30 Feminist Christmas Movies, Ranked

Die Hard, Image via 20th Century Fox

Die Hard

John McClane, a New York detective, has travelled to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve. He is on his way to a Christmas party at the Nakatomi corporation, hoping to meet up with his estranged wife Holly in order to reconcile with her. But just as McClane is changing clothes for the party, a large group of men storm the building with weapons. Their leader, Hans Gruber, proceeds to hold the entire floor hostage, except McClane. It falls to McClane to contact the police, fight off Gruber’s henchmen, and rescue the people inside the tower, including Holly.

The Good

• Holly, though being pretty much the only woman in the movie, is smart and works hard in an apparently male-dominated workplace, based on the gender makeup of the hostages. She also takes the lead when dealing with Gruber, which shows bravery and strength.
• Holly supports and helps another woman, who is pregnant, by negotiating with the terrorist to help her lie down on a couch.

The Bad

• So, let’s get this straight. McClane has flown across the country to surprise his estranged wife in public, at her workplace, to try to have it out about their relationship during a Christmas party. Um…no. She went to this party to enjoy herself with her coworkers, not to deal with you. Bye.
• Gruber uses Holly to get to McClane after he finds out their relationship, creating a classic damsel-in-distress situation. Guess who saves the day? Spoiler alert: not Holly.
• Why were Holly and McClane estranged again? I mean, I get that McClane just saved everybody, and emotions are high. But you got out of there for a reason, girl! Don’t get back together just because of that!

The Ugly

• The fact that Holly has almost zero effect in this story and has to be rescued by a man is one thing. But at the end of the movie, she throws a punch at a reporter. It’s a fake “girl power” mockery, and I will not stand for it.