In the early 1940s, American composer Irving Berlin wrote a song that he described as not only the best song he ever wrote, but “the best song anybody ever wrote.”
Simple yet poignant, his song spoke longingly of the magic of a Christmas covered in snow. It invoked romantic outdoor scenes of snow-covered, glistening trees and winter-clad children giddily anticipating the ring of sleigh bells. The song was called “White Christmas” and it would go on to become the best-selling physical single of all time, a title it retains to this day, with more than 50 million copies sold.
The success of “White Christmas” is a phenomenon that begs explanation. How did it happen that a Christmas song, of all possible genres, became the most successful single of all time? The answer lies less in the song itself, and more in the holiday that it evokes.
Christmastime is iconic. Cities, towns and homes across the world are meticulously transformed into heartwarming displays of the prettiest Christmas decor. From boughs of holly to shimmering lights, the spaces we inhabit at this time are a constant reminder of the season and what it represents. Among all our yearly holidays, Christmas is unique for its attention given to morality. It’s only once a year, at Christmas, that we as a culture pause to meditate on and reaffirm our commitment to such supreme values as benevolence, peace, goodwill, charity and love.
The fact that we still do this in 2023 appears remarkable, especially since during the rest of the year, the opposite is largely touted. Social media, which exercises an immense influence over our culture, relentlessly propagates messages of hedonistic narcissism. This is a philosophy that says: I can do what I want, when I want, how I want and I have no responsibility for anyone or anything but myself. My happiness depends on my total freedom to do as I please.
Christmas directly critiques this stance. It does this through a combination of compelling music, film, literature, folklore and ritual, all of which serve as conduits for the “Christmas message” or the “true meaning of Christmas,” as it’s often called. At once explicit and mysterious, the “true meaning” of Christmas is the key to unlocking its power.
The illumination of that meaning will occupy the rest of this article. It’s hoped that the reader will be convinced of the necessity of Christmas, and in turn, will be inspired to celebrate it that much more this year.
A Christmas Carol
The true meaning of Christmas is perhaps illustrated most poignantly through its stories. Consider Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1843), the quintessential holiday tale featuring an old, miserly businessman named Ebenezer Scrooge, whose distaste for Christmas and all that it stands for leads to a series of ghostly nocturnal visits aimed at changing his heart.
The first of these, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes him on a journey back to his youth where he’s forced to rewatch scenes of his life, thereby confronting his loss of innocence and his development into the bitter man he has become. Next, the Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge to observe current events as they happened. He watches as his own poorly treated clerk, Bob Cratchit, celebrates Christmas with his family, including the little Tiny Tim, who suffers from a severe illness. The ghost warns Scrooge that unless the future trajectory changes, the boy is fated to die.
Lastly, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come reveals to Scrooge his own future. When he dies, his death will be met with indifference and even celebration. Horrified and desperate, Scrooge pleads for a second chance:
Spirit! … hear me. I am not the man I was … I will honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the past, the present and the future. The spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.
Suddenly, Scrooge finds himself back in his bed on Christmas morning. Overjoyed and almost manic, he rushes to make amends by donating to charity, having a turkey sent to the Cratchits’ home and celebrating Christmas at his nephew’s party, which he’d previously refused to do. From then on, Scrooge is a compassionate and generous man who loves Christmas. Indeed, “It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.”
It’s A Wonderful Life
This theme of transformation would reappear a century later with the classic holiday film It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). The story’s protagonist, George Bailey, is a disillusioned family man who thinks of ending his life one Christmas Eve, wishing he’d “never been born.” Miraculously, he’s saved by the intervention of an eccentric angel named Clarence. Clarence, intent on convincing Bailey of his life’s worth, forces George to traverse an alternate universe throughout the night—one in which he never existed.
Throughout their adventures, George’s impact on the world quickly becomes evident. In this alternate universe, Bailey’s brother Harry never survived past childhood because George wasn’t there to save him from drowning in an accident. True to the butterfly effect, this rippled out, precluding Harry from becoming a war hero for saving countless lives during a kamikaze attack.
Further, George’s hometown of Bedford Falls was drastically different. Without George to run the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan after their father’s passing, the town had been taken over by the heartless banker Mr. Potter, who interestingly is played by Lionel Barrymore, the famous voice of Ebenezer Scrooge in the CBS radio rendition of A Christmas Carol.
For George, all of this is bad enough, but the worst comes when his own wife Mary doesn’t recognize him in the street. The angel Clarence points out: “You see, George, you really had a wonderful life. Don’t you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?”
Reminiscent of Scrooge pleading with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, a devastated George Bailey tearfully calls for help:
Clarence! Clarence! Help me, Clarence. Get me back. Get me back. I don’t care what happens to me. Only get me back to my wife and kids. Help me, Clarence, please. Please! I want to live again. I want to live again. I want to live again. … Please, God, let me live again.
Magically, George is returned back to real life. Overcome with joyful relief, he frantically runs home looking for his family. Blissfully, they’re reunited, just as dozens of friends arrive for an impromptu Christmas Eve celebration.
Like Scrooge, Bailey is permanently changed by his experience that night. Revitalized by a profound sense of gratitude for life, home, family and friends, it’s clear that he won’t take life for granted again. Originally a sleeper hit, It’s A Wonderful Life went on to be wildly successful, and is now considered one of the greatest films of all time.
Elf
Moving to the next century, Elf (2003), which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, brought the Christmas message to an entirely new generation. The film stars Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf, who—after steathily crawling into Santa’s bag one Christmas Eve as a baby at an orphanage—is raised by elves in Santa’s North Pole.
At the beginning of the movie, Buddy overhears the elves talking about his human identity, prompting him to embark on a journey of self-discovery south to New York City, where he meets his human father, Walter Hobbes, the vice-president of a children’s book publishing company. Immediately, tensions arise. Hobbes, who finds Buddy’s giddy, eccentric behavior off-putting, initially doesn’t believe he is his son and refuses to associate with him.
When a DNA test proves their relation, Hobbes reluctantly agrees to allow Buddy to move in temporarily with his family, but soon realizes his “mistake” when he finds him engaging in a variety of destructive, though innocently childlike behaviours. The rest of the film continues to explore the juxtaposition between Walter, an unemotional workaholic who puts money above his family, and Buddy, who’s full of “Christmas cheer” and cares deeply about people.
The theme of “Christmas cheer” or “Christmas spirit” is recurring throughout the film. The definition of “cheerfulness,” according to Oxford Languages, is “the quality or state of being noticeably happy and optimistic.” Buddy the Elf is a master at this, to the point at which he unsettles people with his constant smiling and joy. And yet, Christmas cheer is contagious.
At the beginning of the film, Santa has a frank conversation with Buddy about his father, informing him that he’s on the naughty list. Naturally, this news is crushing to Buddy, who loves his father even before knowing him. Standing there confidently with his white beard, looking remarkably close to traditional depictions of God, Santa offers a possible solution: “Listen, some people, they just lose sight of what’s important in life. That doesn’t mean they can’t find their way again. Maybe all they need is just a little Christmas spirit.” With that, Buddy discovers his mission.
Eventually, Santa’s wisdom proves true. Buddy’s sheer presence in Walter’s life is enough, eventually, to change him. Near the end of the film, tensions between father and son come to a head when Buddy unintentionally ruins a critical business deal for Walter’s company. Possessed by rage, Walter utters the antithesis to Christmas: “I don’t care that you’re my son! Get out of my life, now!”
Buddy takes his father’s words to heart and runs away from home. Later that night, on Christmas Eve, Walter is working late to pitch a new book idea to his boss. Just as the pitch is about to begin, Walter’s other son, Buddy’s half-brother Michael, barges in to alert him of Buddy’s flight and their need to go find him. Hobbes is initially dismissive. Disappointed in his father, Michael offers a scathing diagnosis: “Buddy cares about everybody. All you care about is yourself,” while turning to walk away.
Walter asks him to wait. Suddenly, he finds himself at a crossroads, forced to choose between family and work. It’s in that moment that the collective results of Buddy’s influence culminate in a decision. Walter decides to cancel the pitch, forfeiting his job in the process, in order to go search for Buddy. Eventually, the family is reunited and lovingly reintegrated.
The film ends with Walter opening his own children’s book publishing company, with his first book being based on Buddy’s life story. Like Scrooge and George Bailey, Walter Hobbes is permanently changed for the better.
Christmas With the Kranks
The following year, Christmas with the Kranks (2004) offered a similar message.
Luther and Nora Krank are a suburban couple from Illinois, whose young adult daughter, Blair, goes to live in Peru for a year. As their only child, Blair’s departure evokes strong emotions in her mother Nora, who misses having her at home (chiefly, as she notes, around Christmas time).
The same can’t be said for Luther who appears mostly indifferent, and instead is consumed with the idea of skipping Christmas altogether in order to save money. He pitches the idea to his wife: boycott all things Christmas and go on a cruise. Initially hesitant, Nora eventually agrees.
The next parts of the film focus on the tensions that arise as the couple informs their friends and neighbours of the decision. Mostly people react with surprise, judgment or condemnation. Where would they spend Christmas Eve, if not at the annual Krank Christmas Eve party? And what about their annual police fund donations? Their Christmas tree purchase to support the Boy Scouts?
Perhaps worst of all, they’re shamed by neighbor Vic Frohmeyer, “like the unelected war boss of the street,” who refuses to accept the Kranks’ unwillingness to put up their Frosty the Snowman statue according to street tradition. Despite these pressures, the Kranks remain mostly steadfast, with Luther leading the charge in their Christmas boycott.
Finally, December 24 arrives and the Kranks are excitedly preparing for their vacation the next day. Suddenly, they get a surprise phone call from their daughter Blair, who announces that she’s coming home for Christmas with a new fiancé, and will arrive just in time for the Kranks’ annual Christmas Eve party. Nora is ecstatic. Unwilling to pass on the opportunity, Nora assures her that the party is happening.
Luther is incredulous, wishing Nora had told Blair about their cruise plans, which would have to be cancelled. Nora, on the other hand, couldn’t be happier. She gets right to work preparing for the party, with Luther reluctantly following behind.
After many challenges, the scale of the task at hand soon becomes apparent. Graciously, and despite recent frictions, the Kranks’ neighbours band together to help them. Everyone pools their resources and gets to work. They finish just in time for Blair’s arrival, and everyone enjoys the party as if nothing ever happened. Family and friends are reunited in a festive display of peaceful reintegration.
Yet, something isn’t quite right. During the party, Nora can sense that something is up with Luther and realizes that he’s still bitter about missing their vacation. Disgusted with his ungratefulness, she laments his inability to put others first.
Then, something begins to change in Luther. Uncharacteristically, he walks across the street to deliver a ham to the Scheels, an elderly couple celebrating Christmas alone. This is a particularly noble gesture, considering Luther’s complicated relationship with Walt Scheel, who he consistently fails to get along with throughout the film.
After dropping off the ham, Luther wishes the Scheels a merry Christmas and begins walking back home. He stops in the middle of the road and looks through the window to his house. He sees his family and friends having a great time together, dancing and laughing. The snow falls peacefully around him. The film score produces twinkling sounds and an angelic choir that gradually intensifies.
This is the climax of the movie. Luther goes back to the Scheels’, this time gifting them the Kranks’ unused cruise tickets. Nora finds out about the gesture and gracefully reaffirms her love for him. Never again will Luther forget the importance of family and friends.
The true meaning of Christmas
The stories of Ebenezer Scrooge, George Bailey, Walter Hobbes and Luther Krank are united in their dramatization of the true meaning of Christmas. All recount how an individual soul is transformed from a state of self-absorption that’s expressed as ingratitude, greed and indifference to others to one of selfless humility that’s marked by gratitude, self-sacrifice and concern for humankind.
This transformation often occurs in the context of a soul “led astray”, implying a return to a past state. It’s likely set in motion by some form of supernatural intervention into the lost soul’s life, whether by means of a ghost, an angel, Santa Claus, or a more mysterious divine force. Invariably, that intervention strives to and ultimately succeeds in reorienting the subject towards what truly matters in life: togetherness and concern for family and friends.
In the process, the subject loses part of its freedom. Individual desires are subordinated to the demands of community. Initially viewed as limiting, even tyrannical, the community is revealed as the locus of the greatest meaning. Paradoxically, we’re reminded that it’s through the act of giving up that we receive the most.
«قراءة ذات صلة» PEACE, LOVE AND JOY: 30 short Christmas quotes»
image 1: Portland Center Stageالصورة 2: travis; الصورة 3: Wikimedia Commons
