Whether Die Hard is a Christmas Movie

Is the 1988 Bruce Willis flick ‘Die Hard’ really a Christmas movie? Some folks say it is while others insist to the contrary.

In pursuit of an informed opinion, I watched this movie for the first time with my older sons a few nights ago while my wife and daughter were at a cookie exchange party for the ladies in our church small group. 

And here is my take: ‘Die Hard’ is a Christmas movie for cops.

It isn’t just for cops. Don’t get me wrong. But it seems to me as though law enforcement especially, as well as other first responders like firefighters, EMTs, veterans, et cetera, who cannot necessarily take the day off from reckoning with people on their worst days, find in John McClain a relatable character.

Bad guys don’t necessarily take the holidays off. And that often means the folks who take the calls when the defecation hits the oscillation can’t either.

And when it turns out the good guys can’t enjoy the holidays with family because terrorists have taken a Christmas party hostage at Nakatomi Plaza, or whatever equivalent scenario you prefer, it’s not too much to ask in my view that those good guys have their own Christmas movie as it were.

Viewer Discretion Advised

Could the language be cleaned up a bit here? For sure. Could we have all done without the brief flashes of skin which cropped up a time or two? You bet.

But there too, this is part of the stark reality the good guys have to reckon with when the call comes in that there has been some sort of disturbance of the peace. When the bad guys decide to do bad things on Christmas, they don’t draw the line on what sort of vocabulary they employ.

That settled, Die Hard is not a movie to watch with the whole family. And I wouldn’t even say it’s a movie to watch every year like a new Christmas tradition.

I’m glad we waited to watch it until my wife and daughter were out and about, and I’m further glad that I sent our younger boys downstairs to watch something more age appropriate for them.

But I’m also glad that I watched the movie at least once myself, and that I watched it with my older boys to the end of cultivating conversations about how real men can’t afford to take the day off – even on Christmas – from doing their duty and protecting innocent folks, especially their families.

In summary, then, I’d say Die Hard is in fact a Christmas movie, albeit a very particular kind.

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