Is "Die Hard" a Christmas movie?
Is a hot dog a sandwich? Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Tough questions without clear answers. My opinion? Not a sandwich. Yes, a Christmas movie.
Forget the hotdogs for now. Let's talk about Die Hard.
Every year, my family hosts Christmas dinner where we eat, drink, laugh and exchange gifts. Once everyone has had their fill, a few of us settle into the couch to watch the Christmas classic, Die Hard. Every year there's a debate about whether to watch it and whether it qualifies as a Christmas movie. Since it's my house and my TV, I usually win and we watch.
If you've never seen Die Hard, here's a spoiler free summary. The 1988 film stars Bruce Willis as New York City cop John McClane. McClane flies out to Los Angeles on Christmas eve to try to make amends with his estranged wife, Holly. Holly has a big job at the Nakatomi Corporation, located in a tall building called Nakatomi Plaza. The company is having their Christmas party in the building when John McClane shows up. After an awkward reunion with Holly, John quickly finds himself caught in the middle of a high stakes heist by a group of well dressed German thieves led by villain Hans Gruber, played by Alan Rickman. Gruber and his crew have devised an intricate plan to steal $640 million from a high tech vault in the building. They've thought of every detail. Every detail except... Detective John McClane.
It's a classic hero vs villain story and in my mind John McClane was always the hero. This year I watched another movie that's made me question that long standing belief.
Another family tradition is to watch a few Hallmark style Christmas movies. These movies all have pretty much the same plot. They take place in a small town decorated like a department store window scene. You get introduced to one character who's had some sort of loss in the past. They've since sworn off romantic relationships and usually focus on running a store in town or some other similar job.
Soon after the opening of the movie, another person rolls into town. They're either an old friend or flame or sometimes an unknown person with a murky backstory. The two run into each other, sometimes literally, and spend the rest of the movie pretending not to be interested in each other. Eventually they have a moment where the walls break down and they admit they are madly in love.
This year, we watched one of these movies, called Champagne Problems. Little did I know that it would make me question everything I held true about Die Hard and Detective John McClane.
How could these two very different movies possibly intersect? Well, there's a character named Otto Moler, played by Flula Borg. Moler is German and provides much of the comic relief in the movie. The subject of some of this relief is his stance on the movie Die Hard.
He tells that in Germany, the movie is viewed as a tragedy and that Hans Gruber is actually a Robin Hood like hero. He points out that we never know what Gruber wants to use the $640 million for "Perhaps he's going to open up some schools?" He argues that the Nakatomi Corporation represents corporate greed and that John McClane is nothing more than a "trigger happy cowboy".
While I still disagree with Moler, it got me thinking. I'd never wondered what Gruber's plans were for the money. I wasn't even curious. Yes, he did some really bad things to people in the movie, but so did John McClane.
It was a ridiculous reminder to do something I talk about a lot in my book, Question to Learn. Be curious just a little bit longer and ask a few questions before forming an opinion. It might not change your opinion, but you might create a connection with someone you disagree with. That's a pretty good starting point for finding common ground.
I hope your new year is off to a great start and that this newsletter may help you ease back into your regular routine.
And if you’ve seen Die Hard, what do you think? Is it a Christmas movie?