On Sunday, Nov. 2, the cool morning air greeted me as I began walking to meet my friends for brunch at North Star Dining Hall. Though I was disappointed that Halloween had come and gone so quickly, I looked forward to celebrating Thanksgiving and appreciating the remaining fall foliage that would soon vanish. Seemingly on cue, two students passed me loudly singing along to “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande. I stifled a sigh, and eventually escaped the assault on my senses.
No, I’m not part of a supposed “War on Christmas.” Nor am I a hater of Christmas in general; it has been my favorite holiday throughout my entire life. However, I have always loathed the chokehold Christmas media holds on contemporary American society throughout November and December. In my view, the premature arrival of Christmas festivities takes time away from Thanksgiving and lessens our enjoyment of the Christmas season. Thus, those who support the presence of Christmas in the public space before Thanksgiving make themselves complicit in the destruction of our overall holiday enjoyment.
The holidays of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all land on or near the end of their respective months, which means that each month could be entirely dedicated to its flagship holiday without any holiday receiving much more time than one of the others. Of course, Halloween and Christmas both have a much richer pool of associated decor and media than Thanksgiving. While some may view Christmas’s greater cultural significance as reason to extend Christmas festivities into November, I disagree strongly with such a notion. Thanksgiving’s comparative lack of cultural force makes it the perfect holiday to fall in between Halloween and Christmas. After Halloween ends, there is not a strong rush to immediately immerse oneself in the Thanksgiving mood. Instead, the distance between the two holidays allows us to take a break from celebrating something and simply enjoy the year’s remaining fall weather. Then, as we reach the middle of November, we can begin to embrace Thanksgiving traditions and decor with ease. After Thanksgiving ends, we could quickly transition into the Christmas season without needing much of a rest since Thanksgiving does not dominate much of the cultural landscape.
Unfortunately, my dream schedule for holiday festivities has not manifested in our nation. As soon as the first of November hits, Halloween decorations in stores and community spaces are immediately replaced with Christmas lights, trees and wreaths. Christmas music hits the radios and social media, Christmas movies flood TV stations and we are forced into two grueling months of the same sounds and images. Shockingly, many Americans seem to embrace this clear plot to drive mass consumption in the public. Others find themselves in the awkward position of merely pretending to enjoy the early holiday festivities to avoid being called “Scrooge” or “the Grinch.” Of course, the early onslaught of Christmas media would be somewhat tolerable if there was a large amount of quality Christmas media that could sustain such a long period of time.
Upon close inspection, though, there simply is not enough quality Christmas music and filmography to accomplish said task. As many have noted, Christmas media relies heavily on nostalgia to connect with audiences. People like to be reminded of their childhood memories, which leads them to play the same movies and music from their childhood or content reminiscent of said media. This constant desire to recreate childhood memories has resulted in a Christmas music catalog that hasn’t seen too many radical changes since the 1950s. Instead, new artists release cover after cover of Christmas standards like “Winter Wonderland” (written in 1934), “White Christmas” (1942), “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (1943) and “The Christmas Song” (1945).
Sure, people like Mariah Carey, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Michael have been able to add their own classics to the Christmas catalog since the post-World War II era, but such contributions are not enough to create a roster of songs that can be sustained throughout both November and December. Additionally, some people have overplayed these more modern Christmas songs to the point of torture. “All I Want for Christmas is You” and “Last Christmas” haunt my feed on TikTok and Instagram reels, my sanity threatened with every repeat play. While I can appreciate and enjoy the different sounds offered by the likes of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley and Michael Buble, I can only hear a song covered so many times before desperately wanting a change of pace.
The solution is simple and clear: We should restrain ourselves from engaging in Christmas festivities until after Thanksgiving. Such an arrangement would give Thanksgiving its own moment to stand in the spotlight and would prevent people from developing a sense of fatigue in response to an overly persistent holiday culture. If you wish to enjoy Christmas movies or music before Thanksgiving, so be it, but have the courtesy to restrict such activities to your private life until the appropriate time has come. So, put on your headphones, stow away your wreaths and stifle your carols for just one more week. I thank you in advance.
Matthew Rentezelas is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at [email protected].
Hater Friday runs on Fridays and centers around critiquing media or culture.