'Holidate' ...We Needed This
Simply put: it's been a week. At least we got this movie. Featuring Mercer Malakoff.
Last night, with reckless abandon, I (Fletcher) decided to FaceTime my good friend Mercer Malakoff. I mention this because, as I see it now, we were foreshadowing a throwaway scene in Holidate in which Sloane’s (Emma Roberts) mother video calls her out of the blue. That’s us!
Our conversation, generalized:
“This week has been so long,” I say, shoving my head into my pillows. “It should be Thursday. Tomorrow should be Friday.”
“Right?” Mercer agrees.
I don’t really remember what she said after this, and I don’t want to misquote her, but we began talking about the much-awaited Netflix hit Holidate.
“I want to watch Holidate. I had to watch a scene for work,” I explain, referring to the brilliant Halloween sequence.
“I watched it!” she says, and my eyes widen. “It’s cute.” Honestly, my two favorite words, when it comes to describing films.
And here is where this issue began. I am so grateful for my friends who stay up-to-date on the streaming shenanigans. Streaming wars, if you will. I am so, so incredibly indebted to this movie, which made my week a little less dismal. Curlers in my hair, absolutely manic, I pressed play on this movie. I stayed up until 2 a.m. watching this piece of cinema; it was so tantalizing. I couldn’t fall asleep. Without further ado, our thoughts:
A Dallas Perspective on Holidate: Big Family Gatherings, Owen Wilson, etc.
As a romantic person who is also an off-screen Leslie Knope, I live for the holidays. I love cheering people up or seeing the joy on the streets. There is nothing better than surprising people you love and care about. Although I would argue you should not have to wait for a special day to do that, the sentiment is there.
Coming from a medium-sized southern family, holiday traditions are huge and often extravagant. The traditions are endless, so I am going to sum them up for you: booze that makes you fall over, lots of kitchen time with secret recipes, sports with loud announcers that ring throughout the house, matching family merch made by my graphic designer mother, extravagant Dallas parties where you wonder if Owen Wilson is going to show (only happened twice), and, finally, ignoring New Year's Eve.
what is he saying? cars 2 answers only
There are some holidays in my family that are okay to miss — i.e. New Year's Eve or Halloween (which is also my grandfather's birthday) — while others such as Thanksgiving (my sister’s birthday) and Christmas are an absolute must. To this day I am still upset I missed out on the yearly trip to La Jolla because my cousin got engaged. Where did I go instead? Just up the river with my past partner (which was super fun!). But when you account for travel, as well as a significant other in your life, you have to decide what impact these singular days have on you.
So, what happens when you put another person into that picture. Where do you go? What do you do? There is not really a rule book for dating and the holidays, and I by no means am a guru.
this is where they make the rule book
Holidate, however, gives us one rule that, if you are in a relationship this holiday season, you MUST follow - "never leave your holidate behind". I don't care if it is your best friend, lover, or partner in life - you better be there for them when there is a fight at the Thanksgiving table or answer their text that says “oh gosh”. I can go on and on about the importance of that communication, but I think Holidate shows that itself in the film. Communication is key - even between two friends or “holidates”. So, if anyone is down to chit chat or watch my family fry not one but two turkeys - DM me to be my holidate at @mercer8.
A Chicago Perspective on Holidate: Green River, Being the Giftwrap Girl, etc.
Netflix, for some reason, has handpicked Chicago as the center of attention for their October 2020 original programming. Though the title may mislead you, Emily in Paris is about a girl from Chicago (who, as the title suggests, is now in Paris). I have not watched The Trial of the Chicago 7, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s clearly a film about Chicago (that I will not watch, because Joseph Gordon Levitt makes me grit my teeth). Another Chicago hit dropped this week, Holidate, and it did the impossible: for once, I missed that chilly life in a northern town.
don’t they do this in emily in paris too
A quick review of the film, which is new and fresh on Netflix: I needed Holidate this week, a week dragging on like a dreadful family Christmas event. Some may say it’s cheesy, stereotypical, or even banal. But I enjoyed it, as I did The Kissing Booth and most Netflix rom-coms. It was special, too, because the representation of Chicago holidays was strikingly accurate.
The first act holidays are pretty hit or miss with the Chicago references. Christmas. New Year’s. Valentine’s Day. All skippable, from my point of view. But when the film ventures into March, it’s time for my absolute, hands-down favorite holiday. If I was ever in a Groundhogs Day situation, I would pray for it to be St. Patrick’s Day. In New York, I can’t lie, St. Patrick’s Day is a cursed, cursed saga to watch. But in Chicago, it’s a joyous day full of witty banter and green rivers — both the drink, and the literal Chicago River. Contrary to my hair color, I’m not really Irish; however, I spend all of my St. Patrick’s Days pretending I am.
this is actually fine, environmentally. it is.
The Easter and Mother’s Day scenes also resonated with me. I appreciate that Emma Roberts is always sporting that same red, a-line style dress with white, freckly flowers. That’s actually a requirement in Chicago. I have a red, a-line style dress with white, freckly flowers. My friends do too, I think. It’s simplified femininity. Find a dress that fits for every Spring occasion, and wear it to everything.
And their Fourth of July lake getaway: swoon. When I see those Etsy style wooden boards that say “I’d rather be at the lake” in Curlz font, I can’t help but yearn for that simple life. Beer. Boats. Sperry Top-Siders. T-shirts in every color of the pastel rainbow.
please… I need this
If there was one resounding takeaway that any Holidate viewers should walk away with, it’s the overbearing presence of the mall. For Chicagoans, especially for suburbanites, malls are everything. That’s our holiday culture. I had my 13th birthday party at Yorktown Mall; in high school, I was a holiday giftwrap girl in Von Maur at that very same mall. Jackson and Sloane are at the mall all the time in this movie. The mall is a saturated, holy place that I cherish.
All these Chicago holidays on screen, they conjured an overwhelming sense of nostalgia in me. It’s silly. Who knows what being home for the holidays will look like this wonky, wonky year? While I anticipate a lotta drama, at least I’ll always have Holidate.
*As a disclaimer, I am not actually from Chicago; I was born and bred in Downers Grove. I hope the real Chicagoans reading this — all two of you — bask in my vulnerability on the matter.