Simulacra and Santa Clause
Last night I was watching the Tim Allen movie Santa Clause 3. Yes, I am still alive and my intellect is not damaged too severely. The movie features Allen, as Santa, getting tricked by Jack Frost into giving up his job as Santa. He sees the North Pole without him as Santa and finds it a tourist attraction to say the least – filled with t-shirts and other “Christmassy” merchandise. He is disgusted and fights back Jack Frost and reclaims his role as Santa.
This led me to ponder what the true spirit of Christmas is. Most Americans think of “Christmas trees,” snow, reindeer, and a jolly man dressed in red. But a great deal of Americans, such as me, a resident of the south, has seldom seen snow, let alone a reindeer. But when I think of Christmas I think of reindeer, amongst other “traditional” notions. To say the least, Christmas is in most ways a social construction. It gives a sense of warmth – everyone is doing good deeds, in their house protected from the snow, and drinking eggnog or hot chocolate with their loved ones. Although this image of the holiday is rather warm it is also an improper depiction of the holiday for most people.
Also, the notion of Santa Clause is bullshit. The real person, St. Nicholas, was a good man and a gift given. But his image does not exist. The idea of a pink-cheeked white man dressed in red is for most people Santa. But since the idea of Santa is made up, by this I mean the Coco Cola constructed Santa, and then any depiction of Santa is true. I doubt there is any true essence for any imagined character. There is no truth in that which is made up. Therefore, any image of Santa is both true and false. A toy of the character as a zombie is as true as a depiction of him as the mall-Santa. The idea and purpose of Santa Clause is lost, but this my not be for an ultimately bad purpose. The original idea of Santa was made for monetary gain, if the new idea is for children to behave properly and to instill a sense of world-wild goodwill then there is not much of a foreseeable problem with the Santa myth.
But can we consider for a moment the ill effects of having Santa equal Christmas?
ReplyDeleteChristmas is supposed to be a celebration of...Christ and his birth. Yes, gifts were given to him by the three wise men, but I am of the opinion that he was given gifts because it was his birthday. Did anyone else in this affair receive a gift? I understand that Mary and Joseph were the technical recipients of the gold, Frankenstein, and Myrrh because what would a baby--even the son of God--do with those three priceless gifts?
I see a problem with the myth of Santa if all it is good for is to make children behave. (I see so little goodwill that I no longer believe that Christmas can bring it to anyone outside of immediate relatives. Consider Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when the most serious of Christmas shoppers camp-out and possibly cause the deaths of fellow customers or store employees just to get that one insignificant toy for their child so that child will continue to believe in Santa. Where is the world-wide goodwill in that?
Christmas is about presents now. It is a selfish holiday that is covered up by a fat, jolly old man in a red jumpsuit. Forget Santa and let's learn the gift of giving from each other. Learn to give without cause or reason and without material frivolity. That way, there can be what is supposed to be the "true Christmas spirit" without the problem of Santa Claus.
Well Santa Clause, at least in Greece, was never really much of an issue. So you can't fully say that Christmas is just about presents. The Greeks look to Saint Basil, to deliver luck and fortune to the families. Saint Basil was a bishop of the church who devoted a majority of his life to charity. While we celebrate Christmas, it is custom for Greeks to share gifts on New Year's day (St. Basil's feast day). It is not SANTA CLAUSE, but rather St. Basil who brings joy to the children.
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