Volume 38, Issue 7. Today is
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Volume 38, Issue 7. Today is
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Hark, the herald malls sing
It’s a holiday that I love, but I’ve come to realize that my expectations for the perfect holiday are far too high. I have the entertainment industry to blame for that. Thanks to commercials, films and the blissful images that are evoked listening to one of Bing Crosby’s classic Christmas tunes, I become neurotic around the holidays. My house must be perfect, donned in classic Christmas decorations with a blazing fire in the fireplace, soft Christmas music playing in the background, a towering tree and, regretfully, a whole lot of STUFF. Video games, clothing, gift certificates – nothing brings out the, er, true meaning of Christmas better than a whole lot of attractively-packaged gifts under the tree. Don’t call me superficial or materialistic – just call me American, for the holiday marketing blitz that comes knocking on our doors every Christmas is totally inescapable. After all, how do we know what the perfect Christmas is unless we consult the local strip-mall? When viewers are bombarded by endless television commercials promising that the purchase of a specific item equals Yuletide cheer, you fall for it. You are taken aback by Fiesta Mall’s elegant Christmas decor. The beautiful lights, yards of garland and 20-percent-off stickers in store windows make you want to buy, buy, buy. After all, the media has promised us a splendid Christmas in return. You see the families on your T.V. screen prancing around in the snow, hawking Folger’s Coffee, State Farm Insurance, or some other damn thing. They enjoy the company of Christmas carolers with a frozen lake and ice-skaters in the background, and you begin to wonder where your frozen lake is. I want a Christmas as charming, as white and as profound as a Currier and Ives painting. That’s when I step outside the Christmas hooplah that has completely overshadowed Thanksgiving, to really think about what Christmas means to me. While I don’t plan to stop buying hordes of merchandise or watching my favorite Hollywood Christmas flicks to provoke the holiday spirit, I need to remember the simple pleasures that come from the season: family, memories and a well-deserved break from school. Oh, don’t forget the great Christmas clearance at Guess, the $80 Christmas tree, the festively-wrapped Christmas presents and the wealth of Christmas specials showing on T.V. Have a holly-jolly commercialized Christmas. We’re Americans. We wouldn’t have it any other way, and I’m as American as they come. Jordan Currier is the features editor of the Mesa Legend and a sophomore at MCC. |
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