DECEMBER 2017 - A rare, early-December snow coupled with an unexpected complication or two landed me in front of a warm fire getting lost in classic movies and Christmas episodes of the TV shows I grew up watching.
It had been a while since I'd seen those old gems.Watching them took me to the simpler, if regrettably gaudier, Christmases of my boyhood and the realization of just how jaded, defensive and intolerant our world has become. I'm not defending the missteps and wrong-mindedness of the past, but I am nostalgic for the days when TV families celebrated Christmas as Jesus' birthday, acknowledged miracles and didn't worry about offending every subset of the population.
I started the morning with Holiday Inn, chosen because of the snow outside. This is the movie that introduced White Christmas to the world. It was released in 1942. Watching it in 2017 is a far different experience than it was the first time I saw it. I had forgotten that the movie's celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday is entirely inappropriate. The song and dance number is shocking by today's standards. If Holiday Inn was promoted now, it would be protested by rioters, and I understand why. But I'd like to advocate that we recognize that scene as a stupid moment in our past and leave it there. Then, with snow on the ground and ice on the limbs, we can welcome Bing Crosby's smooth baritone voice recalling glistening tree tops and children listening for sleigh bells. That is the kind of Christmas I pine for. (And, yes, I am aware the previous sentence ends with a preposition.)
After the movie, I opted for classic TV shows and found that Hulu makes it easy to find them. I landed on the first Christmas episode of The Brady Bunch. The plot focused on Mrs. Brady, Carol, getting laryngitis a few days before the Christmas concert at their church. Cindy, the youngest one in curls, is concerned. Rather than ask Santa for toys, the only thing she wants for Christmas is for her mom's voice to return in time for the concert. Santa promises that it will, and by the wonder of Christmas, a miracle happens. The episode closes with Mrs. Brady singing Oh Come All Ye Faithful, at church. If that show had been filmed now, Carol would have been singing Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree or some other nonreligious tune at a multicultural community center.
After spending time with the Bradys I searched for Father Knows Best. First, I found the episode in which Kathy, or Kitten as her father calls her, finds a sick sparrow and named him Mr. Quigley. The family nurses the bird back to health after Kathy prays and asks God for a miracle. "Birds are one of God's more delicate little creatures, and sometimes it's up to Him whether they live or die," Jim Anderson explains to his youngest daughter. "You mean you can't help Mr. Quigley to get all better without God's help?" Kathy asks. "That's right, Kitten." Kathy then gets down on her knees beside her bed and asks God to help her Daddy. They prayed. For a sparrow. As in, His Eye is on the Sparrow, and nobody was offended. Incredible. The Father Knows Best Christmas episode that followed is the one I originally had in mind. Jim, frustrated by the commercialization of Christmas (funny how some themes haven't changed, even 60 years later), decides to take the family into the woods to cut down a real Christmas tree. Their car hits a snow bank, landing the Andersons in a mountain cabin on Christmas Eve. There, they meet Nick, a mysterious drifter (drifters are always mysterious, aren't they?). With Nick's help the Andersons learn that Christmas is a season of miracles. The origin of Christmas is a little family in the simplest of surroundings. It's a story of miracles and untethered love. So, when I see a TV show that reminds me of those things, it does my heart good, especially on a snowy day. Father Knows Best got it right and filled that episode with every ounce of shameless sentimentality and schmaltz they could possibly muster, and I loved every single one of those 23 minutes. When Kitten wakes up and finds that a Christmas tree and gifts from Santa have seemingly miraculously appeared in the cabin (thanks to Nick and her family), she is overwhelmed. Standing in front of the decorated tree and surrounded by family, Kathy looks at her all-knowing father and with the voice of perfect innocence, tries to put her feelings into words. "Oh Daddy, I feel all shivery inside."
Me too, Kitten. Me too.
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