(it's a corporate...) Arthur Christmas (film review)

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more: http://uprisingradio.org/home/2011/11/18/rethink-reviews-arthur-christmas/

ReThink Reviews – ‘Arthur Christmas’ -with Jonathan Kim


Arthur Christmas

With Christmas movies hitting the theaters and holiday marketing campaigns assailing us at every turn, it’s that time of year when many parents begin their annual battle with corporations for the soul of Christmas. Will our children see it as a holiday full of charity, good will, and hopes for peace on earth, or as a rare opportunity for sanctioned and even sanctified greed, where parents must fulfill a corporate vision of what Christmas should be and the endless number of gifts and decorations that must be bought to ensure the holiday’s success.

For me, this struggle for the soul of Christmas is best exemplified by ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’, a cartoon released in 1965 that finds Charlie Brown feeling depressed and alienated by the commercialization and materialism of Christmas, to the point that he no longer knows what the holiday means. It’s a funny, thoughtful, beautiful piece that I look forward to every year, especially as the Christmas industrial complex continues to grow in size and ferocity.