"Elf On The Shelf Is A Menace," "Secret Santa Is Pointless," And 27 More Holiday Hot Takes That I'm Scared To Admit Make A Point
We asked the BuzzFeed Community for their unpopular holiday opinions. Here are the polarizing responses:
1."Elf on the Shelf is a menace. My mother-in-law gifted us one when my daughter turned 2, and we just said, 'No, thank you.' I don’t like the idea of telling my kid that there’s this weird elf watching her all the time and snitching on her."
2."Christmas and Halloween should be changed so that they are the last Friday or Saturday in the respective months of December and October (similar to how Easter and Thanksgiving are always on a Sunday and a Thursday)."
"Christmas or Halloween on a Tuesday sucks."
3."People get big mad when I tell them I don’t get my kids gifts from 'Santa.' Sorry, I don’t believe in lying to my children."
"Santa is just a figurehead of the meaning of Christmas. Also, when I worked at a bookstore, I had moms who would literally come in and cry to me because they barely had enough money to feed their kids and get them some Christmas presents, and then they HAD to buy a $40 Elf on the Shelf because their kid's teacher was doing it, and their kid was wondering why Santa didn’t send an elf to their house. The whole Santa and elf thing makes me so angry, and I refuse to do it to my kids."
4."We should stop expecting people to participate in Secret Santa/White Elephant exchanges because they almost never work out."
"From not knowing how much to spend, not knowing what to buy, finding out who has who, giving something insensitive, and a whole slew of other scenarios, someone's feelings usually get hurt. It's really not as fun as it seems, and I'd rather people just give small, thoughtful gifts to coworkers and classmates if they feel compelled to do so."
"Secret Santa is pointless and incredibly bad for the environment."
5."Stocking stuffers shouldn't be expensive or real gifts. I remember my sister's (wealthy) mother-in-law putting things like books, video games, and portable CD players in her stockings (stuff that should probably be wrapped and put under the tree). Oranges and candy canes full of peanut butter cups are more than fine."
6."There are too many food holidays too close together. Let me rest, please. I have neither the willpower for this nor the desire to see certain relatives when I just saw them the month prior."
7."'Let It Go' and 'My Favorite Things' are not, and never will be, Christmas songs."
8."Super scary and gory Halloween decorations in your yard are not okay if you have close neighbors/live in a neighborhood. I get that some people can tolerate more horror than others, but bloody, shredded teddy bears and babies in your front yard is nasty. Keep that stuff inside your house."
9."Christmas is the worst part of the year. Many people are mean and rude trying to find gifts. Others are so stressed because they don't have the finances to do Christmas in the way the commercial world has told us it's supposed to be. I hate Christmas but try to participate because my family loves it."
"Christmas in general sucks. There, I said it so you don’t have to. It’s stressful, exhausting, time-consuming, money-wasting, and most of all, overrated."
"Everyone making a HUGE fuss about what to wear, when to show up, what relatives to avoid (whether that be for tension or awkwardness). The whole gift-giving process is uncomfortable and in my opinion, kind of greedy. I know for a lot of people the holiday season, regardless the holiday, is hard to attend for many reasons (being LGBTQ+, addiction, relationship abuse, religion, etc.). People like to bring stuff like that up at dinner with no remorse or privacy. It’s not always a safe environment to go home just because 'it’s the holidays!'"
10."'All I Want for Christmas Is You' and Love Actually are overrated."
11."I personally think Christmas music is overrated, and it starts playing everywhere way too early."
"I absolutely LOATHE Christmas carols. I want to stab screwdrivers in my ears to make it stop. I feel like climbing out of my skin after a couple of them. Luckily, for me, I work in a grocery store. 🙄 So, I get to hear them nonstop starting Thanksgiving day, straight through until December 26. It’s my own personal seventh circle of hell."
12."My most controversial opinion would have to be that most holidays are overrated in general, and personally, for me, stopped being fun once I grew up."
"They lost their magic and fun for me (especially Halloween and Christmas). I wish I could still enjoy them the way most people seem to."
13."Elf is the worst Christmas movie."
"Elf is a trash movie. I SAID WHAT I SAID."
14."John Lydon, Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins, and any other icons of punk they can scrounge up should get together and record a cacophonous, screaming version of 'The Christmas Shoes.'"
"Because A.) That song deserves to have something terrible happen to it, and B.) If they did it as a charity single to raise money for poor kids, at least something good would finally come of it."
15."Michael Bublé can't hold a candle to Bing Crosby, Perry Como, and Andy Williams when it comes to Christmas music."
16."Christmas should just be reserved for December."
"This might be more of a UK thing 'cause I know the American pals have Thanksgiving to hold it in place. But in the UK, many people start getting Christmas-obsessed in November because we have no big celebrations this month. My problem with that is that you get sick of the music and hype too soon. By keeping it just December, it can be enjoyed all month long without getting to be too much."
17."Die Hard is a Christmas movie, and I will fight you about it."
18."Krampus is one of the best holiday movies and really gets me in the holiday spirit. 😂 I have to watch it on Black Friday, or it just doesn’t feel like Christmas."
19."A Christmas Story and It’s a Wonderful Life are trash movies."
20."Christmas doesn't have to be a religious holiday and isn't for a lot of people."
"My husband and I each left our churches we were raised in and don't raise our kids with religion, but we make a huge deal out of Christmas. I decorate the whole house, we watch all the Christmas specials, bake cookies, have people over, etc. I love being 'Santa Claus' and watching how excited my kids are Christmas morning."
21."The best Christmas movies are the ones where Christmas is sort of just the background to the main plot. The Die Hard movies, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Mixed Nuts, The Ref, etc."
22."I think everyone has this in their respective cities and towns, but for the love of all that is supposed to be holy, STOP with the 24/7 Christmas music on one radio station starting well before Thanksgiving."
"Thanksgiving already gets skipped over so much, and now this? I remember a few started 24/7 Christmas music two weeks before Christmas, then three weeks, then the whole of December, then the day right after Thanksgiving, and this year was a record — they started it Monday, November 7. And yeah, I can change the station, and I do, but usually, it's a GOOD station, at least for me. All my old pop hits are now replaced with this garbage. I think there's two more stations that are now all Christmas all the time. Can we just have fall and Thanksgiving? It doesn't have to start the day after Halloween!"
23."No one should ever spend a large amount of money on Valentine's Day or treat it like a serious holiday. No expensive jewelry or $300 restaurant bills or fancy overnight hotel stays. Valentine's Day should be quaint, cute, and a little goofy — funny cards, home-cooked meals, and no gifts over $20."
24."Thanksgiving is better than Christmas. It’s actually one of the best holidays. I get the problematic origins and hate that side of the day, but the spirit of being thankful for what we’ve got is a heck of a lot better than the stress of the spirit of giving."
25."The day after Christmas should also be a day when everything is closed because you need a day to decompress after all the activities of Christmas. It's especially hard for retail workers as that is the day everyone swarms for clearance Christmas items and to return all the gifts."
"I'm an introvert, so having to spend all Christmas day being 'on' is exhausting, and I need another day to recover as I'm sure a lot of people do."
26."Thanksgiving and Christmas are the worst holidays because of the pressure to be with family or loved ones. I love my family, but I’d rather spend my few days off in peace with just my pets and video games than deal with all the crazy hoopla that happens when a bunch of family members get together."
27."I hate that serving food at a homeless shelter on Thanksgiving day is advertised as some saintly gesture. It’s a wonderful thing to do, of course, but especially in today’s world of social media, it seems like it’s more done for clout and applause."
28."Hallmark/Lifetime movies are some of the best, most comforting Christmas movies and don’t get enough love! Poinsettias for Christmas and The Christmas Contract are examples of FANTASTIC made-for-TV Christmas movies."
29."In my humble opinion, Christmas decorations should be a little bit tacky. Just a little. I’ve no idea why I feel that way. It just gives me a warm feeling. 😊"
