Buddy the Elf spends the entire movie trying to spread Christmas cheer. Of course, since he’s played by Will Ferrell, he does it by being as obnoxious as possible. Which… you know, it’s actually fine. Will Ferrell’s just not my favorite actor, but I understand other people like him. I don’t get his appeal, but I’m pretty sure there are people out there who don’t grasp why I willingly spent money on the complete Powerpuff Girls cartoon series on DVD.
The problem I have, though, is with the show’s definition of “Christmas cheer.” Meaning, I have no clue why they think Christmas cheer is important.
Maybe “Christmas cheer” is just a euphemism for Buddy the Elf’s eternal optimism. I guess that makes a little bit of sense. Unfortunately, Buddy’s “optimism” alienates him from everyone else in the movie. He only makes friends in the mailroom because he gets them all drunk. He gets in a fight with the midget in the boardroom because he’s completely clueless. The other elves don’t like him. Even his father throws him out, and brings him back in to the family mostly out of guilt.
Above: COMEDY!!!
(You can make a case that he wins over Zooey Deschanel… except there’s nothing about that relationship that strikes me as even being remotely believable. I don’t even think Ms. Deschanel buys that contrived romance – she looks completely annoyed at Will Ferrell every time they’re on screen together.)I believe a good Christmas story is one that shows how the season can positively change a life – not because it’s a magical time of year, but because it’s a time of year when people are encouraged to do good. More than that, though, the great Christmas classics work because they are HONEST.
Take a look at It’s a Wonderful Life. Here we have a realistic depiction of one man’s life, his trials and faults, and the great impact he can have on those around him. There’s no scenery-chewing, no cheap laughs or forced sentimentality. We cheer for Jimmie Stewart because he’s a good man, and, at Christmastime, he is rewarded for his decency.
How about A Charlie Brown Christmas? That movie’s all about honesty. Again, there’s no forced laughter (I dare say it’s one of the un-funniest things the Peanuts have done outside of shilling insurance). Still, even I get a little choked up when Charlie Brown, in frustration, screams out his frustration about not understanding Christmas, and Linus, very simply, replies by reciting the story of the angels announcing Christ’s birth from Luke 2. And do you remember what happens next? The children decide to stop harassing Charlie Brown and decorate his little Christmas tree. The reason for the holiday prompts, not just a hollow “belief,” but a real, concrete, kind action.
Even A Christmas Story, which doesn’t really carry any of those “heartwarming messages” about loving your fellow man or whatever, succeeds as a Christmas movie because it honestly portrays how the Christmas season brings a family together, after all their fights over furnaces and lamps and Red Rider BB Guns, around the table at a Chinese restaurant in a spirit of love. Unconventional, perhaps, but completely honest.
Okay, back to Elf. Remember that climactic moment when New Yorkers get together to sing the Christmas carols that fuel Santa’s magic sleigh. I get to that point of the movie, and I ask myself, “Is that what the movie calls ‘Christmas cheer’? Believe in Santa Claus and you’ll have a happy Christmas?”
No, that can’t be the moral. I’m twenty-six years old now, and I’ve long since learned – we’ll say about six years ago – that there’s no such thing.
Besides, Santa Claus has become a symbol of the commercial side of Christmas that most people have come to detest over the years. “Ho ho ho!” he says. “Buy Coca-Cola or I’m putting you on the naughty list!”
Above: Sellout!!!
I think we’ve done the man a huge disservice. True, Santa Claus isn’t REAL in the sense that he’s up at the North Pole spying on everyone and overseeing the construction of countless X-Boxes and DVD gift sets, but he represents something fundamentally decent about humankind – the potential we have to put others above ourselves to the benefit of everyone involved.A week or two ago, I saw a friend post on Facebook that her daughter came home from school one day upset. Someone had told her that Santa Claus wasn’t real. My friend said she was planning on breaking that news to her daughter by having her daughter get presents for someone else – by being “Santa Claus.” I love that idea so much that I want to have a kid RIGHT NOW so I can do that with my children.
Anyone have any kids they aren’t using?
I’m not a huge fan of those Rankin-Bass shorts about Santa Claus, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. Still, I understand they deserve their place in the canon of Christmas classics because they encourage people, not just to believe in the jolly old elf that does so much good, but to emulate him.
So, yeah… In my mind, Elf fails as a Christmas movie. I won’t fault you for liking the movie, if you want to. Maybe your idea of Christmas spirit actually is watching a man-child in green tights eat enough sugar to put the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man into a coma. Just know that, by my above reasoning, you’re completely wrong.
Of course, you can just dismiss my opinion because I’ve spent WAY too much time thinking about a movie that you’re just meant to sit back and laugh at… which, by the way, you’d probably be right to do.
9 comments:
I haven't thought about it like this before...and now I have to write it off as yet another lamesauce Christmas movie. That's okay, I don't really care for Will Ferrell in yellow spandex anyway.
xox
I feel like not caring for Elf is one of those social taboos, like asking someone you just met who they voted for in the last election. What is it that everyone loves so MUCH about that movie? I don't get it either.
I've had so much Coca Cola this year, I'm bound to score a great gift from Santa (aka whatever kid you steal for your role-as-Santa project). I'd like a year's supply of coke. Thank you.
Alright Bradford, I generally don't go head to head with you on much because you fight dirrty (this warrants a second r), but this I cannot stand by and let you desecrate Elf without first putting in my two cents.
You are missing the whole point completley of this movie. Everything in the world has gone terrible, including a father and husband who continuously cares more and more about his work than his family. Which incidentally, is a really true outlook on the world right now. But instead of painting the movie in a sad depressed light, they bring in Buddy to try and brighten things.
I will admit Buddy is...odd. But he isn't really annoying, any more so that you are when you geek out about comics or any more annoying that I am when I talk about Star Wars. He's just trying to share what he LOVES with the people he cares about. Since he cares about everyone he's trying to bring cheer to everyone.
I'm not trying to convince you to like the movie (I know better than that!). But sometimes Christmas time really sucks and you need something to make you laugh that is relateable. There are times we all feel like Buddy, kind of dorky, trying to help others and getting nothing back, ignored by people we want to pay attention to us, and unsure of what to do with oneself.
In fact, from reading your blog/knowing as long as I have, I'm POSITIVE I've seen/read you experiencing those same feelings at one time or another and have acted in maybe a whimsical or annoyed fashion. SO THERE!
Merry Christmas Stephen, I love reading your blog, being your friend and hey, I love you.
I am a lover of this movie. You mentioned Buddy's eternal optimism, and that is the heart of the movie. He goes into a family that is kind of lost the sense of what a family really is. Buddy's (yes, I'll admit) obnoxious attitude and love for everything and everyone eventually wins over his long-lost father who is a real douche til the end. His final transformation is set when his son calls him out on not singing Christmas songs with everyone and getting into the spirit of things with his family. You could say he breaks out of his douche-shell. Also, yes Will Ferrel is obnoxious, but there are some movies he's done that I can't help but laugh at. This is one of them, and I think it is one of my favorites he's ever done. Rant. Over.
I've refused to watch Elf knowing I'd hate it. Will Ferrell makes me crazy.
All I have to say is this:
http://larissaexplainsitall.blogspot.com/2010/12/elf-argument-for-validity-as-christmas.html
I was referred here from Larissa's blog, and I'd love to support you, but you used my least favorite "Christmas" movie as your example of a good one. "It's a Wonderful Life" is possibly the most depressing family movie in history, and for me the 5 minutes of happy at the end didn't quite erase the 2 previous hours of anger, disappointment, self-pity, and abuse. I left "Elf" feeling like there was still hope for the world. I cry and want to sing along when everyone starts singing "Santa Clause is Coming to Town." For me, "Elf" was the more Christmassy movie, and the one I'm more likely to watch year after year.
I have a film degree, so I'll use those as my credentials. That said, the medium is of course, highly subjective. An actor or writer or director can make or break an entire film for any given individual.
My personal analyses is as follows: While I haven't seen the movie in some time, I remember laughing and enjoying moments of the piece. That said, I completely understand what Bradford is trying to convey. Elf is a "Christmas movie" only in setting. Depending on your personal definition of what a Christmas movie is, then that might be all you need. But the point is well made. Outside of the plot devices that the film uses, you really just have another Will Farrell comedy. That will be great for some, and not so great for others.
Personally, I would still call it a Christmas movie simply because it is so saturated in characters and plot devices that are directly taken from the holiday. But Bradford is right on the money in that it doesn't feel like a true Christmas film. But I would also argue that it was never intended to, and that's totally acceptable and not critical to the movie's success.
The same interpretation could apply to It's a Wonderful Life (which for the record, is one DAMN good piece of cinema in its construction alone). Christmas actually plays a very minor role in that film. It's a long film, most of which has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas. But it will forever be branded as a Christmas film because of the feeling and message that it exudes. And that was most certainly also intended.
So there ya' go. Whether or not the film succeeds as a "Christmas movie" depends on what your definition of a "Christmas movie" is. And for many of us, that's going to come down to our definition of what Christmas is.
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