ChaiWithPriya The magic of Christmas (movies)

A few years ago I made it my mission to watch as many Christmas movies as I could.

At the time I watched around two movies a day. Some of them were old favourites, others modern classics, and some I never thought to revisit again because they were just so bad.

At the time I was very unwell with Long Covid and on six-month sick leave from my job as a reporter at the Chronicle.

As one day blurred into the next, and I was overridden with fatigue, insomnia and all other strange symptoms my body was experiencing, the one thing that helped me to survive the run up to December and missing out on festive events were Christmas movies and crochet.

It also reminded me of when I younger and I would curl up in my parents’ bed full of a cold and tonsillitis and seek comfort in Christmas movies while they worked long hours in the shop.

During that sickly year I spent hours and hours watching Christmas movie after Christmas movie to pass the time, escaping into magical worlds where Santa Claus would save the day, the main characters would fall in love and all would be good with the world.

The reality was I was bored and sick and alone. The world had moved on from Covid, but I was still very unwell.

And after two Christmases where there were restrictions during the worst of the Covid spread, people were out and socialising and partying.

Meanwhile I was sat on my sofa with my mantita, my parrots and a cup of tea and I would escape into the magical world of Christmas movies.

Three years on I’ve barely managed two new Christmas movies, half a viewing of Love Actually and two or three re-runs of old favourites such as Home Alone, The Holiday and The Grinch.

I look back and I am grateful that I have come a long way in my recovery from Long Covid which means I am out and about, socialising and working and reading books again.

But I’m hoping to spend some time over the next few days to watch a few movies between Christmas and the New Year.

At dinner the other night a friend was telling me she was looking forward to watching The Polar Express with her nephews and it got me thinking about Christmas movies, and how so many of them still entertain and entice viewers year after year.

I may have seen Home Alone a hundred times over the years, but there is still something so hopeful about the film, I spend the last half hour yearning for Kevin McAllister to be reunited with his family in time for Christmas.

But it also reminds me of the many times I watched it with my late uncle and he would cackle at those scenes when the characters of Marv and Harry would get hurt after being caught in one of Kevin’s traps.

My favourite used to be the Miracle on 34th Street, and while I really liked the 1994 version starring Richard Attenborough who played Kris Kringle, the original 1947 version was what truly captured my heart.

Then there was Die Hard, which I first watched with my dad many years ago. There was enough action in the film to stop him from zapping through channels and Christmassy enough for me where the good guys won.

I’ve gone through so many generations Christmas movies with my nieces – The Nightmare before Christmas, Elf, The Grinch who Stole Christmas, The Santa Claus, Bad Santa, The Muppets Christmas Carol, all the Harry Potter movies and The Christmas Chronicles, just to name a few.

Then there’s the genre of Christmas movies where the main female character returns to her hometown after years of working in the city and runs into her small-town ex-boyfriend.

After a series of mishaps, the pair eventually fall in love with each other again and all is well and the pair live happily ever after.

The irony is that while I don’t celebrate Christmas at home, but I love everything about the festive season.

And for a few hours of my day, I can forget about real life and escape into a magical world where it snows, there’s an endless supply of festive joy and shenanigans.

And more than anything, it’s the message of hope, of belief in something good, and of new beginnings that feels like the perfect way to wrap up the year.