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The Editorial: Yes, The Holidays Are Happy
This week is the zenith, the summit, the pinnacle of the oh-so-garish and ever more commercial holiday season. Kids (and begrudging parents) are queuing by the thousands to sit on a creepy old man’s lap. Suburban homes are festooned with fake reindeer and snowmen and tinsel that are equally insulting to the eye and local fire authorities. Panhandlers and representatives of dodgy charities are out in full force. But for all that, isn’t it just bloody fantastic?
Those warm spices like nutmeg and cinnamon you haven’t smelled in all year waft seductively through the crisp city air. You have a perfect excuse to load up on sugary treats and skip the gym once or twice. There’s mulled wine, hot cocoa and eggnog everywhere. Parties. Great excuses to dress up. And then there’s that awful singalong music that, no matter how tired and overplayed, is still pretty good at lifting the spirit.
Fa la la la la la la la la!
And so for all the marketing hyperbole, the screaming kids, and the perhaps less-than-ideal family impositions, the holidays are a much needed break from seriousness to do absurd and/or gratifying things. To give and receive thoughtful tokens of your appreciation for your friends and family. And for all our harping on about the ills of our society (this can sometimes be quite a pessimistic editorial space!), the capitalist machine that forces Christmas down our throats at the very least provides lots of jobs that help feed hungry families at this time of the year. In our comatose economy, there’s sometime (however small) to be said for that. And something tells me that if we all consumed in the vain of Selfridges beautifully self-aware 2007 Barbara Kruger-tinged campaign (google it!), we’d make capitalism a much nicer environment to live within.
So as our friends in Australia stock up on prawns for their summer Christmas barbecues, the Germans prepare their knödel, the Scandinavians drop almonds in their rice pudding (and buy marzipan pigs), the Latin Americans wrap tamales, and Canadians deck out their houses, we’re preparing handmade pasta and big, big pannetone. Whether you celebrate Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas or nothing, bask in the beautiful absurdity! Those kitschy songs and the peppermint schnapps only come once a year. And even you Debbie Downers out there know you love them.
Pull out that sledge! Do lots of kissing under the mistletoe! Get your shopping done (or better yet, pull some serious Etsy and make your friends some one-of-a-kind gifts) and have a wrapping party. Pop in She & Him’s delightfully low-key Christmas album. Enjoy the fatty good food and take a deep breath. 2011 has been a crazy, topsy-turvy year. Kim Jong Il and Qaddafi are dead. Berlusconi’s out. Japan was shaken to the ground. The Euro is on the verge of collapse. Another, bigger recession looms. And the apocryphal 2012 apocalypse is just on the horizon. Imagine what 2012 might bring!
Tag Christof