Thanksgiving: Stupid?
Of all the American holidays, Thanksgiving occupies the biggest space in our culture without having anything much to occupy it with. I don't know that for sure, of course. Even Christmas or Easter have very few traditions that are common to all Americans. Christmas has something with Santa and Jesus and presents... but beyond that, you're free to insert your own, weird, old-country heritage. Thanksgiving is a relatively recent, secular holiday. There shouldn't be people who celebrate Thanksgiving in unusual ways, any more than there are people who celebrate the 4th of July in unusual ways. If you celebrate it, you're celebrating it as an American, with traditions that should be open to anyone and endemic in our culture.
And what do I see? On Thanksgiving people cook a turkey and eat it, often with their families. Sometimes they watch football, but they were going to do that anyway (or not, if they are like me). There's also the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which I am absolutely certain that nobody watches. The president pardons a turkey, too, which always seems to be the highlight of George Bush's year.
And-- and that's about it. Not that all this doesn't make Thanksgiving a more special day than usual, but no more unusual than any Sunday. People eat a big meal. Everything that happens on Thanksgiving happens on Christmas too, and more. Thanksgiving, like Flag Day, is a strictly inferior holiday. But lord how it is hyped. Do we really need 5 days of newspaper comics that are all about how much this character loves turkey? Unless it's a big holiday like Christmas or Halloween, the comics page usually doesn't start with the jokes until the day before.
Thanksgiving has become the official holiday of fall, even where other seasons don't get their own holidays. Look at any children's fall clip-art collection, and there it is: Turkeys and Pilgrims and cornucopias, like autumn was just a big run-up to Thanksgiving. It's just not a big deal, my friends. Turkey doesn't even taste good. It tastes like soap.
And what do I see? On Thanksgiving people cook a turkey and eat it, often with their families. Sometimes they watch football, but they were going to do that anyway (or not, if they are like me). There's also the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which I am absolutely certain that nobody watches. The president pardons a turkey, too, which always seems to be the highlight of George Bush's year.
And-- and that's about it. Not that all this doesn't make Thanksgiving a more special day than usual, but no more unusual than any Sunday. People eat a big meal. Everything that happens on Thanksgiving happens on Christmas too, and more. Thanksgiving, like Flag Day, is a strictly inferior holiday. But lord how it is hyped. Do we really need 5 days of newspaper comics that are all about how much this character loves turkey? Unless it's a big holiday like Christmas or Halloween, the comics page usually doesn't start with the jokes until the day before.
Thanksgiving has become the official holiday of fall, even where other seasons don't get their own holidays. Look at any children's fall clip-art collection, and there it is: Turkeys and Pilgrims and cornucopias, like autumn was just a big run-up to Thanksgiving. It's just not a big deal, my friends. Turkey doesn't even taste good. It tastes like soap.
posted by apk01004 at 2:06 AM
1 Comments:
We'll talk about this later.
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