I have a suspicion that everyone has a piece of pop culture they don’t want to look at too closely. Something you love so much and have derived such pleasure from that you just can’t face being analytical about it, in case it all comes apart on you. I mostly feel that way about childhood icons. She-Ra/He-Man, Thundercats (holy proselytizing batman!), Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, The Muppets.
So because I can’t do it, I’m going to invite your comments and insights on a short list of childhood holiday movies. I’m not assuming there are feminist faults to be found, but I’m interested in other people’s associations with these movies — positive or negative. Did the muppets eating a vegetarian Christmas dinner warm the bunny-loving cockles of your heart? Did Hermey the gay dentist elf make you more comfortable in your sexuality? 
I preface this by saying that I’m a die-hard atheist (it’s my dream to be banned one day by the Halton Catholic school board). I watch these movies from the secular side of the holidays, so I won’t be pointing out any missing baby Jesuses.
* A Muppet Family Christmas *
Muppets in a truck driving up to the farm? Forget about it. You had me at “haul out the holly”. The icy patch? Kermit in a plaid vest? A fraggle rock tie-in?!
* Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer *
I know lots of people think it’s not Christmas until they watch this movie, but I’m not its biggest fan. I really only watch it for Sam the Burl Ives Snowman. That and decorating the trees in the forest. Do I ever want to decorate a tree in the forest.
And the island of misfit toys? That’s a cool message. I love the irony that you can now buy figurines of the misfit toys. And that they regularly sell out. 
* Frosty the Snowman *
I kind of can’t watch this one. Everyone in it gives me the willies. Including Frosty, but especially the magician. Maybe because the animation style has that understated “we were all on acid”ness to it.
Speaking of acid… how about A Cosmic Christmas?
That’s all I’m going to say. You’ve seen it and it’s terrified you, or you’ve been spared.
* How the Grinch Stole Christmas *
This is a similar story to A Charlie Brown Christmas in that they’re both for people who at least start off the season in a bit of a funk. Either feeling like you’re not fitting in, or resenting the over-the-top merriment around you.
I feel for the Grinch, I really do. He just wants to be surly up in his mountain. My downstairs neighbours can be redonculously loud, so I am totally with him on the inconsiderateness of the Whos down in Whoville.
That’s my quick skim. How do you feel about: The First Christmas (claymation nuns? Even an atheist can enjoy that…); Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey (the mother should never be killed off in a Christmas movie); It’s a Wonderful Life; National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation; Miracle on 34th Street (old and/or new); A Christmas Carol?
What’s on your ‘have to watch’ list this time of year? What seasonal movies make your heart grow three sizes? Which, if any, do you find the most inspiring?
Confession: I look back up and see that there’s only one movie I really said I like. Though even if I don’t have a copy of them on my shelf, seeing the promos for just about any of these is enough to make me feel festive. But… there is another movie I didn’t mention that I do like to watch every year.
I have a terrible blind/soft spot for The Bishop’s Wife (original).
As I alluded to at the beginning, I don’t want to look at it too closely. I know I know, you don’t even have to look closely. But maybe someone else can look for me.
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two comments
There's a lot of people who are really lonely and depressed at this time of the year. Calls to hotlines and demand for many of the services that help when people's home lives get out of control increase, my mother told me. What she said stayed with me. She didn't have the happiest childhood and pressures always increased around Christmas for her mother, whose stress moved wordlessly through the family in December. She felt a need to impress and especially look like a together family with an able wife. They weren't wealthy, she really was a poor domestic and her partner was often unreasonable or absent as a partner or lover. Things were hard in general for the family, but Christmas brought new levels of shame and stress. The reason I mention this is that I can't shake the feeling that the constant pushing of the very traditional "perfect family" ideal along with all the work and consumerism of Christmas is a big part of almost all of these movies. The idea often push too is the granting of wishes for young kids. In the secular modle parrents have to be Santa Clause and in the Christian model the lines between adoration of the Christ child and adoration of ones own children blur. This blurring is also about expecting children to be esspecially perfect - innocent, altruistic and Christ-like. When these model collide, you have a serious problem. Then of course their are the pressures faced by people who because they are not Christian contend with with the Cristian Christmas, the secular holiday season and the pressure to stay true to and do justice to whatever other religions / cultures are part of their identity. People max their credit cards and their energy. The media is happy to see it happen. I guess the question for me is whether all these hyper-magic, hyper-happy, hyper-status-quo-pushing movies are doing more harm than good for people. Miricles, family, community - it's a world of ideals but there's something so predictable and boring about it that seems far removed from reality. There's an incredible lack of depth and willingness to "push the envelope". Thanks a lot for this post. I found at least one movie worth checking out.
Posted by Myra
December 15, 2007, 2:01 PM
The Holiday season is behind us now, but does that mean that we should stop paying attention to holiday inspired movies?
How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of my favourites, though not a movie I 'need' to watch every year; it’s the one that had an impact on me. Anyone that knows me will know that I have a bit of the Grinch in me, though the Christmas season wipes that away, even if just for a few weeks. This Christmas film is not a story about the Grinch and it’s not about the Christmas spirit, it’s a simple story about making an effort for someone else. During the holiday season I am a Who. I walk around singing Christmas songs as loud as I can, knowing that my family (and probably neighbours) are not pleased.
Why do I torture those around me? Because it rubs off! My mom, also under immense stress caused by the ‘jolly’ season, laughs at my relentlessness, smiles at my inability to carry a tune, and giggles at my imitation of Rudolph. It’s not about being in the spirit, it’s about sharing the joy with others. Cliché? Perhaps. But it works for me. The question that I can’t answer, even on my own behalf, is why can’t we pick up a Christmas/Holiday film in March or August? Having a bit of the Grinch in me, I can use some ‘spirit’ so why I don’t I think of watching the Grinch? Perhaps this is one of the many effects of consumerism; advertising of this sort of happiness and bliss only comes around once a year after all. Perhaps pushing the envelope would be to step out of December for once.
Posted by Gosia
January 15, 2008, 11:35 PM
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