Welcome to Scrooge and the Grinch

We’re a week into the “official” holiday season. I’ve pulled out the Christmas decorations and movies. Christmas music rings throughout all the stores I go shopping in. I’m being asked to write a Christmas list.

I feel for the people who don’t celebrate Christmas. This time of year must be particularly annoying.

Which brings me to today’s topic. The novella A Christmas Carol and the short story How the Grinch Stole Christmas are undeniably classic Christmas stories about two characters who don’t celebrate Christmas being convinced to participate in the season.

I watch this version every year.

Granted it’s assumed that everyone in these stories is either Christian or live in a world where Christmas is a nondenominational holiday with nary a baby Jesus in sight. The characters are aware of this through cultural osmosis.  It to mention that the morals of these stories have little if anything to do with religion.

A Christmas Carol is a social critique on how the inequalities of the season (seriously Dickens goes on a few rants here and there - mostly during the Christmas Present Ghost’s parts). The Grinch has a message of forgiveness, love, and not being materialistic. At least the original short story and cartoon do, the live-action movie kind of does, and I have no comment on the latest cartoon.

One of the best adaptations.

I haven’t seen the latest cartoon version of The Grinch, ergo I have no opinion on it. I do, however, have a lot of thoughts on the live-action movie. They made a lot of changes to the story in the live-action movie to make it a feature film. The Whos are extremely materialistic and, though they have the Christmas joy, they don’t really have the same spirit that the original cartoon and book Whos do. The live-action movie even gives the Grinch a back story about why he hates Christmas (originally he’s just a mean spirit who hates everything nice and joyful).

And it’s in these changes that I see a bit of a resemblance to A Christmas Carol. You might be wondering how I came to this observation. Well, there are a few key similarities. There’s a lot more social commentary in the Grinch’s story, be with how The Whos are obsessed with materialism and what it means to be kind to those who are a little different from everyone else. On top of that, the Grinch’s backstory is centered around him being bullied and an outcast with the worst incident happening around Christmas. The Grinch seems to hate Christmas because it is the epitome of every horrible thing The Whos ever did to him.

This speech sums up a lot of The Grinch’s feelings.

Similarly, it seems like every horrible thing that happened in Scrooge’s life happened around Christmas. His father would leave him at school every year, until one Christmas where his sister comes to get him and then he’s shipped off right away to start working. His fiancé broke up with him on Christmas. His best friend (I guess Marley is his best friend) died on Christmas. It is also implied that his beloved sister also died around Christmas and since her son is so similar to her that it’s hard for Scrooge to be around him, despite the nephew inviting him to Christmas dinner every year.

Christmas represents the worst times of both Scrooge and the live-action movie Grinch’s lives. It’s no wonder they hate the holiday so much. Everyone wants them to be happy and cheerful and they don’t want to relive their unhappiness. It’s not okay to force someone to feel happy no matter what season it is.

However, feeling unhappiness and making people suffer because of that feeling are two different things. Scrooge and the Grinch take out their anger and frustration on innocent people, which is not okay.

These two characters deserve to have some form of therapy.

And in some ways, they get that therapy...sort of.

For Scrooge, the three spirits are there to show him that though his feelings are justified, his actions aren’t. The Ghost of Christmas Past shows him both good and bad memories, with one of his happiest as an apprentice. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows him that other people are experiencing both good and bad moments on Christmas, ending with a family eating stolen potatoes worrying they might end up in separated in a workhouse. The Ghost of Christmas Future shows the consequences of Scrooge taking out his anger and frustration on other people. It’s not a perfect representation of someone getting the mental health help they need, but the story was written in the 1800s.

The Grinch in the live-action movie has Cindy Lou Who, who is also experiencing some holiday depression. She thinks everything will be “fixed” if she helps the Grinch. It’s a little misguided and she probably shouldn’t be forcing Christmas on the Grinch (she doesn’t really, only invites him to an event that he can say “no” to and tries to see him on Christmas), but because of her actions, the Whos remember the true meaning of Christmas and the Grinch starts his own healing process. Again this isn’t a perfect story about helping someone overcome their past trauma, but it has a good message.

Not everyone celebrates Christmas and not everyone wants to. The messages of A Christmas Carol and How the Grinch Stole Christmas aren’t about forcing people to celebrate a holiday, their about understanding that your actions have consequences and that it’s not okay to take your anger/sadness/depression out on other people.

So if you know someone who either doesn’t celebrate Christmas or is just done with the forced holiday cheer, please don’t force it on them. Extend a hand or an invitation, but don’t show up with a tree and ugly sweater.

As for those of us who find it hard to feel the happiness and joy this holiday season. It’s okay to feel that unhappiness. Humans can’t be happy all the time. But please don’t take it out on other people.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you like hearing from me.