I really dislike Tim Allen and his political views, so to be honest, I really never thought that I would sit down to write about The Santa Clause. But lately, I’ve been needing some oldies, but goodies in order to deal with somethings in my life. To remember good times over bad.
Sometimes the movies that you watched as a kid with your family are the things that you need in order to remember that life isn’t always bad.
And for me – The Santa Clause is one of those movies. It’s a movie that I used to watch with my little brother, back when he thought I was cool.
Divorced dad Scott (Tim Allen) has custody of his son (Eric Lloyd) on Christmas Eve. After he accidentally kills a man in a Santa suit, they are magically transported to the North Pole, where an elf explains that Scott must take Santa’s place before the next Christmas arrives. Scott thinks he’s dreaming, but over the next several months he gains weight and grows an inexplicably white beard. Maybe that night at the North Pole wasn’t a dream after all — and maybe Scott has a lot of work to do.
Do you believe in Santa? I did until I was six. When I was young, I wanted bunk beds so fast and my Dad moved me and my sister from our bed in the middle of the night so him and his friend could put together bunkbeds. I saw him in the middle of the night, walking into my room and the next morning the bunkbeds were there, with a ribbon that said from Santa.
It was the day that I stopped believing.
But the thing about The Santa Clause, is it makes you believe in the spirit of Christmas. It makes you believe that Santa isn’t a person (even though he is in the movie), he’s a feeling and when you really stop to think about it – that’s all we need.
We need hope.
In the movie Scott just wants to be a good Dad. He wants to be the father his son deserves, even though he doesn’t realize that until he activates the “Santa Clause” and has to go through the journey of figuring out who he is and who he isn’t.
The Santa Clause is about believing in people and yourself. It’s about being there for the people that love you. It’s also about loving yourself. It’s about remembering what it was like to be a child, remembering what it’s like to love someone more than yourself, and remembering that circumstances can always change.
It’s about not loosing the love and optimism you felt as a child, and maybe that’s the gift we all need right now. The reminder that there is now and always – hope.