Being a Malaysian, I've had the good fortune to experience many other festivals and celebrations besides my own. And, being a Chinese Malaysian, I get to celebrate two! Awesome.
However, I still, still feel that Christmas is still king, in terms of food, festive mood and overall celebration. The oft-mentioned Christmas mood is infectious, and I have no doubt my fellow Catholics will fell the same. No offense to other religions, races or cultures etc.
Sometimes, however, for some people, Christmas can be...quite a bit of a hassle.
Quite a few people will start moaning when it reaches this holiday season. The main reason? I bet you know: Gift-giving! The long, arduous process of thinking hard what to buy for your long distance nephew's cousin's daughter's uncle's son and hoping that it wouldn't get tossed into the trash can reserved for the "Worst Christmas Present Ever".
Take that, multiplied by about a hundred of uncles, aunts, granddads, grandmums, nephews, nieces, cousins, siblings, in-laws, and you're pretty much looking at very, very long weeks ahead.
Which brings me to...Arthur Christmas.
This post isn't really meant to be a review, but since I found this movie really like-able, I'll talk about it too.
Arthur, the second son of the Claus family (yes, THE Clauses), is a misfit who just tries to do the best he can. Immediately, this made me take a liking to him - read my post on perfection to find out more. Overall, he's a little bland as a hero, but as it is over the rest of the movie, you'll be enjoying things too much to care.
Apparently, the North Pole isn't anything like we know at all. Oh no - they have spaceships now, not reindeer. And big, fancy computers and HOHOs (go google it) and.... Yeah, you get the idea.
But even with all that, a present meant for Gwen, a young girl from Trelew, Cornwall, England (this is a source for many jokes later on in the film), is accidentally dropped, and, as a consequence, missed. Arthur finds out, and is horrified, while Steve, his high-achieving, military-style brother doesn't care: "an insignificant margin of error", and daddy Santa is simply...too sleepy.
So what does a worried young Claus do, with time running out and a present to deliver? Why, he teams up with his granddad and does things...the old-fashioned way. And it gets interesting.
As I've said, I quite liked this movie. It's simple, and doesn't bother with complicated plots or deep thoughts to make the movie interesting. Rather, it entertains viewers with its tongue-in-cheek, but never cheesy dialogue, current-generation references, and a simple yet heartwarming plot that will win hearts all the way. And I really, really love the significant lack of cliches.
So what has it got to do with this post on giving presents?
In the movie, all the Clauses finally learnt something really important: It doesn't matter who gives it, or how it gets there, as long as it gets there. And, if I may add, it doesn't matter what it is too.
Arthur never knew Gwen. All he knew was what these presents meant to the kids out there, and that every child mattered. And he set out with every kind of risk possible to deliver a present to a child he had never met in his life. Sure, you say this is fiction. A children's movie. Find someone like that in the real world.
And I actually agree. It'll be very, very difficult to find someone as kind, as caring for a stranger. However, if the lesson that the Clauses learnt can be put in a different way, it really means it's all about the thought. And we're not talking strangers now: It's your sibling, your relatives, your friends.
So however hard it is, let's spare a thought for all these people out there, eh?
Watch out for the part 2 Christmas special in the coming week.
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