Why are Christmas movies so unbelievably sappy? Is there such a thing as a good Christmas movie?

I was flipping through the cable channels yesterday. It seems like Christmas movies are (a) sappy, (b) plotless, (c) predictable, (d) not credible.

The best Christmas movies are the old ones –
– the original Miracle on 34th St
– Bruce Willis – in Die Hard (I)
– The Family Stone
– It Happened on Fifth Avenue (seasonal, not really Christmas)

Hallmark channels are the worst for sappy movies, but the networks are a close second.

Why can’t they make decent holiday movies, with a plot?

[Side observation: Current Christmas movies – 99% of the time – have caucasian protagonists, with a handful of token Asians and Blacks thrown in. Also not reality.]

‘Tis the season to NOT watch movies.