An outsider’s perspective on the winter holidays and what they seem to mean
There are a few things about the Christmas season that appeal to me. I like how especially-festive homeowners go above and beyond, using colourful lights and sparkly decorations to make masterpieces of their houses. I like peppermint. I like how happy people are because they associate this time of year with seeing their families and cozying up at home. I like ham (even though I’m Jewish, I’m not kosher, but more on that some other time). What I don’t like about the Christmas season is everything else, but most of all I dislike the commercialization of Christmas.
From my perspective, Christmas seems more like a brand with each passing year. Big box companies use a holiday that was once observed religiously by Christians on Dec. 25 to push specialty merchandise on consumers as soon as the temperature drops. The way I view it, Christmas is the hallmark of western capitalism.
Starbucks’ cups transition from their classic white to red and green with wintery designs on Nov. 1. By then, certain franchises will have their employees wear special uniforms and Santa hats during their shifts. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s nice that people are choosing to celebrate and are in high spirits during the harsh Canadian winter weather, but not everyone is as cheerful as the carols would have you believe.
For consumers and workers alike, Christmas starts early, and that is stressful. There is an expectation that comes with Christmas time — however long that may be — and that is to shop ’til you drop. People begin their holiday shopping so far in advance, trying to find the gifts is overwhelming. I just don’t understand it.
Black Friday falls almost exactly a month before Christmas every year, right around American Thanksgiving, so that corporations can catch everybody while they’re home for a holiday and get them to buy presents. Black Friday, this year’s just passed on Nov. 23, is a statutory holiday in the States, designated solely for the purpose of shopping for a different holiday!
Just last week, people lined up outside malls and stores hours before opening. Once customers entered, it was pandemonium. There are videos to accompany horror stories of people physically fighting for a sale item that will make the perfect gift. Some have even taken the time to curate multiple videos of consumers hashing it out in the battlefield that is Walmart. I came across a YouTube video entitled “WALMART BLACK FRIDAY FIGHTS 2018.”
How can a holiday that is made out to be cheerful, communal, and comfortable drive people to such aggression? And that’s just one side of it. There are multiple other methods for capitalism to profit from consumerist holidays that were once religious, but are increasingly secular.
Hollywood racks in the most Christmas cash. Every year, new Christmas movies, Christmas songs and albums, and of course many Christmas TV specials — and billions of people buy into it. There are Spotify and Apple Music playlists dedicated to renditions of Christmas carols by A-List musicians which accumulate millions of listeners worldwide each passing year. There is no time of year more profitable than Christmas. The National Retail Federation estimates that the average American shopper spends $700 on Christmas gifts every year. In the U.S., Christmas is a $465 billion industry.
This article is not coming from a salty Jewish girl disappointed because Hanukkah isn’t commercialized and made popular in the same way as Christmas is. No, this article is coming from a Jewish girl who is perfectly happy spending Hanukkah exchanging small gifts with my family, reciting prayers and songs, and admiring the history of the holiday… and then spending Christmas eating Chinese food while desperately trying to find something on TV that isn’t a Christmas special.
Feature photo obtained via Pinterest