The premise of The Polar Express (2004), that a young boy cannot hear the chime of a bell because he refuses to believe in the mystery of Santa Claus, never seemed too peculiar. It was the reaction of those around me that sparked my interest. My mother never left a viewing of the movie without bursting into tears. My older cousins followed suit, looking at me with a knowing smile when the man in red revealed himself to be real. I may have been confused, but I was perceptive enough to recognize that there was something left unsaid, a secret code communicated within the script. When the Tom Hanks-looking Saint Nicholas held up the bell and promised, “the magic of Christmas lies in your heart,” I applauded. Believing seemed as simple as that.

Christmas movies have become an inescapable phenomenon, particularly due to cable television events. Hallmark churns out holiday-themed films by the dozens beginning on Oct. 25. Freeform is notorious for their 25 Days of Christmas countdown. 

The popularity of seasonal movies for the family is nothing new. For Hanna Marchessault ‘22, who remembers learning the truth about Santa Claus when she was roughly 9, watching classic Christmas movies was always a form of holiday comfort--and confusion. 

“I always remember being little and really questioning the idea of Santa, especially in movies like The Santa Clause.” This film centers around a divorced father who mocks the idea of Santa until the man himself falls from the roof of his home and he must personally take up the task of bringing presents to children. 

This is a common trope among children’s Christmas movies: a doubtful mom or dad, hardened by adulthood, learns to accept the spirit of the season when Santa proves himself to be magic. Typically, “believing” is what saves the day. Elf (2003) follows this algorithm perfectly. When an abnormally human-looking worker from the North Pole arrives in New York City, he meets a young woman who doesn’t believe his origin story. He spends the rest of the movie trying to prove to her and to his younger brother that Santa is, in fact, real. It is only when all of the disbelievers begin to change their minds that Santa regains his ability to fly his sleigh. 

As filmmakers seemingly intend, some children do not pick up the hints to adult audiences. “I was re-watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas and thinking ‘Wow this plot is actually super deep.’ As a child, I was just amazed by the colors, the music, and Max the Dog,” Soleil Easton ‘22 says.

Molly Goodrich ‘22 agrees. “I never really picked up on the implications that Santa wasn’t real in any of the media I consumed as a kid. I think I was too preoccupied with decorating and making wish-lists. The beliefs of anyone else (even fictional characters) didn’t sway my opinion,” she says.

Despite some situational naiveté, the threat of spoiling perhaps the largest collective international lie is posed upon parents every year when they decide to turn on the television and allow their children to take in Christmas content. Common Sense Media, one of the largest entertainment vetting websites for parents, even has its own barometer for Santa sensitivity, a compilation of “secret spoiling” books and films entitled, Santa Spoiler Alerts! 

While most of these films end with an ultimate acceptance of Santa’s existence, the plight that leads to this conclusion is not lost on all children. In an age where so much information is at our fingertips, it almost feels impossible that this upcoming generation’s parents will be able to maintain the charade of Santa Claus. 

By the time that I had the dreaded conversation with my family, I was 9 years old. I still find a great sense of comfort in The Polar Express, even if I now know that elves don’t operate in choreographed dance numbers, or at all. Maybe it really does come down to the magic of Christmas that persists within me.