Celebrities Commercializing Christmas
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Sandra Bullock talked to Access Hollywood about her and her 23 month old son’s upcoming First Christmas. She joked of how he was going to get nothing so that he wasn’t spoiled. As I read this part of the article, I thought “Finally! celebrities who are somewhat normal!” Upon reading further, Bullock went on to say “I want the photo ops to be really great because he's not going to remember it.” The article then said that Bullock had purchased life-sized stuffed animals and play toys. Not only did she purchase the toys, but she found the need to purchase Louis an Andy Warhol painting (for $14,000) and two paintings by artist Patrick Roberts. Jay-Z and Beyonce even bought outrageous gifts for one another. They spent over a million dollars on each of their vehicles, trying to impress other celebrities during their Christmas shopping.
With gifts like these, kids who follow celebrity gossip are expecting more from their parents. And with an economy like that in the United States, parents aren’t able to give them all that they want during Christmas. Society has forgotten what Christmas was meant for. Everyone spends all their money and effort on gifts. The Grinch put it best in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, “That's what it's all about, isn't it? That's what it's always been *about*. Gifts, gifts... gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts. You wanna know what happens to your gifts? They all come to me. In your garbage.”
It’s traditions like those of Melissa Joan Hart where her family ALWAYS has a ugly holiday sweater party. Or even Teri Hatcher, who bakes Gingerbread Houses with her daughters every year just so she can spend time with them. These traditions are those that our society has a collective memory of. Those that are about bonding with friends and family.
How much do people really care about their Christmas gifts by the end of January? How much re-gifting is done for the next Christmas? Our memory and understanding has shifted so greatly in the last decades. Christmas was a time where family gathered together over dinner and created memories. Now, it’s about kids opening mounds of presents on Christmas morning and family members competing with others on who gives the best presents. My guess would be that Sandra Bullock would win that competition. We need to go back to the collective memory of so many older people who remember a Christmas where it was about friends and family. Lou Lou Who got it right, “You can't hurt Christmas, Mr. Mayor, because it isn't about the... the gifts or the contest or the fancy lights.”
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-moms/news/sandra-bullock-giving-louis-a-r...