Watching Christmas movies is a tradition for families all across the United States, and nothing makes me more frustrated and disappointed than when the screen shows “Home Alone.” It lacks the Christmas spirit, that feeling you get when you turn on a real Christmas movie, and most importantly Christmas traditions we all know and love. Instead of a Christmas movie, a better way to describe it would be a home evasion comedy.

When naming Christmas movies, people often name “Home Alone,” and I am honestly confused. Nothing about “Home Alone” screams Christmas except for the family trip to Paris. If “Home Alone” was based in the summer time, you could use the same plot and the movie would still make sense. Kevin’s family goes to Florida for the summer just to realize that he is gone, then the intruders try and break in. Therefore, it is not a Christmas movie. A Christmas movie has Christmas as the core theme, and “Home Alone” is far from that.

Christmas traditions are barely, if even mentioned in the movie. There is no gift giving or holiday miracles. Real Christmas movies like “The Polar Express” and “Elf” relay the traditions throughout the movie even if it’s subtle.

Instead of using Christmas as a flowing continuous setting, it’s more of background character, and it’s just kind of there. When I watched the movie, if it wasn’t for the snow on the ground or Christmas decorations, I would have no idea that it was a Christmas movie. The whole movie doesn’t float around Christmas time instead it’s just little snippets, and that’s not what a Christmas movie is.

In most Christmas movies, the problem is resolved by Christmas. For example, in “The Grinch,” the Grinch’s heart grows because of the Christmas spirit, but in “Home Alone” it ends with Kevin outsmarting and defeating the Wet Bandits and his family coming home.

Bouncing off the villains, they are not Christmas specific. Let’s take “The Grinch” for example again. The main reason why the Grinch was a villain was because he wanted to steal Christmas and take away all of the Christmas gifts. In “Home Alone,” the villains are just thieves who happened to strike in December.

In the end, “Home Alone” is obviously not a Christmas movie. Whenever I sit down and turn on a Christmas movie this year, I will be skipping right by it.