Last night, I watched a Christmas comedy-romance about a medieval knight who travels from England to modern-day Ohio in America. He has a quest to fulfil to become “a true knight.” Along the way, he finds a friend in Brooke, a school teacher who no longer believes in love.

I’m talking, of course, about The Knight Before Christmas (2019), starring Vanessa Hudgens as Brooke and Josh Whitehouse as Sir Cole of Norwich.

If this movie were Christmas food, it’d be a gingerbread house. It’s innocent, cheerful, and almost entirely free from peril. The only dangerous moment is resolved quickly by Sir Cole.

All in all, The Knight Before Christmas is the perfect Christmas movie for people of all ages.

While watching the story unfold, I was puzzled by Sir Cole. He reminded me of another fictional character. But who?

It took me some time to realise that I was thinking of Damon Salvatore from Vampire Diaries (a TV series that is definitely not safe viewing for children).

Despite their significant differences, Sir Cole and the vampire Damon are romantic ideals. They’re steadfast in love, physically strong, and protective of those they care for.

Both knight and vampire also possess a kind of otherworldly wisdom that makes them very attractive. They’re literally from another time and place. So, we can believe they won’t behave like the people we meet in everyday life. This gives them a kind of escapist glamour.

Sir Cole is squeaky clean and as adorable as a Labrador puppy dog. He’s also not very deep. The movie tells us nothing about his flaws. This medieval knight isn’t a real human being; he’s a symbol of the true love that Brooke declares she no longer believes in.

Damon is Sir Cole’s exact opposite. He’s a dangerous predator who can turn off his morality like a switch, yet he still manages to be a romantic hero. Why? Because he isn’t human at all. We can’t judge him by the standards of our world.

Romantic heroes like Damon and Sir Cole work because they’re not real people. We can enjoy them without bringing in our lived experience. Believing in them gives us a chance to enjoy an ideal.

Importantly, they don’t remind us of anyone we know. And this gives the storytelling a chance to transport us away from daily life.