Best Christmas Movie?

Muppet Christmas Carol. The definitive version of the definitive Christmas narrative.

Home Alone stops being fun when you hit puberty and the "little kid implausibly fights adults" premise isn't as cute anymore.

A Christmas Story is a masterpiece but it's been driven into the ground. I still love and respect it, but I could go the rest of my life never watching it again and not feel like I missed out. The 24 hour marathons both made and ruined it.

Christmas Vacation is good but I didn't grow up with it and some of the subplots like the neighbors kinda go nowhere.

It's a Wonderful Life is mostly a great movie (there's some slow moments and forced sentimentality) but I've come to have some negative thoughts towards it. I think it teaches a nice lesson IN THEORY that doesn't actually work in real life. The idea is, why escape from where you are, where you're meant to be, when what's important is to make your homeland the best it can possibly be. Put your own selfish dreams on hold to help other people and they'll return the favor when you need them in turn. Great moral, I completely agree in a vacuum. HOWEVER, the society we've created since then, with the McCarthy hearings and 60s assassinations of reformers, Watergate embittering an entire generation, the Reagan rollbacks of neoliberalism (supply side economics), the 80s "greed is good" Wall Street fellatio, NAFTA, the Wall Street bailouts, Trump using these very justified grievances to con people into supporting a fascist takeover...that's not the world IAWL promises.

Even putting these macro considerations aside, most people are career-oriented and put personal ambition before family and community fostering. Since I don't know when, we've been a society of "what about ME?" / "Got mine, f*** you" / "Im the bigger victim so your problems are irrelevant." I grew up thinking George Bailey was an idol of a life well-lived, corny as that sounds, I truly did. I wanted nothing more than to grow up and be a pillar others could rely on, coming home to a house stuffed to the brim of people who cared about me, whom I'd nurtured in need and could take vicarious pride in their subsequent triumphs. Unfortunately, I've gone out of my way to help other people at my own expense all my life and one thing I've learned is--it's NEVER reciprocated. The vast majority of people are users, phonies and flakes. They'll come to your free lavish parties but not your funeral. (Thats a Gatsby reference.) If IAWL took place in the last 30-odd years, the people of Bedford Falls would've said "I don't know George, what have you done for me lately?" or make some bullshit excuse of how he didn't help them out THAT much so they're justified using that surplus money to buy a new iPhone instead of helping out a friend in need, saving an institution not controlled by big money. That stupid article that makes the rounds every Christmas about "Pottersville is actually great, Bedford Falls is lame" is proof of how people miss the whole point.

So while IAWL is great on its own terms, I cant help but feel miffed when I watch it now because I feel like it sold me on a nice fantasy that just doesn't exist.