The Christmas Movie

 I don't exactly know what got into me this holiday season, but while I was sick this week, I watched a number of Christmas movies.  One of the under recognized benefits of a service like Netflix is that you can find this genre without really breaking a sweat.  While I was a tad febrile and bed bound, I immersed myself in the movies of the season.  I have to say that while I am a bit skeptical in general that one's mood can be positively influenced by a movie or two, I do have to admit it helped a bit with the post-election funk that I have been in.

The underlying themes that I ended up appreciating about these movies was the hopefulness and the belief in the goodness of others.  I would have been happier if this goodness was somehow not tied to the season, but rather a feature of mankind, something that we should strive for at all times, but maybe this is as good as it gets, that we have seasons for giving and being thoughtful and doing the right thing, and that time is now, when it is coldest and darkest and so we have to dig deeper to find all of that, but that the holidays can inspire that in us.  Or maybe it is just sappy....