The Mystery of the Missing Thanksgiving Movies
By Connor Shearn
By Connor Shearn
Be it a miracle in the snow or a blood curdling chase from a janitor with a kitchen knife, there is no shortage of Christmas or Halloween movies. The shortage appears in the nearly two month gap spanning the two holidays and the cinematic-ally forgotten celebration right in the middle.
Where are all the Thanksgiving movies?
The problem here isn’t that there are a million movies for Christmas and none for Thanksgiving. That is a simple misconception; there is one movie for Christmas, one movie for Halloween and one less for Thanksgiving. Surely, you’d think that this can’t be true. There are so many classics: It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, A Christmas Carol, The Polar Express, and even Rocky IV. There is a plethora of great films, perfectly unique films, absolutely different about a miserable man, a happy helper, and a time-sensitive quest to find “the true meaning of Christmas.” Every Christmas movie is a sappy seasonal story of some serendipitous silly situations solved with a spoonful of faith and a pinch of fairy dust; likewise, every Halloween movie is a thriller where despite the efforts of many, convenient plot armor keeps the antagonist around just until they are about to kill the guy you’re rooting for. While some do get a bit crafty, most seasonal movies are just the same plot recycled endlessly. The reason that this can’t work for our little forgotten holiday: there isn’t much of a plot. Children believe that Christmas is a day of magical possibility, they likewise believe that on Halloween the impossible can happen, fantastical creatures coming to life. Thanksgiving is a time of family drama and a mildly discordant chorus of discourse. This just isn’t a suitable plot for a three act film, and so I present the real Thanksgiving movies: sitcoms.
In a sitcom, fans know the characters just as well as their own families. They know all the subtle jokes they play on each other, the touchy subjects to set them off and the complex relationships between the many members of their favorite dysfunctional family. This isn’t an industry secret, this formula can be seen in almost every American sitcom. “Friends” famously had an annual Thanksgiving episode but they’re far from alone. Thanksgiving episodes have made appearances in “The Office”, “Sunny in Philadelphia”, “Modern Family”, “Community”, and “How I Met Your Mother”.
This Thursday, consider watching reruns of your favorite sitcom’s holiday specials. It’s never too late for some holiday spirit (But don’t put up a Christmas tree yet, it’s far too early.)