The O.C.

The holiday season is different for everyone. What you and your family celebrates might have a long tradition, or might have no tradition, or maybe it's ever evolving.  The correlation between religious beliefs and holiday rituals has become more and more blurred as commercialization has permeated the holiday landscape.  Mostly, there is a lot of gift-giving, a lot of shopping, office parties, excess drinking, and time with the family (sometimes needed, sometimes unwanted).  On television, there are two brave TV shows that have chosen to buck the conventional rituals and traditions of Christmas and the schmaltzy “holiday episodes” that every single eighties sitcom aired once a year.  On The OC, Seth Cohen gave us Chrismukkah and on Seinfeld, Frank Costanza brought us Festivus.  Today, once and for all, we look to answer the question that has plagued our society for roughly five years: Which is the better TV holiday – Festivus or Chrismukkah?

Main Tenets:

Chrismukkah – 8 days of gifts, followed by one day of many gifts; displaying both a Christmas tree and a Menorah; spending Christmas day watching rented movies and eating Chinese take-out.

Festivus – The erection of the Festivus Pole (no decorations or tinsel - it's distracting); the Airing of Grievances over dinner, in which attendees systematically explain how each of the others at the table has disappointed them over the past year; the Feats of Strength, in which the head of the household must be wrestled to the ground. 

True Meaning:

The debate of Chrismukkah vs. Festivus is really a personal referendum on your feelings about the holiday season.  If you still believe in the purity of the holiday season, if you believe in unity and peace and harmony, then Chrismukkah is the holiday for you.  If you have grown tired of the commercialization of Christmas, and you are a pragmatic, non-whimsical person, if you are staunchly anti-establishment, then Festivus is more up your alley.

You see, Chrismukkah wants to make the two biggest December holidays bigger, better, and more inclusive.  It is a soulful, caring time, that is not interested in the religious aspects of the holidays, but the communal, familial goodness that is supposed to be the greater result of the entire holiday season.  It is an optimistic, idealistic and heart felt attempt at holiday synergy.

Festivus aims to drop kick any and all holiday conventions.  It wants to strip the artificial nature of the holidays away and show the family unit as it is – primal, combative and constantly at odds.  It spits in the face of commercialization, kicks happy traditions in the shins and brings everyone into its fold without a facade.  Festivus comes with no apologies, no decorations, no holding back. A true Festivus celebration will end in awkwardness, anger, and possibly tears. 

Verdict:

Lest I allow you, dear reader, to peer deep within the recesses of my soul, I cannot tell you which holiday I prefer.  I have dabbled in both (metaphorically speaking) and there is no verdict I can confidently smack my gavel to.  Whether you prefer to have nine days of presents or keep a metal pole in your crawl space says a lot about a person and, frankly, I'm not ready to make a commitment either way.  Chrismukkah is certainly more fun, and who doesn't like presents, but Festivus encompasses the sort of renegade spirit I enjoy and respect.  The Feats of Strength would destroy me (I'd stand no chance against my father), though I would love to air my grievances – it seems like it'd be a nice, sort of spiritual cleansing. 

I can't decide.  What say you, BuddyTV readers?  Festivus or Chrismukkah?


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of NBC)