Christmas With the Kranks: Critiquing Pop Culture Today

This time of year always has a way of making me crave those cheesy Christmas movies and feel-good holiday music. So, despite knowing better, I found myself settling in to rewatch the 2004 classic Christmas With the Kranks. It stars Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, and that kid from Malcolm in the Middle, and yes, the ham obsession is hard to forget.

To my surprise, my movie buff fiancé pointed out that this festive flick has a shockingly low 5 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Ouch. Critics back in the day really tore it apart. But it got me thinking — would Christmas With the Kranks fare any better if it came out now, in a world where mid-budget Christmas movies are all the rage?

I did some digging and found that many similarly criticized holiday films from the past are still unloved today. Four Christmases, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and even The Holiday faced their fair share of negative reviews. Yet, despite the naysayers, they remain popular choices for streaming platforms like Hulu.

It seems that expectations for holiday movies have shifted. These days, the consensus seems to be that as long as it’s something you can half-pay attention to while wrapping presents or sipping hot cocoa, it’s good enough. But what does this say about the current state of pop culture?

With the rise of streaming platforms and the endless scroll of content on social media, it’s easy to see how we’ve become accustomed to accepting mediocrity. We live in a world where algorithms push average content our way, and it’s all too easy to put on a movie without really engaging with it.

So, maybe it’s time to reassess what we expect from entertainment. Sure, those cheesy Christmas movies have their place, but let’s not settle for just background noise. Let’s demand quality, originality, and storytelling that truly captivates us, even during the holiday season.