The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 28, Ed. 1, Friday, December 8, 2000 Page: 7 of 8
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The legend of Santa Claus
Rachel McGuire
Student Reporter
He is featured on advertise-
ments pictured on greeting
Cards hung on tree ornaments
and woven into clothing. You see
him outside the grocery store
around the mall and in Moody
Coliseum.
He is Santa Claus and his
name is mysterious mystical and
magical in the minds of children.
The 19th Century North
American version of Santa Claus
depicts him as a jolly slightly
overweight white-bearded mmi
who drives a sleigh full of toys
drawn by reindeer to jump
down chimneys delivering gifts
to good little girls and boys on
Christmas Fve. However the leg-
end takes root in ancient'Europe
where this gift-giver was seen in
slightly different manner.
The historical narratives about
Saint Nicholas show him defend
The Grinch brings
Paul Anthony
Student Reporter
"Every Who down in
Whoville liked Christmas a lot
But the Grinch. ..did NOT."
It seemed to be the perfect
combination.
Who better to cast in the
live-action version of Dr. Scuss'
wacky How the Grinch Stole
Christmas than the equally
wacky Jim Carrey?
The story of the materialistic
Whos and their Christmas-hating
Grinch originally was a
book written by Theodore
Geisel better known as Dr.
Seuss. The cartoon version nar-
rated by Boris Karloff of horror
fame was equally popular.
Now for this Christmas
comes Jim Carrey with his
goofy antics as the mean green
and clumsy Grinch.
And he does a remarkably
good job.
Lest anyone get the wrong
idea this movie is not a direct
adaptation of either the book
or cartoon. The filmmakers
made quite an effort - probably
too much of one - to give the
Grinch a history and a motive
for his hatred of Christmas
Running away from home to
escape the taunting of class-
mates the Grinch holes up in
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ing young children and giving
gifts to the poor.
Despite the fact that the
authenticity of these stories was
in a great deal of question his
legend spread throughout-
Europe molding the fonrler gift-
giver legends of various cultures.
In Holland he was known as
Sinter Klaas and in Germany he
was know as Sankt Nikolaus.
Their version of Santa rode a
horse through ihc sky .wearing
bishops robes accompanied by
an elf known as Black Peter.
Celebrated on Dec. 6 the feast
day of Nicholas was combined
with the German protestants idea
to celebrate Christkindl the
Christ child as the ultimate gift-
giver on Dec. 25. The ideas com-
bined to form a celebration
including St. Nick and Christ.
Besides being known as
Father Christmas Pere Noel and
Julenisse the nickname Kriss
Kringle was derived from the
his cave atop Mount Crumpit
just north of Whoville
The movie then centers
around Cindy-Lou Who and
her attempts to reach out to the
Grinch and bring him too
Whoville. She fails miserably
and the resulting chaos leads to
the Grinch's evil plan to mas-
querade as Santa Claus and
take away the Whos'
Christmas.
Seeing what Christmas
means to the Whos the Grinch
sweeps down from his perch
on Christmas Eve and steals
their presents.
Of course the Whos wake
up and after much crying and
debate realize Christmas is not
all about presents and material
things. They celebrate
Christmas anyway and their
singing reaches the Grinch atop
Mount Crumpit where he is
about to dump their presents
over a cliff.
He is so touched he returns
all the presents and everyone
lives happily ever after or so it
is assumed.
Although it starts slow
the movie is worth seeing if
only for its spectacular stage
designs. The fantastic and
wonderful world of the
Whos is replicated exactly
down to their flam-foozles
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term Christkindl.
It is the Dutch Sinter Klaas
legend that the 17th Century
New York settlers introduced to
America causing the tradition to
take on new form.
In 1823 the
poem A Visit
From Saint
Nicholas (The
Night Bcjott
Christmas) writ-
"I think that when (chil-
dren) see Santa the
first thing that comes to
mind is the excitement
of Christmas morning
and the gifts that say
someone appreciates
their good behavior."
Brent Wilson
ten by Clement
Clarke Moore
gave Santa the
characteristics
we ascribe to
him today.
In the 1860s
Santas legend
was enlarged
when Harpers
magazine fea-
tured Thomas Nasts heftier ver-
sion of Santa Claus that included
a North Pole and a continuous
list of the good and bad children.
holiday
and bam-boodlcs.
The acting is superb. The
rest of the cast including the
adorable Taylor Momsen as
Cindy-Lou Who adds depth
and life to a town we would
otherwise know little about.
And Carrey? He adds yet
another spectacular acting per-
formance to his resume. He
uses the part to combine every-
thing he has done in his career
into one character.
The Grinch is a clumsy crea-
ture with bizarre facial expres-
sions something at which
Carrey is a master.
But Carrey's Grinch has feel-
ings. He falls in love is hurt
feels exultation and finally
rage. Carrey gives the creature
a depth not seen in either the
book or cartoon.
The movie does have its
problems however The first
thirty minutes are too long and
it seems the filmmakers went
out of their way to show off
their elaborate set.
Thankfully the movie does
not take itself too seriously
however. The writers inject
enough self-parody to stay
humble and the slow start is
quickly forgotten once the
movie starts following the well-
loved original.
Perhaps the best part of the
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has changed with
Despite the fact that Santa was
seen as an elf in Moorcs poem
Coca-Cola Company recreated
him as a life-size man and
Montgomery Ward Company
created the ninth reindeer
Rudolph who
is best known
for his red nose.
But no mat-
ter how the tra-
dition trans-
formed and
continues to
transform
Santa still sym-
bolizes the spir-
it of giving.
Tuesday in
Chapel Brent
. Wilson junior
electronic
media major
from Abilene donned the famous
red and white suit facial hair and
hat to make an announcement
for the Christmas Tuesday Night
laughs
movie is the message it so effec-
tively portrays.
The Whoville shopping sea-
son is hectic and chaotic The
Whos do not even stop to get
change back in their haste to
buy more presents put up bet-
ter lights and erect taller trees
It ends up taking a little girl
and an ugly vengeful Grinch to
show an entire city that
Christmas is much more than
presents and lights.
It is a lesson we could all
learn this Christmas. Because
after all...
"Christmas doesn't come
from a store...
Maybe perhaps Christmas
means just a little bit more!"
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Optimist Friday
Devotional.
To make my announcement
for Tuesday Night Dcvo I wanted
to be festive" Wilson said. "1 had
a Sinta Claus suit so I thought it
would be great to publicize and
get attention out for the dcvo."
Using a costume made by his
mother for his father Wilson
dressed in holiday spirit.
"My dad used to be Santa for
different Christmas parties and
elementary schools. He used to
be Santa Claus at the Abilene
mall and then he did the par-
tics. He would also go to homes
that had a rough year to try to
cheer up the kids" he said. "He
hasn't been able to do it for the
past few years and the suit was
just laying around so I thought
I would use it for the announce-
ment. Santa wasnt the only guest in
chapel Tuesday morning. The
Abilene Christian Elementary
School children who were per
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forming their Christmas pro
gram accompanied him.
"It was fun to sec the reaction
of the kids" he said. "They were
in awe and in shock that Santa
was there. They wouldn't stop
smiling or waving tome."
Although Wilson knew a lot
of the children from his work
with ACU leadership camps
they dldn recognize him.
"Besides the few that saw me
before Chapel they had no
clue he said. "I think that when
they see Santa the first thing
that comes to mind is the excite-
ment of Christmas morning and
the gifts that say that someone
appreciates their good behavior
throughout the year."
"When I was in costume it
made me feel like a different
person" Wilson said. "You feel
like people know who you arc
just because you are Santa
Claus. You get smiles and hellos
just because you arc Santa."
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 28, Ed. 1, Friday, December 8, 2000, newspaper, December 8, 2000; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101689/m1/7/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.