Review: One Magic Christmas (DMC #79)
It’s Christmas in July this week at the Disnerd Movie Challenge! Last night we watched One Magic Christmas, the first holiday-themed movie in our challenge so far and the 79th film in the challenge overall. Check out our synopsis if you haven’t seen this, otherwise you can scroll down for our review.
Synopsis
A Christmas angel named Gideon is given an assignment by the disembodied voice of Saint Nicholas, a.k.a. Santa Claus. This year, Gideon must help renew the Christmas spirit within a young mother named Ginnie Grainger, who no longer even says the words “Merry Christmas.” Gideon locates Ginnie and her family, watching them from afar. Ginnie’s two children, Abbie and Cal, are excited for Christmas and can’t wait for Santa to bring them presents, and her husband, Jack, encourages their children’s enthusiasm. Ginnie, however, does not see anything to be excited about; her father has recently passed away and Jack has lost his job, forcing the family to have to move out of their company-owned home by the new year. Instead of focusing on getting the packing done, Jack wants to work in his basement building bicycles for the neighborhood children. He wants to give one to Abbie and Cal’s friend, Molly Monaghan, whose family is poor and all Molly wants for Christmas is a bike. Jack also dreams of opening a bike shop with his friend, Eddie, but the Graingers have very little money left in savings. Soon, Frank Crump shows up to give some potential home-buyers a look at the Graingers’ house, creating more stress for Ginnie. After Frank and the family leave, Ginnie heads to her job as a cashier at a local grocery store, where her boss, Herbie, berates her for having a backed up checkout line after having her make an announcement for him. One customer in particular also criticizes Ginnie for accidentally ringing up potato chips twice. Meanwhile, Jack, Abbie, and Cal help put the angel on top of the town Christmas tree. That night, Abbie asks her dad if he believes in angels, to which Jack says he does, though Ginnie has told Abbie they aren’t real. Ginnie and Jack later talk about what they got the kids for Christmas. While Ginnie has bought her children one present each, Jack wants to take some money out of their savings to buy them more. However, Ginnie says they can’t afford to do that since it’s the only money they have left. Cal and Abbie overhear the conversation and are saddened that they won’t be getting many presents this year. Abbie worries that Santa won’t bring them presents because she forgot to write a letter to him. Later that night, Ginnie apologizes to Jack for being cranky, and Jack implies that Ginnie needs a bit of Christmas spirit. Abbie writes a letter to Santa Claus and sneaks out of the house to mail it, but after she drops it off in the mailbox, Gideon appears and uses magic to retrieve the letter. He tells her that he is a Christmas angel who is looking to help Abbie’s mother regain her Christmas spirit. To do so, he asks Abbie to give the letter to Ginnie and have her mail it instead. Though skeptical of Gideon at first, Abbie agrees. She returns to the house and is nearly hit by a car, but Gideon saves her with his magic. Ginnie runs outside and scolds Abbie for going out in the middle of the night and nearly getting hit. Abbie gives her mom the letter and asks her to mail it, much to Ginnie’s frustration.
The family goes to visit Jack’s grandfather and the children’s great granddad, Caleb. While exploring the attic looking for Christmas tree lights, Caleb finds an old snow globe of the North Pole which he gives to Abbie, and a Christmas book his mother used to read to him which he gives to Cal. Caleb jokes that he now doesn’t have to give Abbie and Cal presents for Christmas, but when he sees their crestfallen faces he says maybe he still will anyway. When Abbie gets into bed that night, she reminds her mom to mail the letter, but Ginnie doesn’t say she will. As Abbie laments that her mom will never like Christmas, Gideon visits her. He breaks and then immediately repairs her snow globe, using it to explain that while he is capable of fixing something like that, he can’t fix what’s broken inside Ginnie. He tells Abbie that some things are going to happen tomorrow and to not be afraid, and that when she next needs to find him it will be at the town Christmas tree. Ginnie and Jack sit at the kitchen table to talk about their finances again; when Jack reiterates his desire to take money out of their savings to open the shop, Ginnie immediately shuts down the idea and tells him he needs to get a steady job. Frustrated, Jack storms out of the house to go for a walk. Ginnie runs after him to try to make up, but Jack isn’t swayed and continues to walk off alone. Ginnie then takes some letters to the mailbox to be delivered, but Abbie’s letter is not among them. As she mails the letters, Gideon shows up and, revealing he knows her name, tells her she needs to have Christmas spirit. Before she can ask any further questions, Gideon disappears, and all the Christmas lights on the street ominously go out. The next morning, Christmas Eve, Ginnie reminds her family that she’s working a double shift today, otherwise Herbie will fire her. She gets a ride from a co-worker, and as they stop for gas, Ginnie sees the same man who berated her for ringing up potato chips trying to sell his beaten down car to the gas station attendant. The attendant refuses, so the man, whose name is Harry, tries selling him a camp stove. The attendant doesn’t budge. As Harry gets into his car, he tells his son he’s going to drop him off at the bus station while he goes off to the bank. Jack, Abbie, and Cal arrive at the bank as well, where Jack intends to take some money out to buy more presents. He has the kids wait in the car and tells them to stay put. Once he leaves, Abbie runs over to the grocery store to visit her mom. Angered when told that Jack went into the bank, Ginnie takes Abbie and tries to leave the store. Despite the circumstances, Herbie fires her for leaving. She puts Abbie in the car and walks into the bank, only to find it held up by Harry, who is attempting to rob it. Jack tries to calm Harry, but Harry fatally shoots him. Panicking, Harry flees the bank and gets into Jack’s car, which had been double parked against his own. Ginnie cries over Jack, but then realizes to her horror that Harry has taken her kids with him. She uses Harry’s car to chase after him, but the car runs out of gas before she can catch up. She starts to walk down the road but then catches a ride from a police car. Up ahead, Harry comes to a bridge where police have set up a roadblock; he tries to swerve around it, but the car skids and swerves off the bridge, plunging into the icy river below. Ginnie arrives on the scene and doesn’t find her children anywhere. Heartbroken, Ginnie returns to her empty house and weeps.
However, it turns out that Abbie and Cal are safe! They were rescued by Gideon. Caleb comes to the house to tell Ginnie the good news; the kids were found by the side of the road, with the police believing Harry must’ve dropped them off before the car went into the river. Ginnie is overcome with relief and embraces her children when she sees them. She later informs them that their father has died and is not coming back. Believing that Gideon can help bring their dad back, Abbie runs off to the town tree to meet with the angel. Cal informs Ginnie, who runs after Abbie. Gideon meets with Abbie and tells her he can’t bring her dad back, but he says that Santa Claus might be able to help. Together, the two magically travel to the North Pole. When Ginnie arrives at the tree, she cannot find Abbie. Eddie follows her and consolingly tries to say Abbie may be back at the house, and the two leave. At the North Pole, Mrs. Claus greets Abbie and introduces her to Santa, who kindly but regretfully tells Abbie that he cannot bring Jack back from the dead. But, he says there is someone who could—Ginnie herself. Santa takes Abbie through his workshop, which is run by “ordinary, nice people” after they have died, rather than elves. In his mailroom, he locates a letter that Ginnie had written to him when she was a little girl, and tells Abbie to give the letter to her mother. Santa soon leaves for his Christmas Eve ride and Gideon returns Abbie to her home. Cal doesn’t believe Abbie when she tells him where she’s been and instead rushes to get their mom. Ginnie takes Abbie to her room, where Abbie shares what happened that night and asks her to read the letter she brought back. Ginnie finds the letter and reads it. With a change of heart, Ginnie decides to mail Abbie’s letter. At the mailbox, she is greeted by Gideon again. Gideon smiles when Ginnie puts the letter in the mailbox, and as he bids her good night, Ginnie in turn says “Good night, Gideon.” Just then, all the Christmas lights come back on, and Ginnie sees Jack walking in the distance. She runs up to him and hugs him, with Jack a bit confused as he has only been gone for a short while; it’s revealed that time has reversed, and it is the night before Christmas Eve again. The next day, Ginnie tells the family she is taking the day off and Herbie will just have to deal with it. At the gas station, Ginnie runs into Harry and offers to buy his camp stove for fifty dollars. Harry is grateful and thanks her, wishing her a Merry Christmas. When she tells Herbie she is taking the day off, Herbie initially tells her to go and not come back, but then adds “until Thursday morning.” He, too, wishes her a Merry Christmas. Later that night, the family secretly delivers a finished bicycle to a happy Molly, and they also attend the lighting of the town Christmas tree. Ginnie writes a check to Jack for $5,000 to open the bike shop as a Christmas present. Abbie and Cal overhear Santa Claus arriving on the roof, to which Cal expresses shock that Santa is actually real. Ginnie in turn hears Santa downstairs and finds him putting presents under the tree. Santa smiles and tells her “Merry Christmas, Ginnie” to which she smiles back and, at last, returns the words she couldn’t utter for so long: “Merry Christmas.”
Thoughts Before Watching
Kevin: I have to take a moment to appreciate how well-timed this was! True, it would have been better to watch this around, y’know, actual Christmastime, but at least the month of July still works if only for the phrasing. I never understood the appeal of watching holiday films in July, but of course this week we’ll have to make an exception. Still weird, though… The bright side is that I enjoy this one; I watch it every year during the holiday season. It does feel a bit cheesy at times, but it somehow has just the right amount of cheese that it doesn’t detract from my enjoyment. I also recognize that this film is rather messy; but again, it’s something I still enjoy in spite of it. Coming at this through an analytical lens will be an interesting experience.
Megan: I love Christmas! The day after Thanksgiving it’s all Christmas music all the time, and keeping decorations up all through New Year’s Day. However, because I go all in on Christmas for one month out of the year, I don’t really like Christmas stuff at any other time of the year. I need those eleven months away from it all to come back to it and fully appreciate it, which is why I’m not especially looking forward to watching a Christmas movie in the middle of summer. It just feels…wrong. I can’t remember if I’ve ever seen this particular Christmas movie before. Maybe it was part of some marathon of Christmas movies on TV at one point? I guess we’ll find out if I recognize it or not.
Thoughts After Watching
I haven’t seen this film before…but I’ve seen this story before
Megan: After watching this movie, I can confidently say this was my first time watching it, and for how reluctant I was to watch a Christmas movie in the summer, the film wasn’t half bad. The story kept me engaged, and there were enough surprises to keep me interested. That said, this Christmas film follows many of the common Christmas movie tropes we’ve seen over and over again. Just like Miracle on 34th Street (and several other Christmas films that came after), this film features someone who doesn’t believe in Christmas or Santa (Ginnie) surrounded by characters who are trying to prove that Christmas/Santa is real or worth believing in (Abbie, Gideon, Santa, and Jack). Much like It’s a Wonderful Life (or even A Christmas Carol), this film also features a “what if” scenario that plays out before granting the protagonist a second chance. Actually, this film has a lot in common with It’s a Wonderful Life. Both start off with an angel being sent to help someone around Christmastime. In both instances, the angel is a bit less than perfect, yet rises to the challenge and ultimately succeeds. Both films feature an adorable little girl who believes in the more magical aspects of the story (though One Magic Christmas gets bonus points for having the adorable Abbie play such a significant role in this story compared to George Bailey’s daughter in It’s a Wonderful Life). Then, of course, there’s the similarities between the protagonists, Ginnie Grainger and George Bailey. Though Ginnie may not have been so depressed as to consider suicide as George does, she does admit to her husband, Jack, that she doesn’t know what she’s living for, or what anyone is living for. She has lost the joy of being alive, much as George does when he wishes he’d never been born. It’s understandable why she’s depressed—her father recently died; her husband lost his job, which means the family has to move out of their company-owned house and find somewhere new to live; the money Ginnie makes working at the grocery store is not enough to support their family, yet her husband wants to blow their savings on toys their children don’t need; and to top it all off, Ginnie doesn’t have the support she needs (emotionally, physically, financially) from friends or family to get through this tough time. Much as George Bailey’s financial struggles drive him to desperation, Ginnie’s compounded struggles have been pushing her to her breaking point, too—Gideon just makes it all come tumbling down around Ginnie even sooner so that she can learn to appreciate what she has before it’s gone. There’s nothing incredibly new here for a Christmas movie, but then I think that’s partly what people love about Christmas movies—they’re predictable, a little cheesy, and ultimately offer a happy ending.
Still cheesy and flimsy, but it’s a guilty pleasure
Kevin: One Magic Christmas is definitely a messy film. It doesn’t really seem to know what its tone is supposed to be. Is it hopeful and uplifting? It seems like it should be, given the quest Gideon embarks on and the ending scene when Ginnie finally says “Merry Christmas.” Or, is it supposed to be dark and scary? Well, it’s not the most terrifying, but the shot of all the Christmas lights going off with that ominous sounding music is pretty unnerving. Of course, the darkness factor escalates quickly when Jack is shot dead and Abbie and Cal are thought to have plunged into an icy river. I mean, that stuff can be nightmare fuel for some folks. That said, it never gets too dark. The dark moments may still be disturbing, but they’re just passable here. Having watched this many times over many years, I can still say that I enjoy this film for what it is. This is largely in part thanks to the incredible performances of Mary Steenburgen and Elisabeth Harnois as Ginnie and Abbie, respectively. The two have wonderful chemistry with each other, and Elisabeth Harnois absolutely nails it. Child actors often get a bad rap, but occasionally you get some kids who just seem to have natural talent. I think Harnois is one of those, as she never once feels like she’s forcing anything. Steenburgen portrays the role of a struggling young mother with an incredible vulnerability that doesn’t feel cheap. Harry Dean Stanton is another stand out (thought sadly not being a well executed character—more on that in a bit). These three actors in particular work very well with each other that they help somewhat sell the hopeful message that the movie tries to bring, even if it flounders along the way. The parts with Santa Claus can feel a bit contrived and cheesy, and I don’t really know why Santa even needs to be in the film anyway since he’s just used as a plot device. But again, there’s something about the performances here that make the film worth re-watching each year, at least for me. It’s obviously by no means one of the best Christmas films ever made, and it’s not even close to my favorite holiday film. But I’ll happily sit down every holiday season and include it as part of my marathon of Christmas movies.
Gideon comes off creepy, unfortunately
Kevin: In spite of Harry Dean Stanton’s performance (or maybe because of it?), Gideon is just too creepy. I am sure this is a fault of the filmmakers for putting the actor in situations that would send chills up anyone’s spine. First, there’s just the fact that a man in a trench coat and big hat has some negative connotations to it, especially when walking around dark streets. It’s an unfortunate connotation, yes, but it’s not like Gideon had to be portrayed this way. So many shots of Gideon show half of his face covered in shadow. In the scenes where he’s more fully lit, he still appears darker than many of the other characters. Then there are shots where he is seen in the distance as a silhouette, and the shots only make him look more like a stalker than a helper. Even his actions have a disturbing vibe to them. Each time he introduces himself to characters he adopts this low, sometimes whisper-like voice, which I presume was supposed to make him seem more angelic, but it sounds sinister to me. Both Abbie and Ginnie express skepticism and wariness of this man when they first talk to him, though Abbie of course quickly warms up to him. Gideon completely drops any pretense when talking to Ginnie and outright tells her she needs to have Christmas spirit, and shocks her by knowing her name. Ginnie, as a sensible adult, remains wary of this guy who is, as far as she is concerned, weirdly butting into her business. It’s only after Ginnie begins to regain some of her Christmas spirit that her second encounter with Gideon goes well. Before that can happen, however, Gideon’s actions go into overkill. Is he the instigator of the traumatic events that happen on Christmas Eve when Jack is killed and Abbie and Cal are presumed killed? Or, is this a classic Christmas trope of “shadows of things that may be,” to quote A Christmas Carol. It seems unlikely that Gideon himself makes these things happen, but that they would have occurred had Ginnie not rediscovered her Christmas spirit. Then again, if Gideon isn’t actually causing these events, he can clearly interfere in them; if he can save Abbie and Cal from certain death, why not Jack? We know the real-life reason—there’s simply no way Disney would have allowed the deaths of children to be shown on screen (and Abbie is just as much a main character as Ginnie anyway). Still, it does beg the question of why exactly Gideon allows some of these events to occur but not others. His actions, though well-intended, are executed poorly, as are his mannerisms throughout the movie. It really is unfortunate, because as I said, Stanton gives a remarkable performance.
Megan: If Gideon had been a female angel, would she have chosen to use the same strategy in helping Ginnie recapture the Christmas spirit? I don’t think so. For one thing, she wouldn’t have been as creepy, lurking in the dark shadowy streets. For another thing, her plan probably wouldn’t have gone as dark as Gideon’s original plan to rob Ginnie of everyone she holds dear, then partially return some of them so she learns to appreciate what she has, and then finally undo the magic when she learns her lesson. I feel like a female angel might have been more understanding of what Ginnie was struggling with, and might have instead sent several friends as real-world “angels” to help support Ginnie by cleaning, cooking, packing, giving Ginnie someone to talk to about the emotions she was struggling with, or being a shoulder to cry on. That might have helped Ginnie heal and rediscover the joy of life she’d been unable to find amid all the worries and responsibilities that were heaped on her shoulders. Gideon’s methods in this film might make for an interesting film, but it’s a really brutal way to try to help someone.
Christmas = consumerism
Megan: Most Christmas films try to put the focus on the importance of friends and family and being together during the holidays, and while One Magic Christmas ultimately ends there, with Ginnie being so overwhelmingly grateful to have her family safe with her, so much of the film seemed to equate Christmas with consumerism. It was a bit of a weird switch that rubbed me the wrong way. Most of the Christmas films I’ve seen with financially-strapped protagonists have the protagonists hearing from those around them that money and presents aren’t what make the holiday special—it’s being with the ones you love. Ginnie gets the opposite message. So many of the characters around her are focused on the importance of presents—her husband, Jack, chief among them. In fact, Jack is the one who is unemployed and yet wants to blow their savings on a bunch of toys for their kids. When Ginnie gets one present for each of the kids, Jack essentially tells her that her effort is not enough—they’ll need to give their kids more than that. He blames Ginnie’s lack of Christmas spirit for her frugality, but honestly, it just makes good financial sense not to spend every last penny on toys for their kids when they’re struggling to make ends meet. It’s understandable that the kids in the film are intensely focused on the presents aspect of Christmas—they’re just kids, after all. However, the film never takes an opportunity to show the children that Christmas is about more than presents. Instead, we see the kids disappointed when they overhear their parents discussing how many presents they can afford to get for the kids, and disappointed again when Caleb, their great granddad, teases them that since he gave each of them something from his attic he doesn’t have to give them anything at Christmas. The closest the children come to understanding the true meaning of Christmas is when they drop off a bike for Molly Monaghan—a girl whose family is even poorer than the Graingers. While it’s an act of generosity, it’s still centered around a gift (and they ding-dong-ditch the gift as a surprise, with no real interaction between the gift givers and the recipient, which kind of robs the experience of the emotional lesson). While we might live in a culture of consumerism, it was still very weird to watch a movie that seemed to promote the consumerism of Christmas more than the true spirit of Christmas.
Kevin: The film is ostensibly about being with the ones you love and being thankful for what you currently have. This is never said outright in the movie, but it is implied, and pretty much every synopsis and review I’ve seen about this movie says as such. What’s funny about this is that the very thing that sparks Ginnie regaining her Christmas spirit is a letter she wrote to Santa, a letter where she lists what she wants for Christmas. Things get better from here on out when she decides to mail Abbie’s letter to Santa, allowing for time to reverse and Jack to be alive. While it’s true that Ginnie embodies the idea of being grateful for what she has by deciding to spend Christmas Eve with her family instead of going to work, this is almost negated when she later writes a check to her husband so he can get the loan to open the bike shop. There’s more about Jack down below, but I’d like to take a quick moment here. Like the situation with Molly receiving the bike, Ginnie is acting selfless and generous by doing this for Jack. However, it still reinforces a consumerist idea of “wanting more than you have” by giving in to Jack’s own desires so he can have something he wants, rather than him being grateful for what he already has, too. The message of consumerism rings a bit too strongly in this film. Like Gideon’s portrayal, I assume the filmmakers had good intentions but just didn’t execute their message well.
A woman’s story, but a man’s world
Megan: This might be Ginnie’s story, but she’s living in a man’s world—and struggling to survive it. Her husband is the one who lost his job and the company house the family has been living in, yet he is quick to call out Ginnie’s failings: her lack of Christmas spirit, not buying the kids enough presents, deciding to work a double shift on Christmas Eve, and not being happy when, quite honestly, there isn’t a lot for either of them to be happy about in their current situation. Not once does he show appreciation to Ginnie for her job—their only source of income—or all the myriad things she does or sacrifices she makes to keep their home and their family afloat. He only ever asks more of her—and she ultimately does give more, in the check she writes for Jack to encourage him to take out a loan to start his bike shop. Sure, love is sacrifice and giving to the ones you love, but love is a two-way street, and I’m not sure that Ginnie is getting nearly as much as she’s giving in her marriage.
Megan: Ginnie’s life outside her home isn’t much better. She works for a man who expects increasingly more of her, berating her for her checkout line backing up after she made the announcement he asked her to make. Thankfully Ginnie has one ally in this—her female coworker stands up for her and tells Herbie off for being so insensitive. However, in the film’s first “what if” scenario, we see just how heartless Herbie can be when he fires Ginnie for attending to her unsupervised daughter. He’s a man who has power and is not afraid to use it against a female employee who, in his view, is not sufficiently happy enough. Newsflash, dude—women aren’t happy all the time, and it’s not a woman’s job to smile just because a man tells her to.
This man’s world only gets worse for Ginnie when she encounters a desperate man named Harry at the gas station. What bothers me most about this ordeal is the way the film frames this encounter as Ginnie’s fault. Ginnie’s entire “what if” scenario revolves around her failing to give money to Harry. Because Ginnie did nothing to help this man, Ginnie is the one who loses her husband and her kids. But why is Ginnie the one “at fault” in this scenario? Why not the male gas station attendant who first refused to help Harry? What about Harry himself—why doesn’t he share any blame for his actions as a desperate, angry man who makes the violent decision to use his gun to rob a bank before stealing a car with two kids in the backseat? Mrs. Monaghan is in a similarly desperate financial situation, yet we don’t see her pull out a gun or try to steal anything. While I get that the filmmakers were trying to demonstrate that small acts of generosity can have a huge impact, even if we never see what that impact could have been, the way they went about it relies on sexist stereotypes. Women are “supposed to be” docile, which is why it’s Harry who turns to criminality and violence when he can’t get what he wants, not Mrs. Monaghan. Women are “supposed to be” generous and self-sacrificing, which is why the film blames Ginnie’s failure to give a man money for the snowball of terrible events, not Harry’s own actions or decisions.
Megan: This reliance on sexist stereotypes is quite possibly due, at least in part, to the all-male writing team behind this film. It’s also probably why this film only just squeaks by in passing the Bechdel test. Most of the conversations between the female characters in the film still mention men, as when Abbie and Ginnie talk about Santa, the angel Gideon, or the men in their family. Ginnie rarely even gets to talk to her friend and coworker, Betty. The only real exchange they have is Betty asking Ginnie to watch the gas pump meter so she doesn’t go over eight dollars. Oddly, it’s Ginnie’s daughter, Abbie, who has the most conversations with other female characters, and the most female-to-female conversations that don’t revolve around men. She talks to her mom on multiple occasions about men and about other topics Abbie is curious about, she talks to Molly Monaghan about what Molly wants for Christmas, and she talks to Mrs. Claus (although her conversations with Mrs. Claus do all seem to involve Santa or Gideon). The few woman-to-woman conversations that don’t talk about men are rarely quality women-supporting-women, heart-to-heart conversations, but they still involve named female characters talking about something other than a male character, so they pass the Bechdel test.
A short-sighted message about dealing with depression
Kevin: One of the biggest flaws I find with this film is how it chooses to deal with depression, or at least situations that could lead to depression. As far as we can tell, Ginnie doesn’t suffer from any diagnosed clinical depression, but she certainly is not in a positive state of mind. As has been pointed out above, what she really needs is a strong support system to help her get through the tough times she and her family are facing. But rather than receiving the needed support, Ginnie is criticized at every single turn for not having enough Christmas spirit. In other words, criticized for just not being happy. Everyone around her does it either directly or indirectly, including Abbie, Jack, Gideon, and Herbie. Jack is for sure the worst one of the bunch for not getting that his wife needs his support. Instead of having her feelings validated, Ginnie is constantly asked to suck it up. We know today that this is absolutely horrible advice for anyone dealing with depression or depressive situations. It is not enough to just tell people to be happy, nor is it helpful to stigmatize them for how they are feeling. The fact is, Ginnie has every reason for feeling the way she does. It’s true that money does not equate to happiness, but having enough money does bring financial security. Not having that security makes a huge world of difference to someone’s well being, so it only makes sense that the Graingers’ financial troubles are affecting Ginnie. Partly why the movie doesn’t deal with this subject well is because we also don’t get to see what Ginnie was like before things went downhill. A film like It’s a Wonderful Life succeeds because we get to see how George Bailey arrives at his low point. By watching his story unfold, we’re more likely to empathize with him. His contemplation of suicide comes after a long series of setbacks that we get to witness. Also, although George is shown how things would be different had he not been born, it’s important to note that no one ever tries to make him feel bad for his feelings, or at least no one that cares about him does so. This was a missed opportunity with One Magic Christmas, but I guess they couldn’t have made it too similar to It’s a Wonderful Life or it would have been a problem. I really believe if we had seen Ginnie’s backstory leading up to the events of the film we would have a better understanding of her character. Now, that’s not to say we can’t empathize with Ginnie at all, but the film comes off treating her as someone whose unhappiness is entirely her own fault and isn’t worthy of being dealt with in a healthy manner. She’s portrayed as being in the wrong for not having Christmas spirit, and she’s the one always apologizing. To top it all off, what kick-starts her Christmas spirit again is, of all things, a letter she wrote to Santa when she was little. Honestly, I don’t understand why it was that simple. Does she suddenly believe in Christmas because the letter is proof Santa is real? I already noted that the message the movie is trying to say is that you should be happy with what you have, but how does Ginnie’s childhood letter to Santa demonstrate that message? That’s just it—it doesn’t do that at all. Somehow, though, it’s the one thing that instantly fixes Ginnie’s troubles. Given that she does a complete 180 after reading the letter, it only reinforces the notion that Ginnie should just be happy, and that there’s a single simple fix for sadness. It’s such a bad message. For everything I do like about this movie, this is definitely the most glaring problem.
With all of this said, it’s a bit of a good thing this is a Christmas movie, since it’s meant to give us a happy ending. As much as I take issue with how the film deals with Ginnie’s happiness, I am still able to put it to the side and enjoy this for what it is.