My Opinion on "The Rise of the Guardians"

1
If you mixed fruitcake and hasenpfeffer and toothpaste...

... you might approximate the taste left in your mouth after watching this movie.

There's a reason why the Easter Bunny's and Santa Claus's worlds never meet.

And Santa shouldn't have sleeve tattoos.

Semi-final thought on Jack Frost: If I were to create a sympathetic character, I wouldn't pick one that nobody ever believed in, not even children, and then have that character bemoan the fact that no one really believes in him.

The Easter Bunny? Sure. Santa? You bet. But Jack Frost? How can anyone care about an anthropomorphic cold front?

Final thought: There is something interesting going on with the Man in the Moon. We never actually see him, he may be a metaphor for God or imagination or personal determination (as in, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can"); I wish that had been explored more.

[2012-12-01]

 

2
Lest you think I'm an old fuddy duddy when it comes to holiday magic...

I recently heard a religious radio commentator remark that her kids were denied Santa and they turned out okay.

I've written in this blog before that I grew up in a home that believed in Santa, the Easter Bunny, and even the Tooth Fairy, and we turned out okay; in fact, as time has passed, more okay than Mom and Dad probably thought we'd turn out. (We gave them lots of reasons to wonder.)

Those were magical myths that settled deeply and stay with me to this day. They not only entertained me then, but they activated a sense of wonder that, if properly tended, lasts a lifetime.

Sure, you can deny kids all sort of things and still get responsible adults (and good Christians or Jews or Muslims or anything else).

But why would you?

[2012-12-01]

 

3
My Grandma Grandy believed in Santa until she was 11 years old.

Can you believe that? It's true.

Grandma Grandy grew up Ethel Damon, in the countryside, in Pennsylvania, a long time ago when horses and sleighs and jingle bells were as common as cell phones are today.

Each Christmas Eve, her father climbed up on the roof of their house and stomped around and shook sleigh bells.

How could a little girl not believe?

I think that's about the nicest thing I ever heard.

[2012-11-28]

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