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| - What is the True Meaning Of Christmas? A common, yet ambiguous theme in Christmas Specials (episodes, films, stories, etc.), usually answered with An Aesop. In fiction the "True Meaning of Christmas" is often (though not always) "better to give than to receive." That is the most common Aesop, especially in kid's shows, but also sitcoms, etc. We've Seen It a Million Times and it's often lampshaded with those exact words when Mr. Exposition sums it all up at the end. Christmas in Japan is different. Examples of True Meaning of Christmas include:
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| abstract
| - What is the True Meaning Of Christmas? A common, yet ambiguous theme in Christmas Specials (episodes, films, stories, etc.), usually answered with An Aesop. In fiction the "True Meaning of Christmas" is often (though not always) "better to give than to receive." That is the most common Aesop, especially in kid's shows, but also sitcoms, etc. We've Seen It a Million Times and it's often lampshaded with those exact words when Mr. Exposition sums it all up at the end. However, the most memorable and popular of "Christmas specials" almost always have a different "True Meaning of Christmas" For example:
* A Charlie Brown Christmas went with the Biblical True Meaning of Christmas: a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
* Its a Wonderful Life is about how people's lives can touch one another, and people can change the world for the better. The countless incarnations of A Christmas Carol typically feature this message, as well.
* Miracle On Thirty Fourth Street also seems to avoid the "better to give than to receive" Aesop in favor of the power of faith/belief.
* Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is an Aesop about tolerance and/or acceptance (see All of the Other Reindeer).
* A Christmas Story is about the joy of a child at receiving gifts, and the memories of being with family. Those are probably the five "staple" movies of the Christmas season, in that they get shown year after year after year (on an endless repeating loop too). Yet none of them uses the most common "Christmas special" Aesop. You may have also heard the True Meaning of Christmas is being with your loved ones, worshiping Jesus, shopping, worshiping Odin, worshiping Mithras, having an orgy, praying for winter to end, or using holiday traditions (most of which you've appropriated from other religions) to lure people into converting to Christianity (starting with the people from whom you've appropriated those traditions so that they lose nothing by converting, and eventually moving on to kids of other religions whose childlike materialism makes them jealous because they don't get visited by your annual gift-giving mascot). Sometimes it ends up being used as a synonym for world peace or The Power of Love; it may not even be defined, but it has the same magical effect. Christmas in Japan is different. Examples of True Meaning of Christmas include:
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