The Spirit of Christmas and Santa, Jr. (2002)

Christmas comes but once a year.  Unless you are watching movies, that is.  All year round you get movies set at Christmas.  Die Hard was released in July.  Iron Man Three was released in May.  It’s a Wonderful Life was released in January.  And Lethal Weapon was released in March.  All of the movies are set around Christmas and touch upon aspects of the holiday season.  Some more than others, of course.

But the true Christmas movies aren’t movies that are only set at Christmas or around that time of year.  The movies that truly represent Christmas are the ones that get into the holiday spirit.  These are the movies that take their time to lay out everything Christmas related and give off that festive feeling.  Some of them dive into the capitalism that Christmas has come to represent in the modern era.  Many of them simply harken back to the tested and appreciated idea of giving and caring about others.  The holidays are about caring, giving and family.

That brings us to this week’s Sunday “Bad” Movie.  Santa, Jr. is a 2002 movie that is about Christmas spirit and holiday cheer.  When Santa Jr. (Nick Stabile) is arrested for breaking and entering, he spends the days leading up to Christmas under house arrest.  The house belongs to his lawyer, Susan Flynn (Lauren Holly), a woman willing to help out a guy who looks like he needs the help.  Not as willing to help out are Darryl Bedford (Judd Nelson) and Norm Potter (George Wallace), the detectives present during Santa Jr.’s arrest.

The description of the plot in itself describes one aspect of the caring and giving spirit of holidays that everyone has come to know.  Susan Flynn is willing to give her address as Santa Jr.’s when he is put under house arrest.  Most people wouldn’t do this sort of thing.  Santa Jr. could be a serial killer.  He could murder you in your sleep.  He could steal all of your belongings, cut his tracker, and bolt.  You wouldn’t know that if you didn’t know him.  Yet Susan lets him stay in her house.  She isn’t worried.  She just wants to do something good for someone who seems to need the help.  She won’t get anything out of it.  She’s only doing it to be nice.

Susan’s gracious hospitality isn’t the only instance in the movie in which characters do things for other characters without expecting anything in return.  Darryl and Norm were also involved in some selfless acts during the movie Santa, Jr.  With Santa Jr. under house arrest, there was no way that his presents would be delivered on time.  For that reason, or because the officers were under the assumption that the gifts were stolen, they decided to hand the presents out in the police station parking lot.  They put all of their time into handing out presents and they weren’t getting anything for it.  They were simply making people happy.

The flip side of giving and not asking for anything in return is actually personified in Santa, Jr. with the character of Wally Fisk, aka The Christmas Bandit.  He’s a man who has been breaking into houses and stealing all of the Christmas presents just because he wants to be famous for it.  There may be other reasons, but he gets mad when Santa Jr. is arrested because he isn’t getting the credit he deserves.  He is the one character who cares only about himself.  He doesn’t give a gosh darn about what anyone else wants or needs.  He wants fame and presents, and he will go out of his way to get them.  He’ll even find out where Santa Jr. is staying just so that he can hunt him down and take the title for himself.  He’s a selfish bastard.  And he is the perfect counterpart to the overall theme of the movie.

Throughout Santa, Jr., the idea of giving and caring without getting anything in return is built up through the above aspects, as well as a few others.  The concept comes to the forefront with one line near the end of the movie.  “When a person goes that extra mile, and they have nothing to gain, and maybe even something to lose, that’s the Christmas spirit.”  So, it really has almost nothing to do with Christmas.  The Christmas spirit, according to the movie Santa, Jr. is all about helping other people out without wanting something in return.  It’s about giving and sharing and caring, but not receiving.  It’s the same sort of message that gets conveyed through many of the holiday movies that pop up around this time of year.

Many Christmas movies focus on the capitalist, give me everything nature of America.  They point out how greedy Americans are and how they should have everything they want.  Santa, Jr. and the movies like it point out that Christmas isn’t supposed to be about that.  Christmas is not supposed to be about what people do for you.  It’s supposed to be about what you do for other people.  That is a valiant proposal that should be recognized and adhered to.  Does that make Santa, Jr. a classic Christmas movie?  Perhaps not.  It is one that should be watched at some time or another, though, as it does give a more positive spin to the holiday season.  Though set at Christmas, it shows that the Christmas spirit of giving and helping out other people could be a part of any time of the year.  The Christmas spirit isn’t about Christmas.  And that’s an important thing to remember.

That’s a fairly short post in terms of the Sunday “Bad” Movies recently.  But there are some notes that will make it a bit bigger.  Here they are:

• Santa, Jr. was suggested to me by @LastFilmSeen
• Ed Gale made an appearance in Santa, Jr.  He could previously be seen in Tiptoes, Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, and Howard the Duck.
• Other movies about Santa Claus and/or his family include Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and Santa Claus: The Movie.
• What are your thoughts on the Christmas spirit?  Is it more Christmas related than Santa, Jr. makes it out to be?  Is it just a state of mind that could be had throughout the year?  What do you think of the movie Santa, Jr.?  The comments section is open for your thoughts.
• If you have a suggestion for a movie that I should watch for a future installment of the Sunday “Bad” Movies, you can leave that suggestion in the comments.  Or you can find me on Twitter.  Or you can email me at sundaybadmovies@gmail.com
• I’m still trying to get that end of the month bonus post together, covering some of the worst movies of 2014.  What’s a movie that really sucked?  What’s a movie that was deliciously bad?  If interested, email me a paragraph about a movie, or talk to me on Twitter.
• Next week’s movie is going to be Roxanne’s Best Christmas Ever, a 24 minute animated film from 1998.  Never heard of it?  That doesn’t surprise me.  See you then.