The case for silly vs. serious Christmas movies

polygon.com:

’Tis the season for a million Christmas movies, new and old. Whether you’re taking a chance on something new, like The Holdovers or Candy Cane Lane, or revisiting a classic, likeIt’s a Wonderful Life or Elf, there are so many options, but most Christmas movies seem to fall into two categories: the silly ones and the serious ones.

Is it the silly, lighthearted tales of childhood wonder that really capture the holiday spirit? Or the more melancholy and somber reflections on the meaning of the season that shine brightest? We’re pitting them head-to-head in some very Christmas categories — decorations, dinner, desserts, presents, and magic! — and deciding which type of movie does it better.

All Christmas movies have some level of decorations. In a sad movie, this can be a pathetic tree or an empty stocking. But the silly movies often really play up the decorations, to the point where they can be big, driving elements of the plot. Street-wide decorating competitions! Extravagant trees that are actually full of squirrels! Falling off the roof while stringing up lights, over and over again! Blinding lights! Decorations just lend themselves to shenanigans.

Winner: Silly movies!

Christmas dinner is usually featured in silly movies, often surrounded by hilarious antics, like Jamie Lee Curtis’ Nora Krank feuding with a rival shopper over a honey-baked ham in Christmas with the Kranks or the Griswolds’ elderly and confused Aunt Ruth reciting the Pledge of Allegiance instead of grace in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

But the lonely Christmas dinner is a quintessential part of melancholy Christmas movies. Characters look wistfully through windows at feasts they weren’t invited to, or scrap together a minimal meal because