2013
In response to the poem “A letter to Santa?”
I was watching a drama on ITV3 the other night entitled ‘Clash of the Santas’ and as the plot unfurled I found myself becoming more and more disturbed. It began as the children of the family explained to their dad that there was to be no Nativity this year respecting other religions. The dad says “what’s religion got to do with Christmas?”
The poem was written at the same time as watching the drama, real needs in the world, real needs within families are not going to be fulfilled by a fat man in a red suit. Not so much the images in the drama but the dialogue was disturbing because to place all your hope in an idol is wrong.
Now I have to confess I am a Christmas movie aficionado and love nothing more than to curl up in my blanket watching someone’s life changed around the holiday season. They tend to follow the same plot: there is a baddie who becomes a goodie, there is a victim who is vindicated, and all characters end the film with warm fuzzies and a happy ever after. The santa character is a mystical person – part angel, part social worker who puts the world to rights. The children tend to be right and the adults tend to be wrong. Marriages are fixed or singletons are united in a true and loving relationship. Christmas movies are fantasy, but in the main follow principles that can be found in the bible:
And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased;
and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Matthew 23 and Matthew 5
The movies themselves are cheap, made for TV movies that are usually vehicles for specific actors or singers. The sets can be seen moving and the lighting is atrocious, with shadows appearing in the wrong places, like a bad soap opera. All this is allowed because of the message of hope they bring and like bringing a daughter to a Justin Bieber concert, you just hope they get it: the hope they yearn for can only be found in Christ.
‘Clash of the Santas’ did none of this, there were no warm fuzzies that could lead a person to discover Jesus. From the press pack, the following excerpts:
‘The essence of the story, in true Christmas style, is about the power of believing in Santa Claus. Will Howie become a true believer?’
The writer, Jeff Pope says,
“But the real struggle was the story within the story. That question again: ‘Do you believe in Santa Claus?’ Unfortunately there are some people who don’t, who would like to spoil it for those of us that do. Howie Scott is one of them, and Colin Armstrong spends the entire film trying to persuade him to change his mind. Belief in Santa Claus goes to the very heart of Colin as, I suppose, it does in me.”
One of the main actors, Robson Green says,
“That Christmas is only magic if and when we believe it’s magic. Santa is real if and when we believe Santa is real. Clash of the Santas is really about having faith in the magic and wonder of Christmas.”
Reading the entire press pack, there was one thing missing, Jesus, and for me the true meaning of Christmas is remembering back 2000+ years to when God came down to earth and that He’s coming back again. It is a joyous celebration of the birth of Christ tinged with sadness for what we, as humanity did to him and with anticipatory excitement of Him returning.
So yes I love to watch Christmas movies, but now I have discovered they have to dovetail with God, if there they are only based on the ‘magic’ of Christmas without the substance of faith and belief in God. At the end of ‘A Christmas Carol’, a book which has been adapted into dozens and dozens of Christmas films ends with an apt ending to this piece:
“God Bless Us, Every One!”
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