Who wants to feel all warm and fuzzy this Christmas?
Christmas films are a highly divisive subject. Some people love them, others hate them – and there are even some people who watch them all year round. Crazy, right?
Despite the amount of chocolate and snacky bits that tend to get eaten alongside these films, the flicks themselves are apparently good for you.
Speaking to online nostalgia outlet Do You Remember? in 2019, a psychologist explained just how films like Home Alone and A Christmas Carol could benefit our health.
“It does create that neurological shift that can produce happiness,” said American psychologist Deborah Serani.
“I think anything that takes us out of our normal habituation, the normal day in, day out… signals our senses, and then our senses measure if it’s pleasing or not. Christmas decorating will spike dopamine, a feel-good hormone.”
Christmas films very often have a cheerful ending or, at the very least, a positive message. Whether it’s finding Christmas cheer or saving Christmas entirely, it makes complete sense that we all begin feeling a little gooey when our fave Crimbo classics come on the telly.
They also noted: “Christmas decorating will spike dopamine, a feel-good hormone [too].”
However what’s the best feel-good Christmas film of all time? Well, IMDB ranks Christmas with the Cranks as the highest.
Based on the 2001 novel Skipping Christmas by John Grisham, the flick follows a family who suddenly decides to cancel Christmas. However, when their daughter returns home, the family scrambles to sort everything from decorations to the Christmas dinner.
A lot of other entries are films you would usually find your grandparents forcibly putting on, including Miracle on 34th Street, The Bells of St. Mary’s and It’s a Wonderful Life.
Personally, SAW is the ultimate Christmas classic and it totally works as long as you wear a Santa hat and eat mince pies whilst watching it.
Related links:
- Grandma blasted for buying grandkids matching Christmas PJs except son’s step-child
- How The Grinch Stole Christmas is officially the most Christmassy film ever, according to science
- Roast potatoes are officially the best bit about Christmas dinner, according to science
