I’m procrastinating a bit this year. Usually I conform to a strict routine of decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, and leaving all the festoons up until New Year’s Day. Well, if you read my last blog, you know that I’I’ve been preoccupied with other things lately. And now here it is the first week in December, and I haven’t done a bit of decorating.

I have noticed, however, that the Christmas lights and decorations went up early all over town. The holiday advertisements began a full month ago. The shopping season is short this year—that’s what I heard.

Since I was a child I’ve listened to others gripe about how commercialized Christmas has become. It’s worse every year. Maybe that’s true. My daddy is Santa Claus, so it’s hard for me to say.

One thing I have noticed, though, is how much the movies of Christmas have influenced the way we decorate for the season. I’ve seen pillows, wall hangings, lamps, ornaments, and every kind of knick-knack imaginable based on fun sayings, one-liners, or characters from Christmas movies.

From A Christmas Story’s leg lamp, Seinfield’s Festivus T-shirts, Elf’s child-like expressions printed on everything you can think of, an entire It’s a Wonderful Life snow village, to Santa Claus is Coming to Town action figures—there is just about anything you can want. And if you want to scare a little kid with some Christmas spirit, you can even find a Bumble plush from Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Not only have movies become a part of our culture, vocabulary, but they’ve gone beyond that. They aren’t just something to do or see at Christmas, but they have woven themselves into the very fabric of the holiday. For better or worse, that’s Christmas in America. Certainly not the Reason for the Season, as they say, but an integral part of the merriment.

That’s a wrap for this Toast to Cinema. Thanks for reading.