12-20-00
My television set has been innundated with a bevy of holiday specials, this being that particular time of year and all, and I have begun to detect a pattern.
A nefarious character who despises Christmas for either a specific (some traumatic event happened to the character at Christmas time, rendering him/her nefarious -- ie: Santa didn't bring him the sled he asked for, his house burned down, etc...) or general (generically despises the holidays through a lifetime of disappointment -- ie: raised in an orphanage with a lack of love at the holidays, and became resentful of the happiness of others) reason seeks to destroy the holiday for others.
This task is attempted on a local (ruin Christmas for one family or a town) or global (take out Santa at the source of Christmas joy) scale.
Some sort of underdog either executes a specific mission to save Christmas (rescues Santa) or a non-specific incident (the holidays continue despite a lack of presents or decorations, a little boy refuses to leave his Grandpa despite the opportunity to live with a rich, bitter Aunt) sparks a change in the nefarious antagonist, filling him/her with holiday cheer.
To whatever end, Christmas is invariably saved, and with little diversion from the above formula, the nefarious character becomes a good person and ends up living happily ever after, filled with holiday joy and love for his/her fellow man.
If only it were that easy.
