This sort of sums up how I feel about Xmas, I mean, Christmas:
(From FUTURAMA)
FRY:
This dumb holiday just makes me think of all the things I left behind. Let's just stop talking about Xmas.
[Enter Hermes with the Xmas post.]
HERMES
Happy Xmas Xmas people! Xmas cards have arrived! Xmas! Amy there you go [he hands Amy her post.], Fry [same], Professor [ditto], Zoidberg [who seems happy], a mighty haul for Bender [he hands Bender a handful.]
BENDER
Yes! I got the most! I win Xmas!
Meanwhile, I've been wondering why they can't seem to make halfway decent XMas movies anymore. They either tend towards overly treacly barf -- the Hallmark Channel/ABC Family cable lot -- or overly misanthropic and mean-spirited. Not that I necessarily have a problem with that, not that THE REF isn't my favorite Xmas flick, but did we really need SURVIVING CHRISTMAS (which didn't even survive UNTIL Christmas, or CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS -- which mixes the worst of the treacly side and the misanthropic side in a mushy mincemeat of a script. But my question is: Why bother?
All the new films haven't worked because they've prioritized a message over anything else -- over the things that have really made holiday films work in the past, strong characterizations, unique and interesting plot development, good dialogue. Instead we wait for the Christmas message to be delivered like a last minute Amazon.com package at the end.
Why not just let the characters be, and the situations arise, and if having it set around a holiday aids in creating a strong backdrop, so be it, but don't make the Xmas moral the centerpiece.
A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS still works. There's a moral of sorts at the end, but mostly it's just a hopeful note that comes after sincere questioning of the lost of Christmas spirit, but even more so it works because the Vince Guaraldi score is great, the humor still holds up, and the spirit is in the right place.
Now then... as Jew who celebrates Xmasukkah, I wonder why there's not much in the way of Hanukkah films? Is there anyone else out there in film land other than Adam Sandler who can tackle the holiday? A better question: Why bother? I like that the holiday remains unspoiled, unsentimentalized, and has been left alone. It's only a matter of time, though, before Hollywood mines it.
For now, enjoy your own holiday, wherever you are, whoever you spend it with, whatever your orientation.
This blog will be on holiday for a few days itself, before being back in force next week. Have to spend my hours working on the script mixed with being with family.
Stress and love, that's what the holiday is really all about.
Peace.
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