Elizabeth Reinking
Staff Writer
Can you hear that? It’s the sound of Christmas approaching. It sounds like the jingle bells of massive consumerism. OK, it’s not approaching all that quickly. Actually, it’s still pretty far away. I feel like somehow it’s close, though. I can’t imagine why that is, except for maybe the absolutely staggering amount of advertising that began raining down upon my head before Halloween was even over.
Now don’t start thinking I’m a Grinch or anything. I love Christmas as much as the next carol-obsessed sentimentalist. But being bombarded with it everywhere I turn makes me feel like they’ve turned my favorite holiday into a giant product placement ad. “They” meaning Coca-Cola, M&M’s and Old Navy, that is.
It’s not that I don’t like soda, candy and everything fleece, it’s just that these commercials make me feel like I’m not loving Christmas enough and that I can’t be a true Christmas fan unless I buy their products.
Yeah, advertising majors, you loved that one, didn’t you?
But commercials aren’t anyone’s favorite part of Christmas, obviously. If they were, it would be a pretty sorry holiday. I think everyone has their own little, idiosyncratic Christmas/Hanukkah/insert miscellaneous winter holiday here obsessions. As you might expect from me, I have several. Of course, I’d be happy to share them with you. I thought you’d never ask.
First of all, it’s not the Christmas season to me until I bust out my Christmas CDs. Mind you, these aren’t your mama’s Christmas CDs. Courtesy of my freshman year roommate, these quality mixes include such holiday standbys as N*Sync’s “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” and Busta Rhymes singing “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” When I say Christmas carols, I mean Smashing Pumpkins and Blink 182 interspersed with Beyonce and Madonna. This is Christmas music the way it was meant to be played, my friend. I need my “North Pole 25” mixes like other people need eggnog and candy canes. Otherwise, the holiday season is simply incomplete.
Other media-related holiday traditions also provide an important foundation to my Christmas experience. Some people can’t imagine a Christmas without “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I can’t imagine one without “The Muppet Christmas Carol.” Starring Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge and Gonzo the Great as Charles Dickens, this film is a true masterpiece of cinematography and substance. Jimmy Stewart, bells ringing and angels’ wings notwithstanding, you haven’t known true holiday joy until you’ve seen the Oscar-winning star of “The Quiet American” and “Hannah and her Sisters” singing to puppet vegetables about how much he loves Christmas.
I love that everyone has completely different holiday traditions. For example, on Christmas Eve, my family always eats pasole, a New Mexican red chile stew made with pork and hominy. It’s much better than it sounds. But another family I know has Swedish meatballs, and still another, Chinese takeout. It’s a veritable riot of culinary oddities, and has nothing to do with the birth of Christ. But it sure tastes delicious.
Christmas morning, however, is when my family’s innate anal retentiveness really starts to kick in. While I hate to compare such a wonderful religious celebration to a totalitarian regime, there do exist some undeniable similarities in my family. We rise at 0700 hours — OK, maybe we’re not exactly on military time, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility. However, no one is actually allowed out into the living room until we’ve all brushed our teeth and put on our slippers. Presents are opened one at a time in a rotation beginning with the youngest person present and continuing up from there. I wish I could say that I was complaining so that I sounded a little less crazy, but truth be told, I love it.
I realize the irony in complaining about the annoyingly early, omnipresent Christmas marketing before doing a little nostalgic Christmas marketing of my own, but I just couldn’t help it. I blame Coca-Cola. But if mulling over my favorite holiday traditions is the price I have to pay for giving into subliminal messaging, I guess I can handle it.
11-18-04