Reddit Crowns Trading Places As Its Favorite Unofficial Christmas Movie

For many people out there, whether it's with family, friends, or on their own, there are certain Christmas movie-staples that must be watched during the holiday season. For some, their choice of movies fall into the "holiday-classics" category such as "Miracle on 34th St.," "A Christmas Story," or "Elf." But, for others, the movies they throw up on their festive at-home screen, consider them Christmas necessities for less obvious reasons. These are the films that have been adopted into the category for a more subtle reason, in contrast to the others that have a glaring holiday connection. The topic of whether or not these movies should be considered Christmas flicks is a popular debate/discussion over on Reddit, and "Trading Places" is at the top of many peoples' list.

For those who haven't seen it, "Trading Places" follows Louis Winthorpe III, Dan Aykroyd, an upper-class stockbroker who is suddenly thrust into a life of destitution after the filthy rich Dukes (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) make a secret wager. This wager rests on whether or not Louis, who receives help from a compassionate prostitute (Jamie Lee Curtis), can survive life after being replaced by a street hustler, Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy). Doesn't it sound like a Christmas movie? Well, to some, there's enough connection to the holidays to have the film on a December priority list. In fact, plenty of those individuals crown "Trading Places" as their favorite unofficial Christmas movie.

Many people believe that Christmas is a time for giving. However when analyzing the plot of "Trading Places," on the surface, the theme appears to be more about taking. Louis's life is basically swiped from him by the Dukes' childish bet, while Valentine takes as much as he can out of this sudden opportunity. However, many of the people who put this on the top of their favorite Christmas movies list can see the holiday message that eventually comes out of this comedy. That is, learning to appreciate the things that are more important than money, like family and friends. 

Of course, there is some direct connection to Christmas in the movie. The story does take place over Christmas and also includes a hilarious scene where Aykroyd's Louis crashes a swanky party, drunk and dressed as Santa. U/dustlesswalnut is one of the many Reddit users who can see this connection when he commented with, "I can't count the number of times I watched this during Christmas breaks from school on Comedy Central."  The discussion continued with users like u/Xenoguro who proclaimed, "seriously my favorite Christmas movie and maybe in my top 5 of all time." 

Reddit wasn't the only place where fans crowned "Trading Places" as their favorite holiday film, as the same discussion expanded on YouTube. "I consider this a Christmas movie and it's played about 5 times a year every November and December, great movie," wrote @humbked9256. @Magicmike5003 also points out how the movie impressively overcame one important non-Christmas fact when commenting, "Funny, the movie timeline is around Christmas, but the film was actually released in the summer of 83."