30 Feminist Christmas Movies, Ranked
By Emily Scott
Happy Christmas, Screencap via Magnolia Pictures
Happy Christmas
Jenny, a somewhat reckless 20-something, moves in with her brother Jeff and his young family after a bad breakup. While she struggles to adjust to their domestic lifestyle, Jeff’s wife Kelly faces a crossroads in her career as a novelist. With Jenny’s support, Kelly requests some time away from parenting their baby son in order to write as a Christmas gift. When Jeff agrees, Jenny and her friend Carson help Kelly evolve as a writer and as a person.
The Good
- This movie really, really celebrates female friendship. The relationship between Jenny and Kelly is supportive, complex, and, most importantly, very real.
- Jenny is a party girl trying to become an adult, while Kelly is a wife and mom trying to recapture her own life and creativity. The movie shows these women as very different, but able to relate to each other in a deep way. It allows the women to be who they are, with no limitations.
- In the movie, Kelly ends up trying to write a romance novel, with the encouragement and help of Jenny and Carson. Though the book involves sex, the women are never sexualized. Nor is Kelly, as a mom, shown to be repressed in her sexuality. It’s a small part of the movie, but a positive representation of sex nonetheless.
The Bad
- This movie is so great in terms of its feminism that it’s hard to find things to criticize about it. However, it is meaningful how little diversity there is in the film. There is a small cast, but they could have included at least one person of color or one LGBT+ character.
The Ugly
- There is a degree to which Jenny is judged by her brother and his wife Kelly. Her general outgoing, irresponsible personality is initially seen as immature by them – and it is, a little bit. But by the end of the film, Jenny grows up a bit, and Kelly realizes what Jenny’s outlook on life can add to her own life.