As much I hate paying for streaming services when I have most anything I want to watch on disc, one benefit around the holidays are the curated lists. Just want to watch some classic Christmas TV episodes? They’ve got them all sorted out for you. The other night I scrolled through the holiday collection on Paramount+ and saw a suggestion for an episode of The Twilight Zone that, while not usually considered a Christmas episode, qualifies.

And I’d never seen it before.

“The Changing of the Guard” stars an unrecognizable Donald Pleasence as Prof. Ellias Fowler, a stern instructor at a school for boys. His focus, English literature. In the classroom he’s sarcastic and belittles the boys in a way that wouldn’t fly nowadays. But behind closed doors, he expresses real affection for the young lads, and though he’s been at the institution for 51 years, he hopes to keep teaching for another 51. His hopes are shattered when he realizes, just before the Christmas break, that’s he’s being forced into retirement.

Merry Christmas indeed.

Distraught, he questions what, if any, good he’s done. Over the many years, some of his graduates went on to die in war. “I gave them nothing,” he tells his housekeeper. “Now, where do you suppose I ever got the idea that I was accomplishing anything?” After dismissing her for the evening and promising to lay down for nap, but instead he walks out into the snowy night with his gun. His intentions are clear.

But The Twilight Zone has other plans.

Standing before a statue on campus, the symbol of all his purpose in life, Fowler prepares to do the unthinkable. And then the bells begin to chime. Confused, he goes inside, to his classroom, to see what is going on. There he’s met by the ghosts of his former students, young men who had the courage to sacrifice themselves. Some died in battle, others in the pursuit of live-saving science. One by one they share the virtues he instilled in them in the classroom.

Fowler accomplished much.

It’s worth noting that it wasn’t Fowler’s own words or opinions that made the difference. All he did was share with them the wisdom of the ages, the words of great poets written to inspire, and explained what they meant. Today, when vices are held up as virtues and strength (masculine, heroic strength) is called toxic, one wonders if there are any teachers like him left. And without them, what will become of the young men who go out into the world?

We all have the capacity to inspire.

Christmas is the most inspirational time of year, when we celebrate God coming to earth to offer us salvation and to follow in His footsteps doing good works, which He prepared for us beforehand. We don’t have to stand in front of a classroom to make a difference. All we need to do to accomplish something is, like Fowler, share the truth.

Something happened when Trump got elected, the significance of which I’m not sure we’ll fully grasp or be able to articulate until much time has passed. I’ve seen a few people try to get their arms around it, I’ve tried myself and will attempt to express some of what we’re feeling here, but such things are impossible to understand until they’ve passed.

Still, we have to try.

When Donald Trump won in a landslide victory it let millions of people know that they weren’t alone and don’t have to be ashamed. Even professional athletes were cowed and now they aren’t. Football players doing the Trump dance in the endzone isn’t political so much as cultural. Before he was a political figure, Trump was in pop culture, and now he exists in both worlds once again. Forget his policies for a moment and do his silly dance.

It’s okay.

This attitude is moving beyond Trump and political affiliation. Hollywood is befuddled (what a great word) that they can’t shame audiences into celebrating their movies. Was anyone ever shamed into saying they liked something? I don’t know. But if they keep trying, the backlash will destroy their industry, if it hasn’t already. The news networks are suffering, too. Not just because the legacy media has proven itself untrustworthy, but because we heard everything they have to say already. I’ll bet even the right wing outlets like the Daily Wire are hurting too.

We’re ready to tell the people arguing petty things to, “Get a life.” 

But it’s even bigger than all that. I think it was Robert Meyer Burnett who said, “Authenticity is the currency of this generation.” And while I disagree with much of what he says, here he’s exactly right. Trump, love him or hate him, is authentic. Harris was faker than a three dollar bill. The Star Wars that Disney is serving up isn’t Star Wars in spirit. The news commentators never had our best interests in mind and we can see that now.

So we reject the counterfeits.

Now that the news matters less than ever, since it’s just a reboot or rerun, and the entertainment industry has a backlog of “content” no one wants that they still have to push out, now that people are finding their voices, everything has changed. Those who can seize the moment and get their fresh, new, authentic stories out will find success. We don’t want our desire for drama filled by the left or the right anymore. We crave culture, something we haven’t enjoyed in about twenty years. 

It’s not about Trump. It was never about Trump. It’s about authenticity.

Now that Noir-vember is over, it’s time to start thinking about Christmas movies. While I’m rather notorious for watching Hallmark movies every weekend, none of them can hold a candle to the classics. Over the years, I’ve fallen in love with a handful that have been forgotten and add sprinkle them in with the movies everyone knows. Here’s a list (with Amazon affiliate links) of Christmas movies I prioritize every December.

Christmas in Connecticut

If, like me, you were first introduced to Barbara Stanwyk through reruns of The Big Valley, seeing her as a flustered young woman is a bit of a shock. Here she plays a proto-Martha Stewart who can’t actually cook. But she can write about homemaking like a trad-wife queen. Eventually, the whole sham starts falling apart. Just in time for Christmas.

Holiday Affair

I might be biased toward this story of a lonely, old bachelor who falls in love with a most gorgeous Janet Leigh and into a ready-made family. Hopefully I don’t look quite as hangdog as Robert Mitchum, and I know I’m not as good looking, but a guy can dream. The love story will keep you guessing, and Harry Morgan has a great bit part that’s not to be missed.

The Shop around the Corner

Admittedly, it took me a couple of tries to connect with this early Jimmy Stewart screwball comedy. The story takes place in some imaginary city in an imaginary country, and I found that off-putting. However, the story is so good (if surprisingly dark at one point) that on a second viewing it got me. If you’ve ever fallen in love with a penpal, this is a movie for you.

The Thin Man

Maybe it’s no more of a Christmas movie than Die Hard, but Nick and Nora’s debut does take place before and after December 25th, and there’s a party, so I say it counts and watch it every year. I’ve seen it so many times now, in fact, that I have parts of it memorized (and if anyone is looking for the perfect gift for me, I don’t have the new Blu-ray box set yet).

A Charlie Brown Christmas

You don’t need me to tell you about this one. But if you don’t have it on physical media, what are you waiting for? The 4k looks great and if it ever gets cancelled you’ll be glad that you can hear Linus recite Luke 2 whenever you want.

It’s A Wonderful Life

Speaking of great looking discs, the 4k UHD of It’s A Wonderful Life is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Don’t let the fact that it’s in black and white fool you. I understand people who struggle with this movie, story-wise, as it’s got a difficult and unusual structure. But if you focus on George Bailey’s journey, as a man who sacrifices his every desire for family and realizes it was worth it all in the end, it can’t help but warm your heart.