The oldest Christmas cardBy Randall Carter Gray
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Some people hate the movie "Bad Santa," starring Billy Bob Thornton. I understand. But, sadly, it serves a purpose for other people who have been forced to need a reason to laugh at Christmas.
The film is pretty raunchy in spots (but hilarious, nonetheless). I can see where some people would think the film executes a broadside hit on Christmas in a mean-spirited way, with the intent presumably of tearing down the wholesome family fun to be enjoyed by children and their parents and guardians at Christmastime. I was one of those people who resented the negativism this film seemed to be promoting, thinking very little is sacred anymore, until I saw the movie last year, and gave it and the trappings of Christmas some renewed serious thought.
I thought about this film in light of other films, horror films, which opened on Christmas Day last year, one of which had “Christmas” in its title. From the previews I saw, this black Christmas movie made "Bad Santa" by comparison look like "Babes in Toyland." There are people who are good people, in my opinion, who have surprised me recently by saying they have come to dread Christmas. There have always been an inordinate number of suicides at Christmas and Thanksgiving, which psychologists attribute to the “Holiday Blues” and those people who long for the family togetherness and extravagant fun which they once had but no longer have or have never had.
Whenever I note the corruption of good things, like Christmas, which in my childhood was giddily wholesome, wrapped in pretty paper and adorned with glitter and tinsel, I can’t help but imagine that someone somewhere is behind the corruption and destruction, and is as giddy that Christmas has been taking some pretty severe hits in recent years. And, nowadays, we’re hearing and reading about these nihilistic behind-the-scenes secret societies and shadow governments comprised of the outrageously rich and powerful men (“boners,” an appropriate term) who hate the thought of poor people having babies, which only “robs” from those who believe they have worked hard to earn their money and ought to be able to keep all it, even if the IRS says otherwise. That’s not to say that tax money has ever gone to help the poor to the degree that it should and could.
At present, there are fewer and fewer government programs in place to help the poor (with welfare all but stripped away, thanks in part to pseudo-Democrat Bill Clinton, who apparently has clearly lied, without admitting it to himself, presumably, when he has said he “feels the pain” of others; he is, of course, one of the ignoble globalists), but we do have (oh boy!) the faith-based non-profit operations, which I know for a fact, in cases of which I am aware, are nothing more than operations run by hawkish do-gooders who are really only concerned with creating, not relief programs for the poor, but a stronger conservative base and anti-abortion programs . . . to keep a lid on more of the nasty little lives they refuse to help.
Further digressing (but not really) . . . have you ever thought about the fact that the right wing hates abortion, and demands right-to-life legislation, but thinks nothing of funding wars which have killed tens of thousands of children in Iraq and Afghanistan, something which administration officials no longer can deny? Of course you have. Or that special kangaroo-court session of Congress which was called to pass “right-to-life, brain-dead” legislation in the midst of the Terry Schiavo circus, as you may recall, despite the fact that doctor after doctor (and this was later confirmed in the autopsy reports) said virtually no brain activity existed in the poor woman? She had no cognition of anything that was going on, false advocates included. Keeping her alive was mocking life, in my opinion, disregarding what life ought to be, and in effect refuting the idea of heaven and the rewards for the innocents that await after death. Still, it seemed distasteful to let her starve. But the doctors knew best. Politicians had no business involving themselves in the matter, especially not in special session, and making a political football out of the whole sordid affair.
What ghoulish hypocrites these right-wing congressmen revealed themselves to be. And still are. How does such personal deceit and impropriety go undetected and unchecked by so many of these aristocrats when it occurs within their own very much alive brains and souls?
My point: The good things in life have been and are continuing to be corrupted not so much by the average citizen . . . but by congressional representatives and senators who believe doing good things for their constituents are best measured by whether their efforts aid these men to keep their powerful, well-paying, isolated political positions. Politics and its distortions of the law, by lawyers and people who claim to stand for “lawfulness,” have ruined our society, every society. Absolute power does corrupt absolutely, even as the corrupters believe they are doing good for the people they are hurting. As this form of delusion has settled in in Washington, it has pushed us all toward inside-out corruption and destruction. Who among us can be blamed if we don’t see society in the nuclear age winding down to some sort of climactic end, when the corrupt oppressors will finally get theirs and we can be free of bad systems being run by bad people.
So, what does all of this have to do with "Bad Santa"? Everything (more or less). The oppressed who can’t afford Christmas anymore, if they have ever known the joy of feasts and gift-giving the holiday can bring at all, have fomented the cynicism and skepticism in our society which only help to bring about its disintegration. Slap-happy films which offer a new twist on a holiday which has become consumeristic to the point of often being gaudy and poor taste are, sadly, breaths of fresh air for some people -- because increasingly only the superficial well-to-do, with shelters and new tax cuts, can celebrate the holiday adequately without having to wipe out household budgets.
Sadly, films like "Bad Santa" give the cynics of necessity some outlet, a way to laugh at their pain, which may be just what some people need to get past the holiday blues. Holiday commercials on TV, the radio and Internet, and the false, empty promises and messages they bring us -- which is mostly the nature of advertising that must sell goods at all costs for the system to survive -- may have the most chilling effect of all. Who can rely on the Word being made flesh, or the holy written words, for those who have the time to read it and be communicated to by it, if we now question all or so many of our other institutions and the messages they strategically hit us with to the point of hating them?
I despise political America, which helps me, when and if it does, in spite of itself. I draw a military pension to which I am entitled. But for how long? As long as it takes for a corrupt administration to say, “Oops, we lost your records on a laptop, and, therefore, identity thieves (meaning the administration itself) are getting your pension, which we’ll be spending on more of the militarism which put you, a draftee during the Vietnam-war era, in the upside down position in which you and your brothers find yourselves.”
The reports of stolen computerized records that have become commonplace, in my view, are smokescreens, false warnings given to the press by the government and the corporatocracy for preparing vets like me -- who couldn’t find a job if we could work in one adequately -- for going without. These people don’t just resent the poor which they have helped to create, they are declaring war on them, with home foreclosures growing to ridiculous numbers, in the aftermath of laws passed in recent years to remove the options of declaring bankruptcy. The creditors, in bed with these truly bad Santas, are playing hardball, and Christmas, which capitalism has ruined, is becoming a hated proposition for more and more people, who are too disillusioned to celebrate much of anything.
And these bad Santas, who are Grinches in disguise, want to take this show globally. May God help the globe. May God save the earth, for which the ancient promise of peace and goodwill toward men is only slipping further and further away.
I used to watch "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens on TV and be glad that our society, because of coldly Victorian reminders like this one, was not filled with callous men like Scrooge. I never envisioned in my naive youth that there could be any potential Scrooges who would not be brought to their senses by these Christmas sentiments, and who, therefore, would not give a second thought to the benefits of letting “the surplus population” wither and die on the vine. Such evil no longer existed, I assumed.
Now, I know better.
Surely, the earth will be reborn one day, perhaps sooner than later -- I don't think that is pie in the sky, as long as we're all going to die one day and hopefully be reborn. Then the oppressors will be removed from our midst, and we can have a real world government of justice, righteousness and peace delivered to us by the one whose birth and rebirth all people of all nations, races and religious persuasions will be able to celebrate once more without feeling guilty or being worried that the Christmas turkey and all the trimmings aren’t going to make purchasing groceries in the new year a burden.
A reason to hope is all that some people want at Christmastime. The freedom to celebrate festivals and feasts without fear and dread, as the good Lord surely intended holy days honoring him to be observed, is the blessed hope I wish for my family and yours.
The film is pretty raunchy in spots (but hilarious, nonetheless). I can see where some people would think the film executes a broadside hit on Christmas in a mean-spirited way, with the intent presumably of tearing down the wholesome family fun to be enjoyed by children and their parents and guardians at Christmastime. I was one of those people who resented the negativism this film seemed to be promoting, thinking very little is sacred anymore, until I saw the movie last year, and gave it and the trappings of Christmas some renewed serious thought.
I thought about this film in light of other films, horror films, which opened on Christmas Day last year, one of which had “Christmas” in its title. From the previews I saw, this black Christmas movie made "Bad Santa" by comparison look like "Babes in Toyland." There are people who are good people, in my opinion, who have surprised me recently by saying they have come to dread Christmas. There have always been an inordinate number of suicides at Christmas and Thanksgiving, which psychologists attribute to the “Holiday Blues” and those people who long for the family togetherness and extravagant fun which they once had but no longer have or have never had.
Whenever I note the corruption of good things, like Christmas, which in my childhood was giddily wholesome, wrapped in pretty paper and adorned with glitter and tinsel, I can’t help but imagine that someone somewhere is behind the corruption and destruction, and is as giddy that Christmas has been taking some pretty severe hits in recent years. And, nowadays, we’re hearing and reading about these nihilistic behind-the-scenes secret societies and shadow governments comprised of the outrageously rich and powerful men (“boners,” an appropriate term) who hate the thought of poor people having babies, which only “robs” from those who believe they have worked hard to earn their money and ought to be able to keep all it, even if the IRS says otherwise. That’s not to say that tax money has ever gone to help the poor to the degree that it should and could.
At present, there are fewer and fewer government programs in place to help the poor (with welfare all but stripped away, thanks in part to pseudo-Democrat Bill Clinton, who apparently has clearly lied, without admitting it to himself, presumably, when he has said he “feels the pain” of others; he is, of course, one of the ignoble globalists), but we do have (oh boy!) the faith-based non-profit operations, which I know for a fact, in cases of which I am aware, are nothing more than operations run by hawkish do-gooders who are really only concerned with creating, not relief programs for the poor, but a stronger conservative base and anti-abortion programs . . . to keep a lid on more of the nasty little lives they refuse to help.
Further digressing (but not really) . . . have you ever thought about the fact that the right wing hates abortion, and demands right-to-life legislation, but thinks nothing of funding wars which have killed tens of thousands of children in Iraq and Afghanistan, something which administration officials no longer can deny? Of course you have. Or that special kangaroo-court session of Congress which was called to pass “right-to-life, brain-dead” legislation in the midst of the Terry Schiavo circus, as you may recall, despite the fact that doctor after doctor (and this was later confirmed in the autopsy reports) said virtually no brain activity existed in the poor woman? She had no cognition of anything that was going on, false advocates included. Keeping her alive was mocking life, in my opinion, disregarding what life ought to be, and in effect refuting the idea of heaven and the rewards for the innocents that await after death. Still, it seemed distasteful to let her starve. But the doctors knew best. Politicians had no business involving themselves in the matter, especially not in special session, and making a political football out of the whole sordid affair.
What ghoulish hypocrites these right-wing congressmen revealed themselves to be. And still are. How does such personal deceit and impropriety go undetected and unchecked by so many of these aristocrats when it occurs within their own very much alive brains and souls?
My point: The good things in life have been and are continuing to be corrupted not so much by the average citizen . . . but by congressional representatives and senators who believe doing good things for their constituents are best measured by whether their efforts aid these men to keep their powerful, well-paying, isolated political positions. Politics and its distortions of the law, by lawyers and people who claim to stand for “lawfulness,” have ruined our society, every society. Absolute power does corrupt absolutely, even as the corrupters believe they are doing good for the people they are hurting. As this form of delusion has settled in in Washington, it has pushed us all toward inside-out corruption and destruction. Who among us can be blamed if we don’t see society in the nuclear age winding down to some sort of climactic end, when the corrupt oppressors will finally get theirs and we can be free of bad systems being run by bad people.
So, what does all of this have to do with "Bad Santa"? Everything (more or less). The oppressed who can’t afford Christmas anymore, if they have ever known the joy of feasts and gift-giving the holiday can bring at all, have fomented the cynicism and skepticism in our society which only help to bring about its disintegration. Slap-happy films which offer a new twist on a holiday which has become consumeristic to the point of often being gaudy and poor taste are, sadly, breaths of fresh air for some people -- because increasingly only the superficial well-to-do, with shelters and new tax cuts, can celebrate the holiday adequately without having to wipe out household budgets.
Sadly, films like "Bad Santa" give the cynics of necessity some outlet, a way to laugh at their pain, which may be just what some people need to get past the holiday blues. Holiday commercials on TV, the radio and Internet, and the false, empty promises and messages they bring us -- which is mostly the nature of advertising that must sell goods at all costs for the system to survive -- may have the most chilling effect of all. Who can rely on the Word being made flesh, or the holy written words, for those who have the time to read it and be communicated to by it, if we now question all or so many of our other institutions and the messages they strategically hit us with to the point of hating them?
I despise political America, which helps me, when and if it does, in spite of itself. I draw a military pension to which I am entitled. But for how long? As long as it takes for a corrupt administration to say, “Oops, we lost your records on a laptop, and, therefore, identity thieves (meaning the administration itself) are getting your pension, which we’ll be spending on more of the militarism which put you, a draftee during the Vietnam-war era, in the upside down position in which you and your brothers find yourselves.”
The reports of stolen computerized records that have become commonplace, in my view, are smokescreens, false warnings given to the press by the government and the corporatocracy for preparing vets like me -- who couldn’t find a job if we could work in one adequately -- for going without. These people don’t just resent the poor which they have helped to create, they are declaring war on them, with home foreclosures growing to ridiculous numbers, in the aftermath of laws passed in recent years to remove the options of declaring bankruptcy. The creditors, in bed with these truly bad Santas, are playing hardball, and Christmas, which capitalism has ruined, is becoming a hated proposition for more and more people, who are too disillusioned to celebrate much of anything.
And these bad Santas, who are Grinches in disguise, want to take this show globally. May God help the globe. May God save the earth, for which the ancient promise of peace and goodwill toward men is only slipping further and further away.
I used to watch "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens on TV and be glad that our society, because of coldly Victorian reminders like this one, was not filled with callous men like Scrooge. I never envisioned in my naive youth that there could be any potential Scrooges who would not be brought to their senses by these Christmas sentiments, and who, therefore, would not give a second thought to the benefits of letting “the surplus population” wither and die on the vine. Such evil no longer existed, I assumed.
Now, I know better.
Surely, the earth will be reborn one day, perhaps sooner than later -- I don't think that is pie in the sky, as long as we're all going to die one day and hopefully be reborn. Then the oppressors will be removed from our midst, and we can have a real world government of justice, righteousness and peace delivered to us by the one whose birth and rebirth all people of all nations, races and religious persuasions will be able to celebrate once more without feeling guilty or being worried that the Christmas turkey and all the trimmings aren’t going to make purchasing groceries in the new year a burden.
A reason to hope is all that some people want at Christmastime. The freedom to celebrate festivals and feasts without fear and dread, as the good Lord surely intended holy days honoring him to be observed, is the blessed hope I wish for my family and yours.
Randall Carter Gray served in military intelligence in the Vietnam War era. He is a theological "hobbyist," freelance journalist, poet and painter, and lives in Signal Mountain, Tenn.
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