Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday; it has all of the best things including food, family and football. But what has Thanksgiving morphed into due to our commercialist culture? Thanksgiving is now the preface to Christmas, characterized by store frenzies, movie marathons and over-the-top decorations.
Our society has let it become normal to start celebrating Christmas, as well as advertising for it, well before Thanksgiving. You see the Christmas decorations and gifts already on display in the stores, hear about people already composing their perfect Christmas lists, and you might even be roommates with someone who plays Christmas music while studying — but wait, it’s not even Thanksgiving. What?
It seems like there are two kinds of people: the people who think Christmas festivities need to wait for after Thanksgiving, and the people who think spreading Christmas cheer is acceptable, because who doesn’t love Christmas? The capitalist side of the our society is pushing for Christmas to start earlier to increase profits, but Thanksgiving is a holiday worth celebrating without any traces of Christmas in sight.
Thanksgiving is one of the only holidays that hasn’t become commercialized, and I think this is largely because of its values. It’s about taking a moment to step back from our hectic lives and realize how blessed we are for everything, tangible and intangible, that we have. It’s not about dressing up like it is for Halloween, it’s not about drinking like it is for many celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, it’s not about feeling pressured to buy things for others like it can be for Christmas or Valentine’s Day. Thanksgiving, for the most part, has remained pretty level-headed compared to a lot of the other holidays. And for that, I’m thankful.
It’s really quite ironic that the holiday of Thanksgiving has become juxtaposed with the impromptu holiday of Black Friday, the one the day of the year that epitomizes the commercialism of Christmas. This only lessens the time to focus of the values of Thanksgiving because there’s such a dramatic shift between the two days. One day you’re sitting around the table enjoying pumpkin pie and talking about your family and friends, and then next you’re shoving people over to get that last new electronic or J.Crew sweater in a size small. Unlike other holidays, you don’t get the chance to phase out of the holiday, so to speak. So you really need to appreciate Thanksgiving for all it’s worth when you can.
I can see why everyone feels the desire to start celebrating Christmas early; it is one of my favorite holidays, and the atmosphere of Christmas is surely one that comforts and brings happiness. But I also think that it’s important to not jump the gun and overlook the holiday of Thanksgiving. There needs to be more of a compromise between the two holidays, and less Christmas displays and Santas in malls when it’s still November. When you’re eating your turkey this Thanksgiving, remember to focus on what the holiday really means, and don’t get too caught up in the month to come.
