Thanksgiving: The Rodney Dangerfield of holidays

                   It’s not even Halloween yet and some people are already preparing for the glory and splendor of the holiday season. Now when people say “the holiday season”, that encompasses three holidays; Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. People like Thanksgiving. It’s a nice day. You get to eat, you generally don’t have to work, and you can watch some football. But then there is Christmas. Glorious and wonderful Christmas. Christmas is the Marsha Brady to Thanksgiving’s Jan Brady. Even New Year’s Eve can adopt the cute and trendy persona of Cindy Brady. The question is why? Why is Christmas lauded above every other holiday?


                 I guess there are the obvious reasons. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. I mean……he is the savior for ALL mankind. But most people would agree that there is something about Christmas that is definitively secular. The whole notion of an obese man breaking and entering into the homes of children just to bring them presents or coal, depending on how they behaved, is slightly morbid. Everyone knows that people enjoy the presents more than any other facet of the holiday. But let’s examine the true enormity of Christmas and the disdain that Thanksgiving is forced to suffer from a variety of angles. 


Marketing


              The marketing for Christmas is basically year round. If you don’t believe me, think about these little factoids. What are the two biggest shopping days of the year? Christmas Eve and the ever-dangerous “Black Friday” shopping extravaganza. Those two days alone are filled with more sales, samples, and credit card receipts than many months combined. And to add more insult to injury for Thanksgiving, some retail chains are opening up Thanksgiving evening just to beat the competition that has the audacity to wait until 5am to open their doors. Moreover, think about the sales commercials for the holidays. The GAP used to have those trendy, jazz infused tunes that would warm up everyone’s hearts and debit cards. Some radio stations start playing those old Christmas standards VERY early in November, more than a month before Christmas is even here.Where are the Thanksgiving commercials? Except for the local grocery stores and Honebaked Ham, they are MIA. The only Thanksgiving song I know is the one by Adam Sandler, and, while hilarious, its not exactly a holiday classic.

             Christmas cards are usually sent out starting in early December. Are there any Thanksgiving cards? Nope. Why do people REALLY send out Christmas cards? Is it to put our friends and family in the holiday mood? To say hello? I believe it is a way of systematically reminding people to act in a certain way. Pavlov would be proud. Once a person gets the Christmas card, the holidays are real. People have to begin to worry about travel arrangements, decorations, meal arrangements, Christmas choral concerts, Christmas church concerts, and the overall 9th circle of hell that most shopping complexes turn into.

 Peer pressure


             There is an immense pressure on people to try to elevate their livelihoods just for the sake of a 24 hour period. I mean, if you are “anti-Christmas” and refuse to engage in the festivities of the season, your social standing will become that of a nuclear terrorist. My stepfather, who is an ordained minister, LOATHES Christmas. He loathes the presents, he loathes the traffic, he loathes the very existence of the idea of Santa Claus, and most of all, he loathes how the true meaning of the holiday season has been in his words “perverted” and become one of commercialism and greed. That being said, he never gave out gifts, nor expected any in return, and when all the Christmas specials would come on, he would leave the room and read his bible and remark how the holiday is corrupt. My stepfather does not care about Christmas but about 95% of the world does.

      Most people have their shopping days listed in the same way that the NSA lists national security threats. 'DEFCON: Christmas' is known throughout the homes and minds of many families. People complain about the many inconveniences of the holiday but there is a secret thrill that comes from being around the crowd. Breathing the same Starbucks coffee/Yankee Candle/celebrity fragrance infused air that dissipates around the malls and shopping centers in this great nation. People want to be involved. People need to be involved. It's a love/hate relationship of the highest order. What’s the peer pressure for Thanksgiving? Make a turkey and eat. No real festivities. No pomp. No circumstance. There is the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving parade in the morning, but that’s about it. It’s utterly ridiculous.

 Entertainment


              As I’ve said before, there are dozens of great Christmas songs. I like “Sleigh Ride” and “Baby its Cold Outside”. There are the quintessential Christmas television programs like “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, which makes most people with half a soul misty eyed. The TBS network shows A Christmas Story on loop for 24 hours because it is still that endearing. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE A Christmas Story. I LOVE Elf. One of my favorite movies as a kid was Santa Claus: The Movie, which if you haven’t seen was very, very 1980s. What is the definitive cultural classic movie about Thanksgiving? I’m a big time movie buff and the only ones that come to mind are Home for the Holidays with Holly Hunter and the Pauly Shore classic Son in Law and neither of them are revered as that oveerated Frank Capra garbage It's a Wonderful Life (yeah I said it!).  I looked it up on Google and found a list here:

http://movies.amctv.com/movie-guide/top-ten-thanksgiving-movies/

               I can’t believe I forgot about Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. It’s Midwestern, its funny, and it leaves the audience with a feeling of general joy and appreciation for being alive. But that doesn’t negate the fact that the overwhelming majority of holiday themed movies revolve around Christmas. Even New Year’s Eve has its own classics. Don’t believe me. Check this out:

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20483133_20333358_20718374,00.html

 Thanksgiving is getting the shaft and it needs to be rectified.

 Sporting traditions


              This is basically subjective. If you are into football, you LOVE Thanksgiving. Watching the Detroit Lions get their ass kicked is a tradition. And, since they are actually decent this season, its one I am actually looking forward to. Some high schools have a game on Thanksgiving morning. And some families have a Thanksgiving football game before the big meal. It’s Americana at its best. If you are a basketball fan, than you like Christmas. The NBA usually markets its best teams on that day. I don’t mind the NBA. Since its usually cold/snowing on the ground, people really can’t go outside and do much, like play football or anything. I’m a Lakers fan so if they are on, I’ll watch it. Otherwise, I’m hoping there is a college football bowl game on. 


Cultural significance


                  As previously stated, its tough to beat the birth of Jesus Christ. But I believe its also been demonstrated that most people aren't into the holiday for the giving of gifts but more for the receiving of gifts. The thing that I believe is so intoxicating about Christmas is that people actually try to be better than they actually are. The rationale for this shift is both selfish and superficial but at least people are trying. 99.9% of the time people are cruel, cynical, and self-absorbed. But one day out of the year, people try to be more generous. They try to be more empathetic. They try to be more compassionate.


              While Christmas has the entire “holiday spirit” radiating its core, I think something can be said about the general thought of being thankful. When the pilgrims and native Americans feasted that first Thanksgiving, after the toil and anguish of sailing from England, establishing healthy crops, and enduring sickness and multiple deaths, I believe the meal served as a providence as to the mission of the settlers to find religious freedom and hopes for a better future. While many people haven’t endured what the early settlers of the United States endured, I believe that people can always find a reason to be joyous and grateful. And that is what Thanksgiving represents to me. A genuine joy and passion for existing. That’s it. Be grateful you are alive and a sentient being because there are much worse alternatives. Many times we wish we were more wealthy, more attractive, more popular, more coordinated, and basically a better version of ourselves. What Thanksgiving reminds us is that perfection is a moot point because we are already doing the best we can. It’s cliché but most traditions are.


            I’ll wrap up this little diatribe by just wishing that people would take some time and think about why Thanksgiving actually is a national holiday and revel in that before stuffing your face full of delicious carbs. Will Thanksgiving ever get the respect and admiration of Christmas? Probably not. That does not negate the fact that its meaning isn’t as important or valid. Everyone should enjoy the holidays. Just take a moment to remember why there is said enjoyment.

Review: The Spectacular Now “Are the cool kids really cool?”

I recently went to go see The Spectacular Now. Granted it was game 2 of the World Series, but after the performance I saw in game 1, I figured I had a much better chance of enjoying the movie. I knew the movie was getting a bunch of hype. But I didn’t know if said hype was warranted or not. There is a difference between a “good” movie and a “hipster good” movie. Luckily for myself and the 4 Caucasians in the theater the movie fell into the former category and not the later. Sutter (Miles Teller) is the life of the party and he knows it. He’s a senior in high school, he’s good looking enough to get “the girl”, but not so much of an Adonis where it is off putting and he can’t relate to the regular high school student, he works at a men's clothing store, not the GAP but one that sells actual suits for grown men. Sutter loves everyone. That is one of his problems. He is so contented with the nature of people and of his life that he never questions its significance or direction. His mother Sara (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is the typical “cool” mom. The audience can tell she gives a damn but she also has enough spice to her character to know she can relate. Dad is MIA and that ends up being a good thing. His sister Holly (Mary Elizabeth Winestead) is recently married and seems happy being a stepford wife. Sutter has a girlfriend at the beginning of the film, Cassidy (Brie Larson), and he thinks they are a perfect match. They like to party, they like to fornicate, they are photogenically compatible. I mean, what else is there for the Facebook generation. But, unlike Sutter, Cassidy actually gives a shit about her life past high school and decides to force herself away from Sutter. Sutter has another love in his life and her name is booze. Sutter reminds me of what Nicholas Cage’s character in Leaving Las Vegas probably was like in high school. He is affable, adorable, and increasingly dependent on the liquid confidence of alcohol to sustain his existence. Sutter drunkenly drives into the mailbox of Aimee Finnecky (Shaielene Woodley). Aimee is the epitome of the good girl. She is academically focused but universeally kind and tolerant. She is lacking in pretension but does carry a hint of sophistication. Anyone who has seen the actress knows damn well that if she put on makeup she would have been prom queen, homecoming queen, and whatever the hell else Ms. Popularity contest winner she would want. But like all movies, we have to suspend our disbelief and pretend that the “homely girl”, who is really a very attractive person, is homely. Sutter, being single and kind of lonely, takes Aimee under his wing. The logic for this move is never fully explained. He's one of the most popular people in school, yet he aligns himself with a social pariah. He engages her first as a friend and geometry tutor. Yeah, Sutter is a senior taking geometry. That should tell you about his scholastic achievements in the film. Aimee agrees and after a day at a high school party, with multiple kegs of course, their friendship turns into a courtship. Sutter, in a slightly drunken haze, tells Aimee how pretty she is and then asks her to prom. There was a scene in the movie that is getting a lot of buzz because of its authenticity. There is a love scene in the movie between Aimee and Sutter, because how else do you prove your affection for someone in high school without exchanging bodily fluids. Let me present to you exhibit 1 of why this is total bs. What kind of a “good girl” has sex with the class drunk within a week or two of dating?!? Exhibit 2) Aimee, being the Girl Scout that she is has a dresser full of condoms under her bed. Really?!? THAT is NOT an amateur move. The scene did play out very well, despite my gripes. There was nervousness and a sensitivity that let the audience believe that these were actually kids and not porn stars. That was a pleasant surprise. The film progresses with Aimee getting accepted into a college in Philadelphia and starting to encompass part of Sutter’s mantra of “enjoying the now”. Aimee stands up to her overbearing yet non-existent mother and she even gets her own flask as a graduation present. The book that the film is based on by Tim Tharp goes more into the metamorphosis of Aimee and the effects that Sutter’s alcoholism is having on her. In the film, she seems to have a grasp on it and is just being young and dumb with her new boyfriend. I won’t spoil the ending or the performance by Kyle Chandler, who is definitely a standout, but I will say the film does what all movies should hope to do but seldom succeed in doing and that is lifting up the genre. What I mean is this. Most people have seen the traditional coming of age story and there is a reason why they still resonate in the psyches of most young people. What The Spectacular Now does is take the archetypes that are made popular in the coming of age genre and make them more realistic. Sometimes the popular kid isn’t popular for a good reason. Sometimes the good girl can act like the bad girl. And the facet of the movie that I most enjoyed was showing how the high school experience, while joyous, is brief and there are much bigger and better adventures to be had. All too often high school is seen as the best time of one’s life. If the best years of my life were between 14-18, what the hell does that say about adulthood?