We’ve all heard it before: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” Everyone is filled with “holly-jolly” good cheer, children anticipate Santa and his reindeer, decorations never fail to put a smile on people’s faces, and snow is beginning to fall.

But that’s not reality. You and I both know it. I mean sure, the holiday season can be fun at times, but the amount of commercialization for this time of year is absurd. Outside from the countless Hallmark movies with predictable plots, Christmas is overwhelming, overcrowded, and overrated.

Christmas is so romanticized, and every year, I am disappointed to learn that it is not the way movies depict it to be. I’m a complete sucker for any Christmas related movie, yet the reality of the holiday season is anything but movie magic.

I’ve compiled a list that will expose the true aspects of Christmas that, when compared to that of the movies, fall short of the expectation.

People aren’t nicer – Every Hallmark movie has a small sinner where the main characters fall in love. Its family owned and the cute old couple who owns it always puts the bills “on the house.” The entire neighborhood will help the male lead when he chases the girl to tell him he loves her under the Christmas tree. The closing scene is the whole town laughing at the dinner table and sharing a fancy dinner. I wish this was true. Instead, we get people pushing each other in the mall to get the last toy and an “every man for himself” additude. Real Christmas is stressful and people are usually not as jolly as the movies make it seem.

No decorations ever look that good – The production crew in movies have seriously given me a false perception of what Christmas decorations can realistically look like. Every set is so decorated it makes the audience nauseatingly happy. There is not  going to be one house decked out in tinsel like the movies make it seem. It is actually quite disappointing. I would love to see decorations like that. Too bad the only way to do so is to turn on my TV.

The 24/7 feeling of Christmas is not real – In movies, the constant theme is always related to Christmas. It really puts you in the spirit for the next 15 minutes after turning your TV off, but then it’s back to reality. Something these movies make me forget is that the entire month of December is not just sectioned off for Christmas festivities. School and work still go on, and arguably get harder, and my mind just can’t have Christmas running through it at all times. It was easier as a kid to wake up excited every morning because Santa was coming in 13 days, but now the due date of my English paper takes priority.

It gets dark at like 5 pm – I’ll be the first to say it: I get so tired and unmotivated during this time of year. The culprit is clearly the sun going down before I’ve even had dinner. How am I meant to go sled riding or ice skating when I can’t even see my hand in front of my face and I have school work looming over my head. My brain is telling me it is time to go to bed, but these characters in these Christmas movies are falling in love under holiday lights or catching Santa Claus. It’s quite unfair if you ask me.

It is so cold – This is the time of year that it starts to get cold for real. You need to warm your car up for a solid five minutes before that thing will go anywhere, and your teeth chatter uncontrollably while you wait. The snow turns to slush and you can’t feel your feet after taking three steps. These movie characters are living the dream with their fake falling snow and fake red cheeks, and I am officially jealous. They are able to go on adventures, but I can’t even tie my ice skates because my fingers are numb.

It’s a money scheme – Businesses profit so much during this chaotic season. Everyone comes out of their hibernation holes to blow their bank on the newest iPhone and Barbie. Movies hype up this holiday so much we ignore how bizarre it is that we give out presents for no reason, and there seems to be a never ending money pit that just sucks up all our money.

But hey, I’m not a total Grinch. I mean sure, there are some really amazing things that happen during the Holiday season, but that does not change the fact that movies have over-hyped it beyond repair. I wish Christmas was like the movies, but it’s just not.