Back in 1965, Charles Schultz gave us perhaps the best of all Christmas TV specials. Because it's not just about the season, it's about all that comes with it: depression, loneliness, and self-doubting, as well as family and the sweetness and holiness of the Nativity. It's sad, silly, funny, touching. It won all the big awards, the soundtrack went triple-platinum, and anyone open to convincing that the holiday season has been corrupted by sell sell sell had to hear the message.
I mean, after all, how can anyone forget the Charlie Brown Christmas tree?
But that was nearly fifty years ago. Time for an televised anti-commercialization booster shot, which this month came from a surprising quarter: Chris Rock, appearing on Saturday Night Live. Saying lots of rude things, as is his wont, and making a lot of sense.
I admire it, want to make this part of it more search and findable on the web.
Take it away, Chris Rock:
In America there are no sacred days. We commericialize everything. Do you realize we are only five years away from 9/11 sales? Yeah, [TV voice] come on down to Red Lobster. These shrimp are only 9 dollars and eleven cents. [normal voice] It doesn't matter what the holiday is. Martin Luther King Day is going to be the same thing. [TV voice] "These Toyotas are practially free at last, free at last!" "This MLK birthday, McD has got a dream!"
It's Ameica, we commercialize everything. Look what we did to Christmas. Christmas. Christmas is Jesus's birthday.
Jesus's birthday. Now, I don't know Jesus. But I've read that Jesus is the least materialist person to ever roam the earth. No bling on Jesus, and we turned Jesus's birthday into the most materialistic day of the year. In fact we have the Jesus birthday season. It's a whole season of materialism. And at the end of the Jesus birthday season, we have the nerve to have an economist come on the TV and tell us how horrible the Jesus birthday season was this year!
[TV Voice] Oh, we had a horrible Jesus birthday season this year — hopefully business will pick up by his cruxifiction.
Kit Stolz 