Holy Christ! Not a Lot of Christ in Christmas Movies (Thankfully)

Carol, no Jesus but there are lesbians

There’s not a lot of Christ in Christmas movies. The holiday on December 25th is ostensibly about the birth of Jesus of Nazareth who, as you may have heard, is believed by some to by the son of God. Yet Hollywood has downplayed the whole Jesus business. I, for one, am grateful that Christmas films tend to be secular in nature. Here’s a look at my favorite Christmas films and how much Christianity they inflict on us (spoiler: not much).

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) Capra. At the beginning of the movie we meet three characters, one an angel, who seem to reside in heaven though no reference to the kingdom of God is mentioned. We also hear people directing prayers to the almighty. In the last quarter or so of the film the angel, Clarence, is present and he has supernatural powers but we don’t hear anything about Jesus.

Christmas in Connecticut (1945) Godfrey. Not a word about God or Jesus that I can recall.

Fanny and Alexander (1982) Bergman. Nope, nary a word about the “savior’s” birth.

Mon Oncle Antoine (1971) Jutra. Ditto. (Someone dies but he's not resurrected...wait, that's Easter, never mind.) 

The Shop Around the Corner (1940) Lubitsch. Not a word.

Rare Exports (2010) Helander. Same again.

The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1943) Sturges. Ibid..

Happiest Season (2020) DuVall. Hardly. (There are gay characters, however.)

Carol (2015) Haynes. Again no Jesus, but lesbians.

The Bishop’s Wife (1947) Koter. Okay so you would think a film that centers around an angel (Cary Grant) giving assistance to a bishop (David Niven) and his wife (Loretta Young) would be chock full of Jesus. You’d be wrong. There is a bit of religion in the film but just a smidge and only veiled reference to the son of God, or even God herself. 

Home Alone (1990) Columbus. There’s a scene in a church with hymns being sung, but that’s about it.

Home Alone 2 (1992) Columbus. Not even that.

Elf (2003) Favreau. Yeah, right.

A Christmas Carol (1951) Hurst. Tiny Tim talks a little about Jesus but not to the extent that it gets annoying. This goes for all the other versions of the story.

The Holdovers (2023) Payne. Nope.

Trading Places. (19830 Landis Not a peep.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) Seaton. The miracle here is unrelated to a deity bringing about virgin births.

A Boy Called Christmas. It Happened on Fifth Avenue. Remember the Night. Muppets Christmas Carol. Miracle on 34th Street. The Man Who Came to Dinner. No, no, no, no, no and finally no.

There you have it. I can’t speak for the millions of Christmas films that Hallmark, Lifetime and Netflix churn out but from what I gather they are mostly free of Jesus.

If you want some Jesus in your movie you can always watch The Last Temptation of Christ, but then again, it’s not set during Christmas.