Violent Night

What is it with genuinely shitty families at the heart of Christmas movies, yes I’m talking about you, McCallisters.

I love Christmas. I love presents, I love giving. I love the spirit of Christmas. So I guess it might not make sense that a movie which is really about Santa beating the stuffing out of people, as opposed to enjoying turkey stuffing, brings me joy.

Let’s break it down. Santa is struggling. This is incredibly on point. Christmas has become such a grab for stuff that people have forgotten the joy of giving. Santa staring at the list for cash cash cash is so reflective of the focus of society. People want. The news stories are about extended trading hours, top presents and average household present budget. This is not the spirit of Christmas, this is the spirit of rampant consumerism. Santa no longer has a place, no wonder he can be found in some bar drowning his sorrows, or steeling himself for the rest of the miserable night ahead. A night of greed, entitlement and lack of gratitude.

To be fair I may have read one too many AITA reddits lately.

So many people are just so damn entitled these days. I want, you owe me, you have so you should give it to me, just because I didn't earn it shouldn't mean I can't have it. People want and they want some more, it’s about the accumulation of material things, when it should be about the accumulation of memories. And Santa must feel that, so of course this one is depressed as fuck.

Like any good Christmas movie there is always someone who believes - the true believer. In this case our true believer comes from a very dysfunctional and incredibly wealthy family. A family in fact that is full of arrogant, miserable, entitled wankers who must contribute something but for the love of me I couldn't figure out what it was.

There must be something bah humbug in a Christmas movie and this is our bad guy, code named - Scrooge. In this instance Scrooge is representative of so many in society.

It must be nice for those of you who think that attitude is not the norm. Again we come back to me - in this case my job, dealing with criminals. I see so many people like Scrooge, it makes one rather cynical.

This Scrooge wanted what someone else had so he thought he should take it from them - in his mind he was more deserving. That is the entirety of his origin story. He didn’t earn it but why should someone else have it, it doesn’t matter that they might have earned it. Sure the family at the heart of this dysfunction certainly didn’t earn it, they are pretty awful, but that’s no reason to kill a child.

That’s what motivates our Santa to get involved, that one true believer. Oh and survival instinct. I would suggest the bad guys find out a bit more about who they're trying to kill just in case it happens to be a Viking Warrior. (Oh and I so much would love that origin story fleshed out). Some things lay hidden until that floodgate is forced open.

This is a redemption arc tale for Santa (as he remembers there are still some children out there who deserve a gift from Santa), and maybe for the Lightstone family, though I’m less convinced that will stick.

It’s a nice thought though. The idea that one person’s faith can change the attitudes and behaviours of those around them. That a little bit of good will can spread and breathe life into a concept or idea that really matters. See Santa isn’t about the getting, it’s about the giving.

So many people seem to have forgotten several important truths about life:

1. Life isn't equal for everyone

2. You won’t get everything you want (if it was I’d have sold millions of books and wouldn’t have to work in a job that screwed up my mental health)

3. You’re not entitled to something just because someone else has it.

Christmas is a hard time of year for many. Not everyone enjoys it, not everyone can afford it, to be blunt. But I won’t deny the fact that the idea of a Santa who beats the snot out of people who want to ruin Christmas for others purely because of their own selfish gain makes me rather happy.

Having said that those, like the Lightstone’s who are obscenely rich and flaunt it in front of others and treat those with less like dirt, really could do with more than a little blood on their faces as they get some kind of reality check. As things go they really got off rather lightly. The money they burnt at the end is an amount that could change lives and instead they won’t really even miss it.

Maybe Santa let them off a little too easy. Despite this, Violent Night will definitely make it on our regular Christmas movie rotation.