As the grandest holiday in the Christian world, Christmas naturally receives ample attention on both the big and small screens. Classic films such as "It's a Wonderful Life," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year," and "The Polar Express" have become timeless treasures in the history of cinema. Just as swimsuits, hot springs, and school festivals are traditional elements in Japanese anime, Christmas specials are a staple in TV shows from English-speaking countries, including "Black Mirror," "Gravity Falls," "Friends," and "The Big Bang Theory." Critic Alonso Duralde even published a book titled "Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas" to help people choose outstanding Christmas films from the vast selection.
In these movies and TV shows, Christmas often signifies warmth, kindness, harmony, family reunions, and the exchange of gifts among friends. However, director Sergio Pablos took a different approach in his 2D animated film "Klaus" The story starts with selfishness, loneliness, and hatred – a wealthy young man is kicked out of his family for his extravagant lifestyle, a reclusive elderly man barely speaks and lives alone, and the town is divided into factions with constant conflicts, even among children. It seems chaotic and far from the typical Christmas spirit. Little did anyone expect that within this icy turmoil, a new Christmas myth would be born.
Below, I will list several Christmas-related traditional rituals or symbols that I noticed while watching the film. Some content may involve key plot points, so proceed with caution.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All the Way~
If you had to pick the most widely sung Christmas song, it would undoubtedly be "Jingle Bells." Surprisingly, this song was originally associated with Thanksgiving and only became linked to Christmas in 1857 after Johnny Pell's performance at the Orpheum Theatre. The connection came about because of the mention of a "sleigh" in the lyrics – Santa Claus's traditional mode of transport.
In the final scenes of the film, the bell used for declaring war transforms into a prop for a wedding ceremony. Bells are mentioned twice in the Bible – as decorations around the high priest's robe (Exodus 28:33, Exodus 28:34, Exodus 28:35) and as bells attached to horses to prevent them from straying (Zechariah 14:20). The tradition of ringing bells during celebrations may have originated in other religions, where bells were used to frighten away demons. Church bells, coinciding with the spatial concept of the parish, emphasized the parish's spatial identity through auditory and spatial synesthesia, contributing to the parishioners' individual self-identity and group belonging, enhancing the religious cohesion of the parish. Thus, bell ringing became a reserved program for everyday Christian life and celebrations.
Celebrating Christmas Eve in Smirrensborg
In Catholic tradition, Christmas and Easter are the only two holidays allowing for midnight Mass, known as Midnight Mass and the Easter Vigil, respectively. The ringing of bells signifies the announcement of the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to the world. While church bells often correspond to the parish's spatial range, enhancing the spatial concept through auditory perception, they help evoke the parishioners' individual self-identity and group belonging, strengthening the religious cohesion of the parish.
In the film, the townspeople celebrate Christmas Eve, a tradition in Catholicism, with a midnight feast. Midnight Mass and the solemn singing of hymns are essential parts of this tradition. As instruments were often too expensive for ordinary people, affordable and portable handbells became popular. Whether it's decoration, church bells, or handbells, mentioning Christmas would be incomplete without bells, making them one of the most important symbols of Christmas.
The Socks by the Chimney and Santa Claus
In the most widely circulated stories, Santa Claus is generally believed to be inspired by the Christian saint known for his generosity to the poor, Saint Nicholas. According to legend, a devout Christian had three daughters, but the man couldn't afford their dowries. When Saint Nicholas heard about this, he threw a bag of gold down the chimney of the poor man's house, and it landed in the stockings hanging by the fireplace to dry. The news quickly spread, and whenever someone received a secret gift, it was attributed to Saint Nicholas. Ben Jonson, in his 1616 play "Christmas, His Masque," mentioned that doors were entrances for evil demons and intruders, so Santa Claus chose to enter through the chimney.
Another character known for placing gifts in stockings is the grimy witch Befana from Italian folklore. According to the legend, Befana visits all children during the holiday season. Good children find their stockings filled with candies, while naughty ones receive only coal or dark candies. Befana is often depicted as a thin witch wearing a black shawl, riding a flying broom. Due to frequent chimney visits, her clothes are stained brown or black from soot. In contrast, Santa Claus is often portrayed as a robust, cheerful man wearing a white-trimmed red coat, a black belt, and a red hat.
There is a belief that in some regions, it became popular to give children stockings at Christmas, leading to the tradition of Christmas stockings.
In reality, Santa Claus has not always been portrayed as a jolly figure; he has taken on various forms, from slender and bookish to even frightening. The enduring image of a muscular Santa Claus in red and white attire was solidified by White Rock, a competitor of Coca-Cola, in a commercial advertisement for their soda in 1923. In that ad, Santa Claus was naturally dressed in the red and white color scheme of the soda. Santa Claus has been used to encourage people to buy gifts since his inception. In 1868, American author Louisa May Alcott wrote in her novel "Little Women," stating that Christmas is not Christmas without presents.
Write a letter to Santa Claus
Writing a letter to Santa Claus is also a Christmas tradition. While most of these letters are replied to by parents, some countries' postal workers or volunteers also write responses. In the letters, children often request their desired gifts and list good deeds to prove they have been "good kids." Many countries' post offices have a special "Santa Claus address," and if children send letters to this address, they receive a response from the post office, complete with a North Pole postmark.
In Mexico, it is a tradition to put letters into helium balloons and release them into the sky. In olden times, British parents would burn the letters and tell their children that the wind would carry the ashes to the North Pole, where Santa Claus would receive the letters. Some parents also playfully fill in a random address and send the letter. Interestingly, a General Electric factory in Schenectady received a barrage of letters from all over because its postal code was easy to remember (12345). Workers at the factory, during their lunch break and under the supervision of an administrative assistant, responded to the children's letters—hopefully voluntarily.
Reindeer, Cookies, and "Whoa ho ho!"
Reindeer play a crucial role in Christmas culture. In the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore, Santa Claus's reindeer are named Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen, providing power to Santa's sleigh. Later, the addition of Rudolph, known for his red nose, became popular through the song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
It seems that cookies were popular in Persia as early as the 7th century, and gingerbread made with honey and black pepper appeared in the Netherlands in the 13th century. The earliest literary work associating Santa Claus with cookies and milk dates back to the 1870s in the United States, in a short story titled "Polly: A Before-Christmas Story." Additionally, in 1896, in a column in the 23rd volume of the magazine "St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks," a girl named Anna M.S wrote a letter to Santa Claus, expressing her and her brother's desire to leave lunch for Santa because "he's hungry." When her father asked what they should leave for Santa, they replied, "A glass of milk and some cookies." She then wrote that after her brother fell asleep, “Dad drank the milk and ate the cookies.”
One explanation for the use of "Ho ho ho" is that Santa Claus's belly is large, making it the most suitable onomatopoeia for his laughter.
In many literary works, the laughter represented by "Ho ho ho" is a hallmark of Santa Claus. The Canadian postal service has set Santa Claus's address as "SANTA CLAUS NORTH POLE H0H 0H0." Of course, "Ho ho ho" is not exclusive to Santa Claus. Jabba the Hutt in "Star Wars" and Princess Zelda's father in "The Legend of Zelda" also produce this type of laughter. There is a legend that this laughter is prohibited in Australia, but this is just another rumor. The story goes like this: an employee playing Santa Claus at a shopping center, perhaps with a terrifying voice or appearance, frightened many children. As a result, the management requested these employees to lower their volume and replace "Ho ho ho" with "Ha ha ha." Apart from this incident, there are generally no specific rules for playing Santa Claus in Australia.
Bad Children's List and Santa's Birds
The background music here is quite cool, but at this point, the protagonist's mentality has not matured yet, giving a somewhat petty feeling. The concept of Santa Claus having a list of naughty children is widely spread and likely originates from various legends. One of them is the story of Befana, who puts coal in the stockings of naughty children, and another noteworthy figure is the Norse god Odin. Odin shares many similarities with Santa Claus: Santa has eight reindeer, and Odin rides a gray, eight-legged horse named Sleipnir. Santa brings gifts to children on December 24th, while Odin leaves candies and gifts in children's shoes on the same date. Both live in the Arctic and carry a bag capable of holding many things. In the legends, Odin listens at chimneys to discern people's goodness or wickedness.
The Norse goddess Freyja might also be one of the inspirations for the Santa Claus figure. She gives gifts to good people and brings suffering to bad ones during the twelve days after the winter solstice. She also travels in a chariot drawn by reindeer. There are many more monstrous figures in legends, such as Perchita, who cuts open children's stomachs, Lussinath, who kills bad children, and Joulustaato, who drinks children's blood. Whether intentionally or not, these terrifying monsters transformed into Santa's list of naughty children, replacing gutting with a piece of black coal in stockings.
Mrs. Claus likes birds, so Klaus made so many birdhouses. When watching the movie, I thought these birds would swarm out to retrieve the "gifts" that fell off the cliff.
As for the origin of the story about Santa Claus and birds, the earliest source I found was "The Story of Santa's Birds," published in 2015. In this picture book, birds take turns helping Santa Claus monitor all children to distinguish their goodness or badness. If one must trace the origin, Odin's two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, might be Santa Claus's earliest bird companions. "The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition" is a children's picture book from 2005 in which elves perform tasks similar to birds. From Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, they visit children, reporting their daily words and actions to Santa Claus.
Sámi People, Finns, and Christmas
The Sámi people have their own language and traditions. In the Sámi language, there are over a hundred different words for "snow" alone, so the protagonist cannot understand what she's saying.
The Sámi people are the indigenous people of the Nordic region, one of the largest indigenous ethnic groups in Europe. Archaeological findings show that the Sámi people have been living in the Arctic region for thousands of years. Rovaniemi is the largest city near the Arctic Circle in the Nordic region, located only 4 miles from the Arctic Circle. The so-called "Santa Claus Village" is also rooted in Rovaniemi, driven by hype. In history, the Sámi people, as the indigenous people here, have always been discriminated against and abused by invaders. Lennart Pittfia, a Sámi man, mentioned in an interview: "On the first day my father went to school, he was forbidden to speak any language other than Swedish. The teacher would hit students if they spoke Sámi."
After being conquered by foreign ethnic groups, Sámi men were required to mine, women were forced to undergo forced contraception, taxes had to be paid to multiple countries, and they were compelled to convert to Christianity—performing Sámi religious rituals would result in death. Their land was plundered, their culture destroyed, and their money squeezed out. But now, most Sámi people also have the habit of celebrating Christmas. They sing Christmas carols, pray for blessings for their families and Christ, and look for a pleasing tree in the forest—of course, to cut down as a Christmas tree.
The modern origin of the Christmas tree may be related to Martin Luther, who is said to have first added lit candles to an evergreen tree. In the eyes of religious scholars, the Christmas tree has pagan origins and lacks biblical basis, leading to continuous disputes. Some believers, for political correctness, refer to it as a Yule tree or holiday tree.
In 1986, influenced by Chernobyl, the fish and reindeer, crucial for the livelihood of the Sámi people, were contaminated. Sweden alone killed 73,000 reindeer, and the government has not fulfilled the promised compensation to this day. Many Sámi people were left hungry. At the same time, the global demand for Christmas trees exceeds 100 million annually, with Americans alone spending over a billion dollars each year on Christmas trees. The sales amount for "Black Friday," a shopping event on the eve of Christmas, also rises every year, reaching $7.4 billion in online transactions in 2019. It's unclear who among the Finns first smelled the business opportunity, gathered a group of Finnish girls to play Sámi people, wearing poorly crafted fake Sámi costumes, dancing some fake “shaman dance.”
The promotion and distortion of Sámi customs have become a means of making money for some Finns. Every Christmas, they pretend to be Sámi people and celebrate Christmas with tourists, eating turkey, playing sleigh rides or dressing up as Christmas trees. They shamelessly call it a cultural heritage preserved by the Sámi people for thousands of years. Some Sámi people have spoken out against it, but most have been ignored or criticized for "damaging the entire Finnish tourism industry." Some Finns even claim that Sámi attire is one of the national costumes of Finland, whereas less than 10% of the Sámi people live in Finland. In Sweden, Norway, Russia, and other places, there is no similar cultural exploitation.
Conclusion, A Charlie Brown Christmas
In the concluding part of director Bill Melendez's "A Charlie Brown Christmas," Charlie Brown loudly exclaims, "Can someone tell me what the true meaning of Christmas is?" Linus, through a recitation, explains to Charlie Brown the religious essence of this holiday: Christmas is meant to commemorate the birth of Jesus, and on this day, peace and joy will come to those favored by God. The little tree brought by Charlie, initially mocked by his peers as "not fit to be a Christmas tree," receives validation with Linus's support. Through the collaborative efforts of everyone, the little tree is adorned and decorated, and the film concludes with the children singing songs. Perhaps, Christmas is not about gifts, shopping, or trees; it is more about the voices and laughter of people, and that alone is enough.
Share your thoughts!
Be the first to start the conversation.