The holiday season is upon us again. I am not going to be jumping on the Happy Holiday/Merry Christmas argument. My only comment there is it's nice to be wished something positive. If someone wants me to have a happy day on the 25th of December and indicates it by saying Merry Christmas, why fight it. Heck, it's a day on the calendar. A general Happy Holidays is just as welcome. It's the greeting and the intent that are important.
I started introducing the kids to some Christmas entertainment last year. We watched It's a Wonderful Life (now the movie Victoria considers her favorite), a version of the same with a female lead played my Marlo Thomas, Miracle on 34th street (both the original and the 1974 David Hartman/Sebastian Cabot vehicle), Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, Scrooged, Elf, Santa Claus: The Movie, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, A Christmas Story, An American Christmas Carol (with Henry Winkler in the Scrooge persona), the Schwarzenegger opus Jingle All the Way, and most of the TV fare. We decided to continue the tradition this year. So far we have watched A Christmas Story, Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer, Holiday Commercial Countdown, and Rudolph. New for this year (and there will be repeats) include White Christmas, Polar Express, Flintstones' Christmas Carol, Emmet Otter, Fred Claus, Four Christmases, Arthur Christmas, The Santa Clause, Home Alone, and perhaps George and I will take in Die Hard. I am also delighting them with some sitcom Christmas episodes. And the list keeps growing.
I mention all of this because last year we started taking a different view (for me at least) of the Christmas fare. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, what a horrible story. The poor reindeer is ridiculed not only by his reindeer friends but his own father makes him cover up who he really is. Santa Claus pretty much tells him he can't be part of the team. And the misfit toys. Just bad. Interesting observation the kids made. They said they get some of the idea behind the toys (square wheels on a train) but, as one of them pointed out, Charles in the Box not Jack doesn't make him misfit, just misnamed. And the bird that swims? Hmm, like a duck? And then there's the elf who is mocked. Is it my imagination or is this a slight toward the Jews? I mean he is the only one with a small nose (either a reference to plastic surgery or a way to differentiate based on the nose) and he wants to be a dentist. Think about it. Of course, once the truly hated and bemoaned Rudolph can help others, then he is suddenly a hero. Come on, you know there is still whispering going on after the final credits roll.
Frosty the Snowman. Here we have a magical snowman and a bunch of kids (who just head off across town, not watching street lights, one runs off to the North Pole without even alerting her parents) are constantly trying to take possession of a hat that is not their property. I believe we call that stealing.
The Little Drummer Boy has always been a favorite Carol of mine but one needs to step back and wonder, what kind of present is drum playing to a family with a newborn who probably just wants the kid to go to sleep. I know when my kids were infants the last thing I would want would be a kid playing the drum in the house. Just Sayin'
I will not show my kids movies where the premise is that Christmas won't occur because Santa is unable to deliver presents (sure all of these have some little piece of that but it isn't the thrust of the movie). I just think that is ridiculous. How can the lack of presents invalidate a religious holiday. I remember as a kid seeing a preview for a movie (might have been the Year Without a Santa Claus) where Santa shows up at some kid's house in street clothes and says "Christmas won't be coming this year." I was dumbfounded How the hell is that possible?
Final thought for the moment, the world where parents accept there being no Santa Claus but he really does exist (Elf, Grandma Got Run Over . . . , etc.) How in these worlds are the extra presents under the tree explained away. I mean, the parents get some number of toys for the kids and suddenly little Billy is playing with a truck neither of them purchased. They have to wonder where that came from. Perhaps it creates a fight between the parents. "Why did you buy him that extra toy? We agreed on just a few? He didn't need another truck? Who the hell is Billy?"
Things to think about.
Looking forward to continuing watching and destroying these holiday chestnuts with my kids.
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!!!
