# What's with the new debate over if "It's A Wonderful Life" is a Christmas Movie or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 21, 2025, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-new-debate-over-if-its-a-wonderful-life-is-a-christmas-movie-or-not/1025904 "2025-12-21T00:14:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2025, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-new-debate-over-if-its-a-wonderful-life-is-a-christmas-movie-or-not/1025904/41 "2025-12-24T13:25:40Z")
> [@solost](#): > > > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > > I don’t think it works. The movie is just too upbeat, too good. It’s maybe parody-proof? > > I think much of the movie is plenty dark, and I thought the fake trailer worked pretty well to portray the movie as a Hitchcockian thriller / mystery. Also the SNL alternate ending where they beat up on old man Potter. Parody proof it surely was not. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2025, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-new-debate-over-if-its-a-wonderful-life-is-a-christmas-movie-or-not/1025904/42 "2025-12-24T13:33:17Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Also the SNL alternate ending where they beat up on old man Potter. Parody proof it surely was not. Agreed. And just for fun, since I was looking up fake movie trailers again and it’s Christmas Eve, here are [a couple horror recuts](https://youtu.be/CuLPrkUDd1k) of [National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lc6R5ykWl8). Not since Jason, Freddy and leatherface has there been a more terrifying villain than Clark Griswold. These really work, since when you take out the comedy, Sparky really _ **was** _ a menace to his family and community. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2025, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-new-debate-over-if-its-a-wonderful-life-is-a-christmas-movie-or-not/1025904/43 "2025-12-24T14:25:15Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I don’t know if you’d call those misleading movie trailers ‘parody’ exactly, even; to me parody is when you directly satirize the point of a subject’s source material. I would say they are a parody of the movie trailer ‘style’ itself by highlighting how you can create a realistic movie trailer for one genre from a movie of a very different genre. It’s interesting how little it takes to make a movie seem like a completely different thing. In real life, we’ve all watched a movie that wasn’t at all like it was advertised. My favorite fake trailer is The Ten Commandments as a wacky teen comedy. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-new-debate-over-if-its-a-wonderful-life-is-a-christmas-movie-or-not/1025904/44 "2025-12-24T14:40:06Z")
> [@CaveMike](#): > > I would say they are a parody of the movie trailer ‘style’ itself by highlighting how you can create a realistic movie trailer for one genre from a movie of a very different genre. I agree, the fake trailers are more parodying the trailer creation process, rather than the movie itself. > [@CaveMike](#): > > My favorite fake trailer is The Ten Commandments as a wacky teen comedy. Y’know, there are these newfangled things called ‘hyperlinks’ that allow a person to share the contents of one website with another website or message board 😉 Is this the one? It is pretty good: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/u1kqqMXWEFs/hqdefault.jpg "10 Things I Hate About Commandments") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1kqqMXWEFs) ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-new-debate-over-if-its-a-wonderful-life-is-a-christmas-movie-or-not/1025904/45 "2025-12-24T14:50:35Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Y’know, there are these newfangled things called ‘hyperlinks’ that allow a person to share the contents of one website with another website or message board 😉 Sorry! I am posting from a sleigh in the sky and YouTube is blocked in that region. That is the trailer I meant; thanks for having my back. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2025, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-new-debate-over-if-its-a-wonderful-life-is-a-christmas-movie-or-not/1025904/46 "2025-12-24T14:54:47Z")
> [@CaveMike](#): > > Sorry! I am posting from a sleigh in the sky and YouTube is blocked in that region. Oh, very sorry, sir! I meant no disrespect; I had no idea who you really were. Be careful up there! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-new-debate-over-if-its-a-wonderful-life-is-a-christmas-movie-or-not/1025904/47 "2025-12-25T02:44:18Z")
**solost** , that was _outstanding_! Can’t believe I’ve never seen that parody trailer before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-new-debate-over-if-its-a-wonderful-life-is-a-christmas-movie-or-not/1025904.md?page=2)