So it’s finally here. As of last Friday, the long anticipated John Lewis advert that left social media in a frenzy, has announced the beginning of a mad rush to buy your nearest and dearest the perfect present, spend truckloads of cash and gorge on all foods naughty and nice… That’s what Christmas is all about, right?
December and particularly the Christmas holidays have always been my favourite time of the year. Donning scarves and ridiculous knitted pompom hats to brave the wintery weather, and snuggling up inside with warm drinks at 4 in the afternoon purely because it’s dark outside has always appealed to me, especially if I’m able to catch an old Christmas classic on the TV! After being brought up as a Christian, however, Christmas has always meant more than just tacky tinsel, lights and traditionalised gluttony…
For those of you who don’t know (apparently 11% of children believe it’s to celebrate Father Christmas’ birthday!) Christmas started out as the pagan festival Saturnalia that was adopted to celebrate the birth of the son of God, Jesus Christ, by Christians. This is seen as a sign of God’s love for the people as Jesus brought hope and salvation to a sometimes cruel world. Whether you believe this or not, it can’t be denied that the season’s origins are centred on love, peace and kindness and not the importance of buying the most extravagant gifts (if you think about it, apart from the gold, even the Wise Men brought pretty rubbish presents for a baby’s birth…)!
Despite these simple origins, TV adverts fill the breaks between our favourite shows declaring the necessity of the perfect present for happiness at Christmas time. It’s only in recent years that I have started to notice the insistence of presents in order for society to perform adequately – seems like finger painting a Christmas tree on a piece of card signed “Merry Christmas” was no longer appreciated by my peers (so sad, I love finger painting…). On the train home to see my family only last week, I heard the woman behind me talk about how she had been threatened with prison for not paying her council tax and yet her son expected an Xbox one for Christmas. Surely this is the epitome of priorities gone awry? This woman cannot afford to pay for the basic necessities required by law and yet is almost expected to spend money she doesn’t have on luxury items. The sad truth is that I’m sure she’s not the only one who has been in this position.
In fact, although the situation is perhaps not as desperate, students must also fund all the Christmas presents and parties which do tend to leave us desperate for the new student loan when we head back to uni in January. Trying to bribe siblings to “go halves” so you can do better than last year’s Poundland box of Matchmakers you gave your mum or the small shrub you dug up from the local park for your dad. Sadly, my family have already tuned into the Christmas adverts of 2015 with Dad googling telescopes in his spare time (thanks John Lewis!) and Mum hinting at every vaguely expensive looking perfume advert that pops up. I’m screwed.
Lack of money isn’t the only issue caused by coercive advertising and false values; it has led to family rifts after high expectations and disappointing presents or disagreements on all the other little fascinations that make a “perfect” Christmas Day. Harsh words have already been exchanged between my mother and grandmother over a soup maker for my dad (thrilling present choice, right? It is according to Grandma…) and I know I’m not the only one who will spend the holidays avoiding certain conversations with certain family member. For sure there will be no talk or serving of soup in my house AT ALL this Christmas, just in case World War 3 breaks out across the dinner table!
Christmas should be about sharing love with the people in your life and showing you care in a non-materialistic way: spending time with those who we don’t perhaps see as often as we should and making memories that don’t involve a new Xbox one or MacBook Pro. I’m not in any way shunning the giving of gifts. The John Lewis advert also highlights their support for Age UK and its sale of certain products for the charity epitomises (minus the profit they make themselves…) the true values of the season in that we should share what we have with those less fortunate and bring kindness to our communities instead of worrying what will be under the tree this year…
Anyway, enough with the preaching… We all know Dr Seuss said it best!
Edited by Lucy Jackman
Sources:
https://carolsandcocoa.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/film-friday-the-grinch/
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/everything-learned-john-lewis-man-6780593
http://giphy.com/gifs/snl-santa-gif-k7VSZfXPzzaEM
http://toponday.com/tag/poor-college-student/
http://giphy.com/gifs/12JgIV6zAkYFbi
https://carolsandcocoa.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/film-friday-the-grinch/