Bad Dads In Christmas Movies: A Brief Retrospective
The Santa Clause
Prior to (spoiler) turning into Santa, Scott Calvin is a self-centered ad exec who shows up late to hang out with his own son on Christmas Eve, and openly mocks his ex-wife’s new boyfriend, Neil, in front of their young son, all while deriding psychiatrists as “not real doctors.”
Neil isn’t such a prize himself; he may get a lot of undeserved flack for his position as a mental healthcare professional and Sensitive Nineties Man, but he also takes it upon himself to tell Charlie that Santa Claus isn’t real, a totally out-of-line move for anyone other than a child’s actual parents.