I'm getting really sick of Christmas. Not the actual holiday itself, but all this bullshit capitalistic buildup to it. I mean, stores were already playing Christmas music the first week of November. I hate to break it to these places who've had their decorations up for weeks now, but the only affect they're having on me is making me want to buy my presents online and avoid the stores altogether. But I guess as long as I spend my money like a good little consumer, it doesn't really matter, does it? The whole thing is depressing, not least because Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. Usually, the early hoopla doesn't get to me, but this year, it seems unavoidable, and it's forced me to realize that when you have to listen to two months of hype for a single day, that day is pretty much guaranteed to be anticlimactic. Commercialism is sucking all the magic out of this holiday. Charlie Brown, I feel your pain. So in protest, I'll be celebrating Buy Nothing Day this Friday. Because seriously, does anyone really need to be running out to the stores at 6 a.m. to save $10 on a fucking toaster?
At least someone remembers that it's still Thanksgiving. The New Yorker hired illustrator Chris Ware to create four different Thanksgiving covers (the one above is titled "Conversation"). In a few simple images, Ware is able to deal with some of the mixed emotions that the holidays bring out in Americans, like the double-edged sword of spending time with your family and the fact that there's really no such thing as the Norman Rockwell idealized version of Thanksgiving anymore (really, it's kind of hard to believe that there ever was). There's something about the melancholy mood of these illustrations that I really enjoy, and I love Ware's style. I'm curious to check out some of his books, like Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth or his collection The Acme Novelty Library. As a online bonus, the New Yorker also included Ware's Leftovers, a haunting stream-of-conciousness graphic piece about a brother who died in World War II.
5 comments:
Right there with ya.
Interestingly, I'm always a pure sentimentalist. I love the movies, the decorations and the whole atmosphere of the holidays.
Except this year I don't. I'm hoping it will change. And in direct contrast to your suggestion, I'm shopping on Friday. I'm buying most of my gifts online, but looking for bargains for myself on Black Friday. Seems like a good compromise. :-)
I also adore "Home for the Holidays" with Robert Downey Jr. and Holly Hunter, which is less than cheerful. It never seems to get airtime, though, unlike the traditional stuff and upteen viewings of "While You Were Sleeping". So society still seems to like the feel-goods.
I too will pass on Friday mainly because I hate crowded stores and malls.
But, it is annoying hearing holiday music this early in the year.
I forgot to mention if you shop online don't forget to pick up a new ornament for your tree. I am fond of the Yeti ornament:
http://www.mightygoods.com/items/2006/11/yeti.php
Nice. But I prefer my Abominable Snowmen to be of the Bumble variety.
See, Jenny, here's the problem with "less than cheerful" holiday movies. If the networks showed downer movies around Christmas, people would get all depressed and not want to leave their houses to go shopping. And what would that do to the economy? Better to keep showing stuff like It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story where everyone's Christmases are happy because they get all the presents they want. How will your family and friends know you love them if you don't spend lots of money on them?
and the fact that there's really no such thing as the Norman Rockwell idealized version of Thanksgiving anymore (really, it's kind of hard to believe that there ever was).
I don't think Ware believes there ever was; the idealized family in "Conversation" is the same one portrayed in "Leftovers," the day after the brother in "Leftovers" died.
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