Is it an Xmas Movie?

I think, in order for a movie to be truly called an Xmas movie, Xmas needs to be a plot driver of some sort, and not just happen to take place at Xmastime. For example, Die Hard takes place at Xmas but the holiday also drives the plot. John wouldn't be visiting, the company wouldn't be by itself in the building, and there wouldn't be a party where the "terrorists" could get to Takagi without it being Xmas. While you could set the movie during a different time or come up with other reasons for those plot drivers, Xmas makes for a good excuse for all of it, together.

Lethal Weapon, on the other hand, takes place at Xmas but the holiday doesn't drive the plot. Very little of what goes on is *because* it is Xmas; Xmas is just a set design for some scenes. Riggs doesn't become Murtaugh's partner because it is Xmas. The bad guys aren't killing people or bringing in "product" because it is Xmas. Even Xmas-related scenes, like Riggs arresting the crooks in an Xmas tree lot could easily be placed elsewhere without affecting the sequence at all. It could be a used car dealership. It could be a standard nursery. Doesn't matter-- the scene would play out identically without it being Xmas.

Batman Returns is on the edge. Xmas scenes are throughout and some of these scenes drive the plot forward but many others could be set at different times and would play out the same. But the bookend scenes of Batman/Catwoman and Bruce/Selina sharing the "mistletoe can be deadly if you eat/a kiss can be deadlier if you mean" lines would have to be totally changed if you moved the movie to be non-Xmas time. The tree lighting ceremony is a good excuse to get people together, outside, for Shreck and Penguin to frame Batman for murder. Could these scenes be rewritten? Yes. But Xmas makes for a good reason for all of them. It could go either way.

So, in the end, any movie you want to be can be considered an Xmas movie. However, I think if the plot is driven by elements of it being Xmas it qualifies more firmly than if Xmas is just the time that the movie takes place and the fact it is Xmas doesn't drive any of the plot forward.

The Bible-literate Should Promote Masks and Vaccines

I find an odd dichotomy in those who fervently claim that (Christian) religion must be used and upheld in America to make laws (while ignoring the separation of church and state) while also claiming that their individual freedoms are being impugned by mask and vaccination laws. Now, I read the Bible quite a long time ago, but hearing and seeing people proclaiming these two disparate resolutions made me think, "Didn't the Bible have something about the common good and welfare of many? Wasn't Jesus wholly on the side of the greater good?" A small sampling of what I found:

Isaiah 56:1 

God's Message: "Guard my common good: Do what's right and do it in the right way, For salvation is just around the corner, my setting-things-right is about to go into action. 

Jeremiah 29:7

Seek the welfare of the city ... for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Philippians 2:3-4

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

Romans 12:5

So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another

Matthew 25:31-46

The entire parable of the Sheep and the Goats is all about doing for the common good. Jesus specifically teaches that those who feed, clothe, and administer to the sick (et al) in His name will reach Heaven and those who do not will be cast down to Hell.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.

There are a wealth more quotes. I mean, the New Testament portion of the Bible seems to me to be primarily about working for the greater, common good and against selfishness. It seems to me like the people who profess their abiding Christianity should be promoting mask-wearing and vaccination for the good of the many. Of course, those who are using faith-based attacks on masks and vaccines seem to also have a hard time remembering any parts of the Bible when asked. Maybe there is a correlation?

'Rona and the magical, mystical vaccine

The coronavirus can only go where it is allowed to go. With the introduction of vaccines, that means it has fewer sources of infection and will condense in areas where people are not vaccinated, for whatever reason.

A certain segment of the US/North American population is resistant or, at least, very hesitant to get the vaccine. As its ability to infect anyone, anywhere is diminished, the virus will attack those it still can infect... the anti-vaxxers. This is why you see prominent celebrities, politicians, and others in this population admitting that they are getting COVID-19 and getting sick.

Soon, those people will be the only population that the virus can easily infect and those will be the people who will be infecting their friends and family, getting long-haul results, and dying from this pandemic. I'm sure they will come up with more ludicrous reasons as to why they have been "targeted" by some group, but the rest of us will know the real reason; if you're an idiot and don't believe in science when something like this happens, you are sacrificing yourself for the greater good.

While I know this hope is unfounded, I continue to hope that this will wake people up and get them understanding that, while they do, indeed, have individual rights, sometimes you have to sacrifice your rights for the greater good. Sometimes the whole has to be more important than some of its parts. Sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (or the one).

When I read that Ted Nugent (and others) has contracted the 'Rona, I can't help but say, "Good!" I hope he has infected all of his fellow anti-vaxxers. I hope that many of them get sick. I hope that many of them get long-haul issues. And, if that doesn't drive home the fact that this virus is real and the need to get the vaccine is just as real, I hope a few of them die. That sounds harsh, even cruel, I know. If they won't learn from literally worldwide results, nor will they learn from the infection and death rates in their country/state/county/city, they need to learn the lesson somehow, and getting the disease, suffering through it, or even dying from it may be the only way to teach these willfully ignorant people the lesson. So they have chosen, so let it be.