sábado, 31 de diciembre de 2016

Skipping Christmas



Skipping Christmas is the title of a novel by John Grisham, a writer who is mainly known for his legal thrillers. In this novel the author departs from his usual themes in order to embark on the description of the festive season from an American point of view. The story is about a married couple who takes advantage of the fact that their grown-up daughter is away from home and decides to skip Christmas by going on a cruise. Unfortunately – or fortunately – their daughter returns home out of the blue and the couple feels forced to have their usual Christmas party and all the traditions associated with it. The story is entertaining and fun to read and it enables you to learn a bit more about American society, the kind of society that so many American films depict at Christmastime. The thing is that I started thinking about the season and what it entails and I thought of all those people who really wish to forget about Christmas for different reasons and it dawned on me that one of the most effective ways of “skipping Christmas” is by not immersing yourself in that atmosphere created by Christmas films and Christmas songs or carols. You can roam around your town without window-shopping or without paying attention to the Christmas lights and decorations, you can even run away from crowded places that remind you of friends or family gatherings but even at home, you need to switch off the radio, the computer, your smartphone or your TV set if you really want to flee from the festive season because news but above all, music, advertising and films contribute to creating this special atmosphere. There are many ways of celebrating Christmas and I think that we shouldn´t forget about the origin of these festivities regardless of whether we are religious or not but watching films has undoubtedly become another Christmas tradition  which is part of our way of celebrating the festive season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!


 
              The film Christmas with the Kranks is based on Skipping Christmas.

           

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