Tis the Season! Christmas lights are up, the Christmas tree is up and lit, Santa Claus is on his way, malls are getting crowded, people are shopping online, people are playing Christmas music and going to Christmas displays, people are decorating their houses and people are feeling the jolly feeling of Christmas full of joy, love and sharing. People have their own ways of spending the holiday by doing all of those, having Christmas parties or just simply spreading love like sending gifts and Christmas cards and even helping those who are less fortunate than us and those who can't spend Christmas with their loved ones far away.
However, there is one thing I love to do during all the month of December until Christmas Day -- watch Christmas movies! I love all the old classic movies that came when I was growing up like "Home Alone", "Home Alone 2: Lost In New York", "The Christmas Story", "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and "Elf." I've always had a love for comedy movies and dramas and the feeling of nostalgia. That's why I don't care to watch many Christmas TV movies like those you watch on the Hallmark channel. For me, that channel is all about romance and love. I don't get all the hype of watching a lot of romantic movies unless you're a hopeless romantic, hurting from a broken relationship or love is in the air for you.
Speaking of romance, how do I feel about romantic movies in general? Overdone and overrated! I don't know how people can watch so many of it. Man loves woman. Woman loves a man and will do whatever it takes to get his attention. Man cheats on woman then the woman gets mad and wants revenge or divorce or whatever. It's already done. I'm over it. Even if it's Christmastime, I'm not a fan of romantic movies during the holiday or at any time. However, I watched "Love Actually" recently. I saw it for the very first time years ago and I was not into it. Perhaps I wasn't into a lot of things at the time. I didn't think the movie discussed Christmas enough even though it was Christmastime. I love movies that actually discuss Christmas-related topics like going Christmas shopping, going on Christmas vacations, spending time with loved ones for Christmas, Santa Claus, lights, music etc.... That's all the reason why I love to watch the classic movies. Plus, there are lines and popular scenes that many people and I remember to this day from those movies like "Elf" and "Home Alone."
This year, "Love Actually" is 20 years so so it seems appropriate to discuss it now with the holidays underway. In "Love Actually," I hardly think there are any memorable lines or scenes for me, except when Hugh Grant came downstairs, dancing. There are a lot of scenes of romance in the movies and even sex (keep in mind the movie is "R" rated, for those who have children!). Not my cup of tea. So normally, I'd wouldn't be interested in watching a movie like this again. However, I find this movie different for me and I would watch it again.
First of all, I'm a huge fan of British TV, especially comedy ones. "Keeping Up Appearances" and "My Family" are just two of my favorite British comedy shows. If you've seen "My Family," you'll recognized one of the characters from "Love Actually," Kris Marshall. Kris plays "Nick" in "My Family" and is my absolute favorite! I stumbled onto "Love Actually" earlier today and he was the first face I saw so I kept watching before I was ready to change the channels because I knew this movie was a romance. I'm glad I did stay with this movie because I saw a lot of other familiar faces like Colin Firth ("The Secret Garden"), Alan Rickman and Emma Thomspon (both from the "Harry Potter" franchise), Rowan Atkinson ("Mr. Bean"), Hugh Grant ("Nine Months") and Liam Neeson ("Suspect").
So the familiarity of those faces captivated my interest at the beginning when I re-watched the movie. As the movie kept playing, I'm almost forgetting I'm watching a Christmas movie because of all the storylines you see here, containing so much romance, close friendships, self-discovery" and pain. Sometimes, I'm thinking "why is this a Christmas movie?" when the movie talks about people falling in love with each other and we don't see as many elements of Christmas as we've seen in other classic Christmas movies?
Maybe this movie didn't intend to give us the same feeling of Christmas like those classic Christmas movies but regardless, I still love this movie because it's around Christmas time, I love the British atmosphere with the accents, the setting and the dry humor. It's too bad the movie had to consist of adult-themed situations like scenes of sex and the foul language because without those, I think the movie could've been rated "PG" as "PG" movies, to me, gives me a good feeling. That's one of the things Christmas is about. Joy and having good feelings. At the beginning of the movie, there are shots from the airport with the narrator explaining about loving others, regardless of who you are. He states that "love actually" is all around. It's all around the world but we don't see more of it as we'd like because it's not seen as much in the news or social media.
International airports are probably some of the best places to see a lot of love from people, especially from those from all over the world when they greet each other after arrival with love, regardless of who they are and regardless of how they know each other. People greet each other after departing for a short period of time, sometimes a very long period of time and you see nothing but love between them. At the end, after the characters struggle to find the right person or the person meant for them during the movie, they're all at the airport greeting and loving each other one month later. I thought the scene of the young boy, Sam, going after the girl he loved at the airport with his "father's" help was a pretty nice touch! Colin (Kris Marshall) apparently has the idea to fall in love not in Britain but in the States. Like I said, love is all around the world!
That's when it hit me and I get why it's a perfect Christmas movie. Christmas shouldn't be all about decorations, making hundreds of Christmas cookies, buying as many Christmas gifts and spending as much money as you can or going to all the kids' Christmas plays. Those are great ways to get that festive and joyous feeling because that's what Christmas is about. A joyous feeling, especially once a year. It should be about sharing, loving and thinking of others rather than ourselves. This is something we should be doing year-round but it's unfortunate that many people show this much love and giving only around Christmastime.
The characters from "Love Actually" show they are relatable and that love doesn't have to be romance and sex. It can occur between friends and acquaintances. Christmas is really about people and being real with each other through love and sharing, whether it's between family, friends or even strangers from all over the globe.
