Bad Santa’s Genius Is That It Tackles A Dark Truth About Christmas No One Likes To Talk About

Bad Santa is a distinct Christmas movie in that it addresses something about the holidays that other films don’t shed light on. What makes a movie a Christmas classic is it brings something fresh to the table that hasn’t been done before. Bad Santa is among the modern Christmas classics of the 2000s because it delves into something more truthful than pretty about the yuletide season.

Bad Santa follows Willie T. Soke, an alcoholic, degenerate petty thief, and con artist who poses as a mall Santa to rob all the stores on Christmas Eve. But his misery causes him to care less and less about the con, which makes it harder for him and his associate, Marcus, to keep their cover until the robbery. Despite Bad Santa being among the most tragic holiday movies, though, it provides a heartwarming message through Willie’s development.

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Bad Santa Confronts How Depressing The Christmas Season Can Be

The Holidays Bring Out The Worst In Willie T. Soke

Christmas is usually a time for joy because people get to spend time with loved ones. Willie is miserable, though, because he doesn’t have any family, and he has traumatic memories of his upbringing, including how his father physically abused him growing up. Even worse, the closest thing he has to a family is Marcus, who doesn’t see Willie as a friend so much as he sees him as an asset, and a declining one at that. In fact, Marcus regularly abuses Willie for how much worse he is getting at his job, pushing Willie to care less and less and indulge in his alcoholism.

While Willie’s nihilism is played mostly for laughs, his disinterested demeanor demonstrates a very real issue around Christmastime. Because people typically spend time with friends and family around the holidays, that makes it harder for those who don’t have such a luxury to get through the holidays. Because there’s so much meaning put into the holidays, those who are miserable feel even worse because they want to feel the same way but can’t because they don’t have that support system. Or even worse, they’ve never had that support system.

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Willie Goes Through An Original Compelling Character Arc

He Slowly Progresses Despite His Bad Nature

In his latest gig in Arizona, Willie is at his wit’s end with the jobs he’s pulling and with life in general. That is until he meets two people: Thurman Merman, a naive little boy who believes Willie actually is Santa Claus, and Sue, who is attracted to Willie because she likes men who dress up as Santa Claus. Both of them profoundly impact Willie, particularly Thurman, whose nonstop optimism initially annoys Willie but slowly brings out a better side of him because Thurman gives Willie something he’s never had before: unconditional love.

Thurman provides a good example for Willie to take after because he should be just as miserable as Willie if not more so, given his home life. His mother is dead, his father is in jail, his grandma is senile, he has no friends, and he gets bullied for no reason. Despite this, Thurman is happy and shows that he cares for Willie no matter how much Willie throws it in his face. This inspires Willie to care for Thurman in return, even if he is still a bitter alcoholic and criminal. Willie’s progress isn’t remarkable, but it’s noticeable, even if he’s bad at being a role model.

Willie could have easily abused how much Thurman cared about him and used it for his own personal gain. While he initially does, Willie’s rapport with Thurman soon inspires him to bring Christmas cheer to the boy’s neighborhood, and he even wants to make sure Thurman has a merry Christmas since he hasn’t been able to have one. Unlike most main characters in other revered Christmas classics, Willie progresses from being the lowlife he started out as.

Despite Bad Santa’s Cynicism, It Has An Uplifting Message

Willie Takes The First Steps Toward Self-Improvement

Willie is not redeemed by the end of Bad Santa, but he proves that he’s not beyond redemption. He was still a criminal who should not have gotten away with the wrong deed he would regularly commit on Christmas Eve. However, thanks to Thurman and Sue’s influence, he proves that he deserves another shot at life, which he ultimately gets in the end. With that, Bad Santa‘s message is that while the holidays can make many people downtrodden, all it takes for anyone to snap out of such a bad headspace is finding the right person or people to give them the support system they need to be happy.

Confronting both the bad and the good that comes from the holidays makes Bad Santa a heartwarming movie in the end, despite its brutal honesty. Willie T. Sokes isn’t suddenly an angel in the end, but he proves that he has some good in him after all. Despite the intentionally unsettling tone, it is inspiring that Bad Santa shows that even the pettiest of criminals can actually do better with the right people in their lives.