way of seeing Christmas and family through the eyes of a child,” Carbonara said. “One other movie that I really like to watch during Christmas is the biblical epic ‘King of Kings’, where the true meaning of Christmas shows how Jesus is the reason for the season.
“Finally, one of the most impactful movies I love to watch at Christmas, and I think it’s really truly a classic, is ‘The Nativity Story,’ a film for the entire family that is both inspirational and entertaining, and also one that shows the true meaning of Christmas,” he continued.
As campus quiets down and winter break approaches, students and faculty alike seem drawn to films that offer comfort, tradition and a reminder of the values that define the season — generosity, joy and the hope at the center of Christmas.
Whether it’s George Bailey running through the streets of Bedford Falls, Buddy the Elf shouting Christmas cheer, or the Nativity brought to life on screen, the movies Baylor chooses each December reveal not only what people watch, but how they view Christmas.
