Christmas – and liberalism – doesn’t come from a store. The Grinch can be a reminder of that, and more |
Zak Black is an Ottawa-based writer.
“If there is a more wholly satisfying half-hour of entertainment to be had in our dark world, I’d like to know what it is,” wrote New York Times critic Charles Isherwood in 2006. The world is even darker now than it was when he expounded on the 1966 TV version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but Dr. Seuss’s story of a woolly green grouch and his obnoxiously festive neighbours remains a warm light in a cold and uncertain season.
The Grinch offers a compelling double promise. First, that even those with garlic in their souls can be persuaded that we’re right to be cheery; and second, that we would have cause to celebrate even without our material comforts – our checkerboards, tricycles, popcorn and plums.
It’s not clear that we’ve made good on these promises. The Grinch has slithered and slunk his way into the holiday catalogues of Pottery Barn, Hallmark and Williams Sonoma. You can get Grinch Crocs, or a make-up bag declaring the Grinch to be your spirit animal. McDonald’s has issued a warning to the “Who’s of Canadaville” that the Grinch is back with something called “the Grinchiest Meal.” With remarkable success and an apparently total lack of shame, we’ve commercialized Dr.........