Thank you. I will now defend the conclusion to my thesis,
Die Hard is indeed, a Christmas movie.
(The time stamps below are approximate.)
You have to look at the filmic allusions to the Christmas motifs.
Though not required, Jesus Christ himself, the reason for the season, is often a motif in Christmas movies. The obvious example is a story taken directly from the Birth Narratives (BN) or a narrative that mirrors the BN in someway, but with a special or Christ-like figure. These retelling of Christâs life, rather than just the BN, are common in Hollywood movies. One example is the Three Godfathers. This western is about bank robbers fleeing a posse who come upon a dying woman and her new born. The action takes place during Christmas, but there few other references to the holiday except the thieves are symbolically transformed into the Three Magi who carry a symbolic baby Jesus to safety.
Cool Hand Luke, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Superman are the most familiar examples.
It also not necessary for the Christ-figure to be holy or a good person, but often one seeking redemption. The same is true for the other biblical-like characters or events, which can be âjumbled up.â (ibid)
Using the following objections to my thesis, I will map out how John McClane is an allegorical Christ-figure who by using Christâs âactionsâ and âattitudes,â âbirthsâ himself into an act of sacrificial, redemptive heroism.
That may sound bizarre however, âAnd the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.â (Luke 1:26)
In Christian theology, God fathers Himself via the BVM.
There are no magi in the movie.As night falls, a black truck arrives with âPacific Courierâ on the side; a gray Mercedes is in the lead. (Notes above)
21:09
Note the name on the door Pacific Courier.
âWhen they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joyâŠThen, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another path.â (Matthew 2:1â12)
That doesnât quite match Hans Gruber and his crew arriving to knock over the Nakatoi Building, but in a mixed up Christ-figure narrative. Hans is like a King Herod who has robbed and murdered the Magi and headed to slaughter the innocent.
The trucking company name Pacific Courier, or
peaceful bringer, is soon seen to be nothing but a lie.
There are no gifts from magi in the movie.
Gruber is not bringing gifts, but plans to give himself $640 million in untraceable bearer bonds. This is King Herod, not the Magi.
There are no ghosts in the movie.
This is a reference to A Christmas Carol and not pertinent, since Iâm only looking for biblical motifs to support my thesis. There are no ghosts or crotchety old men in Luke or Matthew either, so I will eliminate a few points below.
There are no ghosts scaring crotchety old men in the movie.
There is no Christmas spirit in the movie.Thereâs actually a bit of it, thought that spirit is a dark one.
Hans Gruber [whom I refer to as the Devil in my notes] addresses the now hostage Xmas party as a preacher reading from what appears to be a black ledger, condemning their global greed, and they are to be witnesses to a lesson in the âreal use of power.â (ibid)
I call him âthe Devil,â because Gruber is the opposite of John McClane, just as Satan is the opposite of Jesus Christ.
Gruber calls out the CEO and has his henchmen shepherd him away while humming âOde to Joy,â the filmâs leitmotif plays as a dirge. He quotes Plutarch to show off his smarts. (ibid)
Like Satan, Gruber is proud, vain, and deceitful. He delivers a dreadful benediction on the corporationâs greed, only to reveal heâs not self-righteous, just a vicious criminal.
Near the end of the film, Gruber prophesies there will be a âChristmas miracle.â (
Die Hard 1:28)
After the FBI cuts the power grid to the building, the safe theyâre struggling to break into, opens to a joyous sound, âO my brothers, of Ludwig Van and the 9th symphony, 4th movement.ââ (ibid) (1:43:50) (This tune is also a leitmotif in Kubrickâs
A Clockwork Orange.)
This is the above mentioned âOde to Joyâ piece from Beethovenâs 9th, commonly played during Christmas and Easter concerts.
There is no Vermont inn in the movie.
There is no way to call it a Christmas movie.Iâve focused on Gruber, the anti-Christ figure, but John McClane has a lot in common with Jesus Christ.
Sometimes the characterâs name can be a giveaway, like Mr Carpenter, the angelic alien in
The Day the Earth Stood Still, but âJohn McClaneâ is less obvious.
McClane is a variation on McClean, a âScottish name meaning âson of the servant (i.e. devotee) of (Saint) Johnâ.â
linkSo our heroâs name means John, servant of John the Baptist. And baby John the Baptist is an important character in the BNs as Jesusâ cousin, whose mother also miraculously conceived and later baptizes Jesus. As such, John McClane is Christ-figure, but also a John the Baptist-figure.
At midpoint in the film, John and Gruber speak on the radios about Hollywood action heroes and John dubs himself âRoyâ after the singing cowboy Roy Rogers as his call sign. Of course âRoyâ mean king. (1:00:00) Therefore, John, servant of John, calls himself a king.
By the time the vault is breached, John, as Roy, has suffer a some serious injuries from the different battles, but manages to rest a bit and speak with the outside a police officer, who himself has been struggling to convince the LAPD âRoyâ is for real and not one of the terrorists. John has a moment of self-doubt and confesses his love and admiration for his wife to the cop. He then says looking heavenward, âitâs all up to man upstairs.â The man upstairs is Gruber. (1:47:45)
At the filmâs climax, John climbs to the roof, looking for his wife and warns the employees its about to explode. In order to save himself he uses a firehouse, he swings into the 30th floor crashing into the corporation atrium turned into an Armageddon of burning Xmas trees and flooding sprinklers.(1:59:00)
As such, all the violence and mayhem leading up to Johnâs last heroic deed of self-sacrifice, acts as an Apocalyptic ending which renders Gruber dead, yet renews Johnâs marriage to Holly, a plant with significant Christmas celebrations, but was first used by the Celtic Druid in their pagan winter solstice ceremonies.
link
âHolly is known as christdorn in German, meaning "Christ thorn." Both of these symbols are meant to serve as a reminder to Christians of Jesus' suffering, but they aren't the only stories tying holly to Jesus. One claims that the cross on which Jesus was crucified was constructed of holly. Another says that holly sprang up from his footsteps. Less common symbolism includes the holly's white blossoms representing purity, and the idea that if the holly used to decorate a home for Christmas is prickly, the man will rule the house for the coming year; but if the holly used is smooth, the woman will rule.â (ibid)
The reason for Holly and Johnâs estrangement is her job. She left John in New York and used her maiden name at work. While John is angered by this, itâs her maiden name that keeps her identity safe from Gruber.
At the end, the couple reunite and John swears to never question her judgement again and will move to LA and be a good husband and father. They leave the scene in a Cadillac limo as the driver reminds them itâs Christmas. âLet it Snowâ places on the car radio.
There is no snow in L.A.
To recapitulate, this is a Christmas movie, whether you like it or not. Itâs not the traditional kind, but it hits enough motifs to qualify in my assessment.
