Die Hard Questions

RazorSaint said
I don't know why some people have such stringent requirements on what is or is not a Christmas movie, but only when it comes to Die Hard. Does there need to be elves to qualify? Reindeer?

Home Alone is almost universally considered a Christmas movie, yet a kid could be left at home to deal with robbers any other time of year. Bad Santa is considered a Christmas movie but has no Christmas theme outside of the occupation of the main characters. I'd even argue that A Christmas Story could be centered around Ralphy's birthday and it wouldn't change the plot. It would only mean AMC wouldn't play it on repeat for 2 weeks leading up to Christmas.

Home Alone is a Christmas movie 100%. The Wet Bandits are in the neighborhood they are in because everyone in the neighborhood is going out of town for Christmas. Specifically the McAllisters are going to Paris because Kate's (The Mom) sibling is paying for them all to fly out for Christmas in Paris.

The entire plot of Bad Santa requires the main character to continue his job as a terrible Santa Clause at a mall so they can rip off stores in said mall. You can't really have that happen if Billy Bob isn't a Santa. He is too much of a loser to hold down a real job, therefore being a Santa is about the only thing he can do aside from stealing. Christmas is an integral part of the plot and really can't be replaced with anything else.

A Christmas Story's entire plot revolve around Christmas. You say you can replace it with Ralphie's birthday, but you can't. The entire movie is centered on how he will get the BB gun for Christmas. He tells his mom and she shoots him down He writes his Christmas Theme in hopes that he can get the teacher's approval, therefore his mom would have to agree, and he gets shot down.

The last ditch effort is to ask Santa Clause for the gun directly, and he gets shot down again. When Christmas finally gets here, he opens all of his gifts and is appreciative of hat he received, then his Christmas Miracle happens and he gets his gun. It's all about Christmas. Can't replace it with his birthday, it wouldn't work.