Dear Seasonal Screenplays,
Every December, we settle in with our favorite holiday films – the classics, the comfort rewatches, the new releases that promise “fresh magic” and almost always deliver the same predictable charm.
We watch them for nostalgia, for warmth, for tradition…
but we rarely talk about the truth woven into them:
Holiday movies are just us in disguise.
They reflect our hopes, our fears, our fantasies,
and the pieces of ourselves we don’t know how to say out loud.
Think about it:
We love stories where people come home again –
because deep down, we’re still trying to figure out where we belong.
We love stories where someone realizes “the real gift is love” –
because part of us is still trying to believe that.
We love stories where a lonely character finds connection –
because loneliness is one of the most universal December emotions.
We love stories where chaos turns into meaning –
because we’re secretly hoping our own chaos will too.
Holiday movies aren’t escapism.
They’re emotional confessionals.
They say the soft things for us –
the longings, the regrets, the reconciliations, the wishes we’d never admit except in the glow of twinkle lights.
We see the best version of ourselves in them,
and sometimes the worst.
We see the family we wish we had,
and sometimes the one we’re healing from.
We see the love we hope for,
and the hurts we’re still mending.
They mirror everything we bring into December:
our exhaustion,
our nostalgia,
our desire for magic,
our craving for rest,
our hunger for connection.
So when we press play this year,
let’s notice what we’re drawn to.
Let’s notice what tugs at us,
what irritates us,
what makes us cry at scenes we’ve seen a dozen times.
Because holiday movies aren’t telling us who to be.
They’re reminding us who we already are –
and who we still long to become.
🎬✨
~ The Radical Left