Can We Talk About White Christmas?

"We're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny F*%*ing Kaye!" - Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Happy New Year! I hope you are having a very merry Christmas season. (It's not over until Epiphany so this post isn't too late.) While there are plenty of great movies for this time of year, the one I can't miss is 1954's White Christmas. Maybe it's because it was one of the first movies I ever saw; it was one of the few VHS tapes my parents owned back in the 80s when you could rent a VCR. It just hasn't been a real holiday season until I've heard the "Sisters" song and gotten choked up at the ending's surprise reunion.

"Judy, we need to discuss your turtleneck addiction."

Over the years I've noticed and enjoyed different aspects of the movie. As a little girl, I loved Vera Ellen's style as Judy: girlish puffy sleeves, twirly skirts, and blonde ponytails. Now, I much prefer Rosemary Clooney's Betty and her womanly evening gowns. That black mermaid one at the Carousel Club would look amazing on any red carpet.

During my most recent viewing, I realized that General Waverley's backstory doesn't really make sense. His retirement from active duty in the middle of a campaign hardly seems practical at a time when the United States was waging war on two continents. Did he just age out or had he run afoul of someone at the Pentagon? Maybe his supervisors didn't approve of his performing arts sponsorship that inspired many of his troops to sing, tap dance, and later dominate show business on Broadway and in television.

I also realized how the movie's 1954 setting hints at an American culture in transition. Characters are feeling their age with declining eyesight and pants that don't fit. One song jokes about wishing for the simpler times of just following army orders. The "Mandy" number expresses nostalgia for the jokes and songs of minstrel shows, trying to adapt America's favorite racist entertainment into a technicolor cartoon of reds, purples, and greens. Bob Wallace and Phil Davis' production even throws shade on Vera Ellen's former co-star Gene Kelly, griping about all the modern "Choreography" supplanting traditional hoofers. They're following the old "Let's put on a show to save the day!" trope, but they're not kids anymore and post-war life still has challenges.

In First Things last month, Peter Leithart suggested that White Christmas also captures America's spiritual decline.

"In place of Jesus, we get a mash of mid-century Americanism ... There are good, altruistic deeds, done out of loyalty to an old friend, and from beginning to end the film glows with the warmth of post-World War II patriotism. If there’s a faith here, it’s a gospel of small-town American and faith in the decency of the American military ... Whatever one thinks of those sentiments, they don’t constitute a gospel." 

Well, sure it's not a gospel. The title song is just the results of generic sentiment + celebrity vocalist = hit single. If you base your life priorities off a Danny Kaye movie you'll go as nuts as Clark Griswold did. But there are plenty of prior Christmas songs and movies about revelry rather than baby Jesus, including White Christmas' prequel, Holiday Inn. There's no reason to single out this one movie.

In fact, White Christmas's lack of gospel pretense is what makes me find it such a refreshing holiday staple. Too often, made-for-TV Christmas movies try offer some vague inspirational lesson, so most are a tired reworking of A Christmas Carol. This secular conversion template features a workaholic (shrewish single woman or neglectful family man) who undergoes some sort of supernatural upheaval and thus embraces kindness and sacramental turkey dinners. If you just "believe" and listen to that kindly senior citizen's advice, Santa will bring you true love and that greedy businessman will stop harassing your quirky neighbors. While certainly fun, this snow-covered fairy tale shtick is a poor substitute for the Incarnation. It attempts to offer meaning through the "spiritual but not religious" archetype.

White Christmas, on the other hand, is simply fun with a dash of reality. While Bob Wallace does eventually put aside his workaholic habits to pursue romance with Betty, a magical wish doesn't make it happen. He has a successful career, but he uses his business and connections to help an old friend. When he asks people to help him, he acknowledges that not everyone might be able to change their holiday plans. (Although how did he charter those special Christmas Eve trains? That's magic.) Nobody has to summon an angel or sing a special song to make it snow; it's just nice icing on the cake after the plan comes together.

At the risk of sounding too humanistic, that's honestly how most people spend their holidays. The weather doesn't always cooperate, your job might not be going great, you might have had a misunderstanding with your loved ones. Hector Elizondo is not going to show up and solve all your problems. But you can still come together and make the best of things. Dancing and songs bring joy.

If you watch one movie about saving a ski resort this winter, make it the one with tap-dancing.

(Images taken from GlamAmor's excellent post on Edith Head's costume design for the film.)

7 Christmas Season Quick Takes

Happy New Year! And Merry Christmas too - if you want to get super traditional about it the Christmas season doesn't end until Candlemas on February 2. So don't feel bad if you don't get around to taking the tree down for a couple weeks. 

1. I've mentioned before how Christmas and I sometimes don't get along. Repetitive sappy music makes me stabby, and I'm weary of drumming up outrage for the annual  tradition of freaking out over the content of public decorations.
   Little did I know Christmas is my husband's favorite holiday. He's listened to annual my holiday rants without a peep, focusing on the Incarnation and patiently suggesting a few new festive activities each year. And it worked! As we spent our first December together, I found myself actually looking forward to firing up our Advent playlist and seeing all the decorations in the city.
   
2. That being said, Christmas caught us a little off guard. Oh shoot, we don't own stockings. Or lights. Don't you need a stand for a live tree? I really should have started gift shopping earlier. Fortunately buying a few strands of lights and a 3 foot artificial tree was enough to make our apartment look festive. Then my best friend surprised me with personalized stockings from Etsy!






Working in the development world means the December end-of-year fundraising push is about as busy as the finals season that stands between college students and Christmas break. I have new empathy for the employees of different charities who have filled my email account and mail box with their own donation appeals. Still, I am grateful that I work with a great team of people.  Especially when we take breaks by discussing how Queen Victoria basically invented the modern Christmas.

Even though we held back on full-out Christmas until Gaudete Sunday, I was very grateful for the onslaught of decorations in New York City that started even before Thanksgiving. Leaving work in the dark and cold is always depressing, so it was wonderful to have colorful lights greeting me everywhere. Even ugly old Penn Station. I really liked my friend Kelly's insightful post about how early festivity shouldn't trouble us too much - even the Blessed Mother celebrated Jesus' arrival before He was actually born! 

Outside the Stock Exchange after some frantic gift shopping at the Wall Street TJ Maxx
Christmas shopping crowds in the city were another story. While we didn't try to cram into Rockefeller Center for the tree lighting, we ended up tangled in the road closures and packed sidewalks anyway. But we survived, and it was worth it to attend a young adult mass at St. Patrick's celebrated by Cardinal Dolan himself! Seeing New York's archbishop in person has been on my bucket list for a  long time, and his down-to-earth preaching about St. Augustine did not disappoint.

Fun fact: my old Nicest Boss in the World in St. Louis was once a seminary classmate with "Tim." (Nicest Boss went on to be a happily married social worker instead of a priest.) I was pleased to note that you can still detect a hint of the STL in the Cardinal Archbishop's accent - his "Lord" sounds a little like "Laaard." Southern Baron noted Dolan's active personality - at one point he was actually fidgeting with his pectoral cross. Adorbs.



This was my first Christmas I haven't spent with my parents and siblings, but it was still joyful in my little apartment with only two people unwrapping gifts. The Southern Baron and I enjoyed actually celebrating traditions like Midnight Mass together. We also continued older ones, like buying Christmas cards on sale from museum gift shops.


The parish down the street on Christmas Day
For now, 2014 looks less eventful than last year, and that is fine with me. Starting a new job, moving to a new state, planning a wedding, and starting married life all in 6 months was an exhausting whirlwind. My goal this year is to get the most out of where I am right now, before the next big transition hits.
Our resolution as a couple is to pray together more - grace before meals doesn't count too much. Right now we're figuring out how to use the copy of Shorter Christian Prayer we got for Christmas. The Magnificat Magazine training wheels have been removed, and it's confusing.

Visit Jen Fulweiler at Conversion Diary for more quick takes! 

And All Flesh Shall See It Together

The Nativity scene at my parish church, Christmas 2011. Note legit swaddling on baby Jesus. 

Happy Feast of the Epiphany! May the glory of the Lord be revealed in each of your lives this year.

Last Quick Takes of 2011

--- 1 ---

Soo, that Advent wreath photo project was not as prolific as I had hoped. This year for some reason I am more timid about whipping out my camera to document a church after Mass. Still,  I did take some fun touristy field trips - here are installments 1, 2, and 3.

--- 2 ---

Last weekend I got to hear The Beau sing in his parish's Advent Lessons and Carols. It definitely got me in the Yuletide spirit. Advent carols should always have timpani accompaniment.

--- 3 ---

It looks like the fresh, cheap British takeaway chain Pret A Manger has made the leap across the pond! There's one in Manhattan, and lately I've seen two in DC. I just had to stop at the one in Union Station on my way to catch my train to The Beau's Lesson and Carols in New Jersey.
Me: "OMG how long have ya'll been here?!?!?!"
Bemused cashier in reindeer headband: "Since Tuesday. I know, people keep freaking out and saying they recognize us from London. Honestly, this time of year Pret is the last thing on my mind."

Via IamDCDG

Seriously, though, you should check them out. They win my allegiance for listing allergen information and for personally responding to customer emails. Pret got me though my two week frigid museum death march/London trip of a lifetime.

--- 4 ---

My sister and I were victorious in our bridesmaid dress mission for Brother #1's June wedding. This was our  inspiration

but this is what I ended up choosing. The best part? The dress has POCKETS. Thank you, fashion designers, for allowing me to carry Lactaid pills and tissues.

--- 5 ---

Speaking of blue, that is also the color scheme for our family portrait today. I'm excited to actually be in it this time. The last parish directory photo was great, except for the fact that I was out of town....

--- 6 ---

Reasons #467 - 469 why I love my job: The VP of Finance made festive earrings for all the ladies in the office, there was gluten free pizza for lunch, and my new Russian boss is teaching us the Cyrillic alphabet one letter a day.

--- 7 ---

I might schedule some posts for the Christmas Octave, but otherwise this is my last big installment until after I return from ringing in the new year in New Orleans with The Beau's family, Have a blessed, joyous Yuletide everyone!

The Christmas wreath at St. Mark, the parish where I grew up

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

the Holy Family, then and now

"Rest on the Flight Into Egypt" by Aert de Gelder, c. 1690. MFA Boston 57.182.

Did you ever notice how paintings from the Renaissance and after often depict Bible characters in contemporary clothing? This Holy Family is lovely, but they sure resemble 1690s Dutch people too. Of course to us, images like this just look old-timey. Would a Holy Family in modern dress seem jarring?

At Midnight Mass I started imaging what a contemporary Nativity scene would look like. A parking garage would be a good stable equivalent - if you can't find a hotel room, you have to sleep in the car. There would have to be some stray cats running around, and the shepherds could be construction workers doing some night paving. Then the magi would be oil sheiks who fund science research, and would fly in from Bahrain on their private jet.

Material Culture Alert: The man in the big red suit

Last week my class had the wonderful opportunity to take a short end-of-semester field trip to the Boston area.  Part of the time was spent in the Museum of Fine Arts' new Art of the Americas wing, which is absolutely glorious. I couldn't help noticing a common theme throughout the portraits : the red suit.  In the eighteenth century textiles were costly, and so clothing in portraits could show off one's gentility and status. I was amazed how many examples there were of men in an outfit that is today reserved for Santa Claus. 

Here's Nathanial Sparhawk, painted by John Singleton Copley in 1768. He was a successful merchant in Maine, but his house was nowhere near as grand as this backdrop.

 

John Singleton Copley also painted Samuel Adams in a red suit around 1772.

 

Across the pond in England, Thomas Gainsborough painted this portrait of hospital benefactor John Eld of Seighford Hall, Stafford in 1775.

Here's French artist JeanJacques Caffieri, painted by Swede Adolf Ulric Werftmuller in 1784.

 

The red suit persisted through several decades, as this1793 painting of Bostonians Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Russell by John Trumbull. Their arm-in-arm pose was the latest trend from England.

I wonder what portrait fads will look funny to future generations. Maybe jumping photos of entire wedding parties?