Comfort and Joy

I did not like Christmas when I was growing up. I was overwhelmed by the sentiment and the commercialism of the day. I did drink in the spirituality of the season and then found the truth of this wacky period of the year. When I became a parent, it became evident that I was missing out. I was thinking of what something was for me and did not understand the bridges that were re-enforced during this season. I became more attuned to the gifts of friends and family and the gifts of what was and the potential of what will be. I fell in love with the promise of Christmas and the glimpse it showed me of the gift of humane and compassionate action.

?As in all things cinematic, the light that endures are stories that speak of truthful human experience. Movies at their best are an empathic and compassionate canvas of the human experience. We are as a species capable of amazing kindness and devastating cruelty. Movies can shine a light on the truth of our collective experience. It can, in its best form, celebrate what it means to be a human being. Movies have in the past connected us. I worry that on many levels the connective tissue of human society is being eroded by corrosive and divisive politics as well as increasingly silly political correctness.

?As we look towards the day our minds begin to race and social media starts popping memories of the great Christmas movies of the past. Movies like “It’s A Wonderful Life”, “A Christmas Story”, “Christmas Vacation,” “A White Christmas”, “Holiday Inn”, “Santa Claus,” “ Love Actually,” and “Elf” are screened, bringing within them an avalanche of both nostalgia and emotion. You see these Christmas movies offer two things that we as humans so desperately crave, a wish to be better people and most important, a re-enforcement of hope.

?Of course, like many things in our society, people try to control others by degrading our Christmas joy. Lately they have been taking shots at “It's a Wonderful Life”. Some myopic and shallow pundit states that “George Bailey was an emotionally abusive and a manipulative misogynist,” this twit is referring to a scene where George yells at his wife, Mary. Another viewer, who really should grab a life proclaims. “The scene in “It’s a Wonderful Life” is an example of both the man imposing himself, and the woman deciding to give in to him, rather than resist further”. This all fails to see the frustration and angst George feels throughout the movie. Here is a man tested time and time again by life and triumphs selflessly. I think the shallowness exhibited by these self-righteous manipulators is horrible and should be called out. I for one, am on Team Bailey.

?There are clear favorites when it comes to Christmas movies, locally “Christmas Vacation” leads the pack followed by “A Christmas Story”, “Home Alone”, “Elf” and of course “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Ideally these movies should be screened at a classic cinema, but if that is not an option then most streamers are chock full of traditional and non-traditional movies.

?Christmas movies offer a vision of us at our best while re-stating ethical values and what is important or should be important. “It’s a Wonderful Life” tells the tale of a man who repeatedly sacrifices his own happiness in favor of his hometown. It states firmly that every life is sacred and we all through our existence are very important. At the end of the movie George is shown how deeply his town recognizes his sacrifice and celebrates their love for him.

The U.K. Christmas movie “Love Actually,” tells the tales of couples in London who struggle with their version of love, bringing to viewers the perennial theme of romance and the struggle of relationships; what it drills home is that we have the potential for love in whatever form it takes. All Great Christmas movies drag audiences into a cinematic world, a world that re-defines their self-worth and reinforces their hopes. These Christmas movies can provide a distraction, offer solace, and sometimes even provide light to endure life’s difficulties. These movies tell us, it will be alright. These movies are about the power of family, true love, reconciliation and to reinforce the idea of home.

Movies like “Jingle all the Way,” “Deck the Halls,” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” all are focused on the idea that the true meaning of Christmas is not some form of perverse consumerism, but is goodwill to all and the true love of family. For me these movies reconnect us with the past, the movie going experience, and a collective celebration of collective joy. When that screen flickers, I see the anticipation on the faces of my fellow moviegoers. The waves of hope that are woven in the origins of Christmas explodes within hearts and reminds us what is truly good in life. The classic Christmas movies are the greatest expression of the human experience and what we as a species aspire to.

?I always go back to the television version of “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” which I think states the ideal beautifully.

??“It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!? Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. ‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.’”

?This business received a gift courtesy of the latest Spiderman movie, but ever so cruelly the Grinch descended on this business globally. Celebrate Movies, Celebrate each other, and know that moviegoing is so important.

?Merry Christmas, God Bless Us Everyone.