Has Christmas become a part of the American culture? I think that it has. Although we disguise this holiday under the pretense of Jesus’ birthday (which is ironically sometime in the summer or fall), Christmas seems to have become an excuse to eat, celebrate, and indulge in our consumerist values. It appears that in the attempt to worship Jesus, we actually focus on a bunch of other things. We spend insane amounts of money to attain the picture- perfect image of Christmas, despite the fact that many people do not even have enough to eat. Do not get me wrong, Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. I love getting together with my family, sharing gifts, and enjoying various treats. However, I think that we American residents have taken the culture aspect out of proportion; we have managed to collectively stifle the real purpose: religion. Since when has “Frosty the Snowman” been a “Christmas” carol? I do not have any recollection of a dancing lump of crystallized water in the bible. Personally, I love the religious aspect also; I like the midnight mass with the story of Jesus’ birth. But I think that this appreciation has come with age and a greater appreciation of my religion. The media tells children to focus on the nonreligious aspects. In the movie, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Cindy Lou Who feels like something is missing; she knows that Christmas does not center on presents. Yet she neglects to mention Jesus at all—her “true meaning” is about with family: important, yes, but that was not the original purpose! It appears that Americans who are not religious have clung to this meaning and used it as an excuse to call Christmas their own. Of course, I have nothing against these people. I would be a hypocrite if I did; I celebrate Thanksgiving although I was born in England. And any reason to get together with family is a good one. But I think that we sometimes need to remember why we get together with family, feast, and buy gifts. I agree, the cultural aspect is fun and family traditions are important, but it is easy to forget the traditional aspect.
Lizzy, I completely agree with your opinion that Christmas has morphed into a completely different holiday than its original purpose. Instead of focusing on the birth of Jesus and the desire to help others, people have become overwhelmed with the materialistic and narcissistic side of Christmas. I believe that everyone is free to celebrate whichever holiday they desire, but it seems hypocritical to celebrate a holiday that you do not believe in religiously, such as the Ganguli's do in The Namesake. I believe that the concept of getting together around the holiday season to spend time with families and to open presents is a splendid idea, but people should not call it “Christmas” if they do not believe in the true meaning of Christmas.
ReplyDeleteLizzy, I agree with you that Christmas has become a culture, and I would go even further to say, it has become a fad. Over 85% of all christmas songs have absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. Today Christmas season is so wide spread due to santa and tree's and elves. It has become so easy to forget about the true meaning of christmas...Jesus. I think as a population it is time to re-focus christmas on the reason for it, the birth of Christ. Very interesting and bold take on this!
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