The Patriot Post® · In Brief: Is 'Die Hard' a Christmas Movie?
“First, let’s get something straight,” says columnist Mark Hemingway, “the definitive answer to the question ‘Is "Die Hard” a Christmas movie?’ is that there’s no definitive answer to that question.“
Oh come on, you might be thinking. Well, the good news is that Hemingway, "a certified Gen X cultural sherpa,” proceeds to “tell you every relevant detail behind a silly debate that has now morphed into a seasonal tradition.” He promises his story will “blow a few minds.”
So one thing that always bothered me about the “Is ‘Die Hard’ a Christmas movie?” discourse is why does it only center on “Die Hard”? Those of us who grew up in the ‘80s know that in a decade full of iconic action films, “Die Hard” isn’t the only one set during Christmas. In fact, just over a year before “Die Hard” was released in the summer of 1988, “Lethal Weapon” was released in theaters. Though it’s not quite as beloved as “Die Hard,” it spawned several sequels and was a mega-hit in theaters — it’s probably the film that cemented Mel Gibson’s status as one of the biggest movie stars ever. Despite being released in March, “Lethal Weapon,” about an obsessive and mentally unstable cop and his fussy partner who chase a dangerous band of drug smugglers all over L.A., is quite conspicuously set during Christmas.
Not surprisingly, both “Die Hard” and “Lethal Weapon” had something in common: They were both projects of Hollywood megaproducer Joel Silver. “One of our producers, Joel Silver, had made Lethal Weapon the previous year, which was also set during the holiday, and he had decided he liked all his movies to take place at Christmas, as they would then very likely be played on television every December, and we would all get residual checks,” observed Steven de Souza, one of the original screenwriters on “Die Hard.” “Obviously, he was right!”
Hemingway draws other connections (producer, screenwriter, action plots, etc.) to bolster the point, but he concludes by turning to a far more interesting conspiracy theory to seal the deal:
One of the most obvious “Die Hard” rip-offs of the era rarely gets credited as such. “Home Alone” is obviously family entertainment, the action is decidedly looney tunes, and it’s such an ingenious comedy in its own right there’s a reason it doesn’t usually invite direct comparisons to “Die Hard” (though I’m hardly the first guy to notice). But it came out just two years after “Die Hard,” and the plot is the same formula: A lone person trapped in a building on Christmas fights off criminals by making them walk into a series of traps.
It’s pretty safe to say that without “Die Hard,” there would be no “Home Alone.” I’m sure at some point in the pitch meeting, someone uttered the phrase “Die Hard, but for kids.” After they got done laughing about it, screenwriter John Hughes realized he could make it work. (And for what it’s worth, Hughes, best known for classic teen movies such as “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club,” was fresh off of writing “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” in 1989 — has any other filmmaker made two classic Christmas films in back-to-back years?)
Here’s where it gets interesting. Bonnie Bedelia, the actress who plays Holly Gennaro, i.e., John McClane’s wife in “Die Hard,” is the real-life aunt of “Home Alone” star Macaulay Culkin, who plays Kevin. So let’s just imagine for the hell of it that the fact that both Catherine O'Hara, who plays Kevin’s mother in “Home Alone,” and Bonnie Bedelia have red hair isn’t a total coincidence — you could easily squint and imagine the two were sisters. Let’s say that the maiden name of Catherine O'Hara’s character in “Home Alone” (the family is never given a last name in the film) is Gennaro, which would make Holly Gennaro McClane and Kevin’s mom sisters. Ergo, Kevin from “Home Alone” is John McClane’s nephew in the extended “Die Hard”/“Home Alone” universe.
BOOM. You now know everything you could possibly need to know about “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?” Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.