Something I wanted to say during my bit on “Q,” but which I forgot to say because of stress and time constraints (and being amused by Denis McGrath, who is just as quickwitted as one would expect from his professional work and webpage), was this:
Christmas specials basically divide into A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life, with the former dominant by far. The story of A Christmas Carol is “Person rediscovers value of morality.” The story of It’s A Wonderful Life is “Morality, in the end, becomes its own reward.” (Of course, It’s A Wonderful Life decides that this is not enough and gives Jimmy Stewart the equivalent of a BRAND! NEW! CAR!, which is one of the reasons I think it sucks.)
That first moral lends itself to self-aggrandizement like nobody’s business: smarmy, tiresome pap where the annoying character vows to stop being annoying in order to be rewarded, whether they recognize that fact or not. (In bad renditions of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge or the Scrooge-analogue doesn’t become a good person because he wants to be; he becomes a good person because he’s scared.)
The second possibly lends itself to self-righteousness, to be sure, but in execution more often than not it doesn’t, oddly enough. Most of the really classic Christmas specials fall into the Life model. A Charlie Brown Christmas – check. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – check. A Wish For Wings That Work – big ol’ check. But for some reason, we shy away from it, as a potential moral binding of the story.
I’m not sure what that says about our culture or the people who makes Christmas specials, but I wanted to mention it.
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I’m not sure I follow on “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Jimmy’s friends all rally to help him thanks to his lifetime of giving up his dreams to help them, but he’s no better off than he was before.
Given that he was on the brink of annihilation with no job and no money and about to lose his home and probably his family and getting ready to jump off a bridge, being restored to that is a pretty big deal.
It’s like Extreme Home Makeover, except with an angel instead of Ty.
What I always liked best about a beloved family old-yimey feelgood warm and fuzzy classic like “It’s A Wonderful Life” is what a complete jackhole Jimmy Stewart’s character is throughout most of the film. Man, what a dick. It’d be more believable that everyone would rally around him if he were playing Buttons the gentlemanly but slightly homicidal clown.
The whole movie up until that point had been about how George was a pillar of the community and was always sacrificing for others, so the idea that this earned him some friends seems in keeping with that. The point of the movie is that Jimmy realizes that he has had an impact on his community, which he hadn’t really understood before, and that it doesn’t matter so much that he won’t do all the things he dreamed of doing as a youth, and his ideas of material success are less important than his slice of virtuous small-town America. His friends coming through for him in the end is part of him realizing, not just the extent of what he’s accomplished, but the extent that everyone else recognizes it.
Basically, it’s a feelgood movie where a guy gives up his dreams to help others, and, when he’s in a tight spot, they all help him. It’s not about morality being its own reward, but there are different kinds of rewards, the type that, say, Mr. Potter, doesn’t understand (or value).
I think it’s worth mentioning that what scares Scrooge into repenting isn’t the fear of dying- he’ll be dead in a fairly short number of Christmases either way. What really scares him is the idea that he’ll die and that nobody will care, because he never gave anyone a reason to mourn him. What he realizes is that if he changes his way of living, then not only can he make other people happier, but he’ll be happier himself, just like he once was and his nephew currently is.
In the same vein, what George learns is that he does make a difference to the people around him. Essentially, both stories have the same moral: that you can and should make a difference to the people around you.
I was just disappointed nobody mentioned /The Nightmare Before Christmas/: the x-mas movie with the cool of Halloween plus stop-motion goodness.
…and there it is, the reproach! I guess to Zed, it doesn’t matter that there, right there in front of me was the piece of paper saying, “Nighmare Before Christmas.” It was even underlined.
Did I get to it? NO. Chagrin.
Thank Dog for Island Liberal in this thread — because I gotta tell you, I hear from lots of people who have a problem with “It’s a Wonderful Life” and they all mention the George Bailey as Dickwad problem. And there’s the nut of it. So few of us these days even REGISTER the point that his deeds for others made a difference to them, and to him, because we live in a world where how you appear — how you seem — is more important than your deeds. Brrr.
Anyway, good jousting with you Christopher. Hope to see you back soon. And you’re dead on about sweet, sweet Opus…
..even if you CLEARLY are a CRYPTO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL LOVERRR.
Keep it evil,
DMc
Denis: heart’s cockles now warmed. Carry on.
[is at the moment listening to the repeat: MGK sounds wierd–less nerdy than expected ;o) ]
I promise in future to speak only in Klingon and with an exaggerated lisp, Zed.
I’m listening to the repeat myself — was unable to catch the first broadcast ’cause of work.
Fascinating to hear what MGK actually sounds like.
I read somewhere that ‘Breathed’ rhymes with ‘method’ — I used to pronounce it like ‘breathe with a d’ on the end myself’. (I also regret never having seen ‘A Wish For Wings That Work’.)
But these ‘acceptable snafus’ happen in pop culture: ‘Seuss’ apparently rhymes with ‘Royce’ when pronounced correctly.
Not to mention in my youth, I saw many Marvel covers that promised ‘came-o’ appearances by characters I really liked. Hardly acceptable — I just want it clear I’m sitting on no high horse.
Your segment really should have been longer, guys. Well done.
Looking forward to seeing your inevitable reappearance next year. 😉
Talk about snafus — that should be *hearing* — my high horse (that I’m not sitting on) is legless now.
Now, remember, kids, if you want more MGK on CBC, be sure to email the nice folks at Q and let them know how much you want it!
One final thing that you may or may not find interesting.
I’m a librarian, and took a phone call from a patron yesterday. She was looking for the DVD of White Christmas, which we didn’t have. She wanted an example of a Christmas special from that classic ‘black and white’ period — I didn’t both mentioning that ‘White Christmas’ was in colour.
Anyway, I suggested ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ and the Alastair Sim version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ as a substitute.
Her response to ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ was ‘Is it Christmassy?’
I said ‘yes’, but you may have had an ally there, MGK. 😉
I will definitely e-mail Q with that in mind.