Showbiz Commentary: Heidi Oringer
Dec. 14 -- As Christmas approaches, the networks, as usual, bombard us with special holiday programming. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, except we don’t all celebrate Christmas.
I’m not saying the networks don’t have some holiday programming for various minorities. To some extent, they do. But why isn’t there one special for folks of all faiths to nourish their souls?
It’s my duty to say, “Hey, what about the rest of us?” Don’t people of all denominations deserve clever animated programming that cutely explains the our shared values?
I’ll answer for you. Yes, we do.
Let’s take a look at what we do have. Then I’ll make my suggestion of what classic we might recognize as our best hope for a unifying holiday special.
Saving Santa’s Oversized Butt
At the top of the list of classics is A Charlie Brown Christmas. Although there are lessons here for everyone, the cartoon is chock-full of religious references that don’t apply to all. There are really only two nonreligious things to derive from this timeless cartoon. The first is that Linus, a formidable orator, should consider a job as a White House spokesman, and the second, that Peanuts gang sure can cut a rug.
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer is another phenomenon. After all, Christmas is Rudolph. Isn’t Santa’s oversized bottom virtually saved by this little antlered buck with the Ted Kennedyesque nose? If we were to remove any reference to Christmas, we could still effectively walk away with this life lesson: It’s OK to be different. (I, on the other hand, walked away with a much stronger message: Young, talking reindeer on the playground can be reaaaalllly mean if they don’t like you.)
Frosty the Snowman has always been another staid favorite. This cartoon, to me, has the least religious angle. Although it takes place AT Christmastime, I don’t feel that Frosty is as much a religious icon as he is a magical product of the weather. And it’s really about BELIEVING in magic. (I’d like to see David Blaine make a snowman come to life in Times Square.) The networks always broadcast Frosty during the holiday season, but there’s no reason for that.