The Best Artistic Genre You're Not Consuming
It's Not Hot Frosty But It's Not NOT Hot Frosty
Much to my chagrin, I’ve never found myself curled up on the couch in front of a Netflix holiday movie.
Maybe because this is due to my early bedtime and need to ruthlessly prioritize when it comes to TV. Maybe it’s because my algorithm doesn’t want me to experience joy and thus has never served me delicious little morsels in the shape of Hot Frosty (Netflix’s most recent smash holiday hit).
But for whatever reason, the delights of the Netflix holiday movie industrial complex have eluded me. But this essay isn’t about ironically watching Hot Frosty (although this seems like an almost universally lauded pastime!) This essay is about my very earnest and passionate love of a genre adjacent to comfortingly formulaic and brain smoothing holiday movies. It’s about a genre that indeed, could not EXIST without vaguely witchy Irish saints (?) or switched princesses or a kingdom called Aldovia or of course, a snowman that comes to life and knows instantly how to read but doesn’t understand public nudity!
I’m here to sing the praises of a genre that is scientifically guaranteed to lift you from the depression of a breakup, the sleep deprived shock of new motherhood, the winter ennui of being an adult, the fevered haze of a flu. It’s a genre that requires ZERO background knowledge or context, and it’s a genre that will absolutely make you happier than you were before consuming it. I must stress that these are objective facts.
The genre of High Art you didn’t know you were missing out on is the wide and wonderful Netflix Holiday Movie Recap Industrial Complex. It’s my favorite place to be, and, in my opinion, the most valuable thing the internet has ever midwifed into existence.