History Main / DoTheyKnowItsChristmasTime

* Subverted in the ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "Comparative Religion". Shirley plans an overtly religious Christmas party for the group, but learns that the others are all non-Christian. In the end they share a decidedly secular, inclusive holiday together. By attempting to beat the crap out of Star-Burns and his friends.

Compare and contrast with SantaClausmas, EveryoneIsChristianAtChristmas, DidIMentionItsChristmas and SoaplandChristmas. Averted hard by TheGrinch.

* The {{Trope Namer|s}} is "Do They Know It's Christmas?," a charity song by Band Aid. It is certifiably an EarWorm, but it really doesn't have to do much with the trope; the question is whether the poor and starving children in Ethiopia (which was having a famine at the time) knew about the joy and happiness that was their due on Christmas Day. Of course, while their hearts may have been in the right place the Western-centric overtones of this premise was not lost on younger listeners (For instance, while most Ethiopians are Christians, they don't celebrate Christmas the same way, and, being Orthodox, it falls on 7 January; to say nothing of the UnfortunateImplications of a line like "Tonight thank God it's them instead of you"), and so the song was parodied and its premise subverted by "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?," which is what happens when a bunch of (mostly Canadian) indie rockers get their hands on something like this. The UnfortunateImplications were deliberate - the line was there to shock people into realizing that attitude, breaking out of it, and giving. [[AllAccordingToPlan It worked.]]

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' Hogswatch-time fic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5598298/17/Il-se-passait-au-nuit-du-P%C3%A8re-Porcher Il se Passait au nuit de Pere Porcher]]'', where a lot of Christmas conventions and clichés are gleefully sent up, the final chapter is called ''Do They know It's Hogswatchnight in Howondaland?'' The titular BandAid song is spoofed in a Discworld context, through the agency of a character from "Rimwards Howondaland" who is asked this very question. She is from a farming family, and replies using the lyrics of the song...

What happens when StatusQuoIsGod smashes into a ChristmasEpisode. Perhaps no one ever goes to church or mentions a deity the rest of the year, but every now and again, around Christmas, our heroes will be shown the TrueMeaningOfChristmas (it's never presents - well, [[SubvertedTrope not usually]]) and caring, and realize just how lucky they really are. They may even go to a Christmas church service, [[ChristianityIsCatholic probably midnight mass on Christmas Eve]]. At the very least, they attempt to be kinder and more charitable toward those around them, embrace the brotherhood of man, and so forth.

* From a 1965 ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' strip:

* Parodied in [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} "It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown!"]], when Linus basically emotionally blackmails Lucy with this trope.

* Tune in to pop, adult contemporary, or sometimes even rock stations come December ([[ChristmasCreep or November]]), and it's not uncommon to hear vintage ChristmasSongs from artists (pre-1960s pop, MOR, and adult standards artists) that would be laughed off the air at those stations at any other time of the year. To wit: playing artists like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, the Carpenters, Leroy Anderson, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Burl Ives, Gene Autry, Andy Williams, the Ray Conniff Singers, etc. (or even "oldies" rock and roll acts like Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys) would get you fired and blacklisted from the industry if played on a hard/AOR rock station under normal circumstances. But their Christmas stuff tends to get a pass.

* Tune in to contemporary pop stations and sometimes even rock stations come December ([[ChristmasCreep or November]]), and it's not uncommon to hear vintage ChristmasSongs from artists (pre-1960s pop, MOR, and adult standards artists) that would be laughed off the air at those stations at any other time of the year. To wit: playing artists like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, the Carpenters, Leroy Anderson, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Burl Ives, Gene Autry, Andy Williams, the Ray Conniff Singers, etc. (or even "oldies" rock and roll acts like Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys) would get you fired and blacklisted from the industry if played on a hard/AOR rock station under normal circumstances. But their Christmas stuff tends to get a pass.

* Tune in to contemporary pop stations and sometimes even rock stations come December ([[ChristmasCreep or November]]), and it's not uncommon to hear vintage ChristmasSongs from artists (pre-1960s pop, MOR, and adult standards artists) that would be laughed off the air at those stations at any other time of the year. To wit: playing artists like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, The Carpenters, Leroy Anderson, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Burl Ives, Gene Autry, Andy Williams, the Ray Conniff Singers, etc. (or even "oldies" rock and roll acts like Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys) would get you fired and blacklisted from the industry if played on a hard/AOR rock station under normal circumstances. But their Christmas stuff tends to get a pass.

* Tune in to contemporary pop stations and sometimes even rock stations come December ([[ChristmasCreep or November]]), and it's not uncommon to hear vintage ChristmasSongs from artists (pre-1960s pop, MOR, and adult standards artists) that would be laughed off the air at those stations at any other time of the year. To wit: playing artists like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, The Carpenters, Leroy Anderson, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Burl Ives, Gene Autry, Andy Williams, or the Ray Conniff Singers (or even "oldies" rock and roll acts like Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys) would get you fired and blacklisted from the industry if played on a hard/AOR rock station under normal circumstances. But their Christmas stuff tends to get a pass.

* At contemporary pop stations and sometimes even rock stations come December ([[ChristmasCreep or November]]), it is not uncommon to hear vintage ChristmasSongs from artists (pre-1960s pop, MOR, and adult standards artists) that would be laughed off the air at those stations at any other time of the year. To wit: playing artists like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, The Carpenters, Leroy Anderson, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Burl Ives, Gene Autry, Andy Williams, or the Ray Conniff Singers (or even "oldies" rock and roll acts like Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys) would get you fired and blacklisted from the industry if played on a hard/AOR rock station under normal circumstances. But their Christmas stuff tends to get a pass.

* At contemporary pop stations and sometimes even hard rock or classic rock stations come December ([[ChristmasCreep or November]]), it is not uncommon to hear vintage ChristmasSongs from artists (pre-1960s pop, MOR, and adult standards artists) that would be laughed off the air at those stations at any other time of the year. To wit: playing artists like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, The Carpenters, Leroy Anderson, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Burl Ives, Gene Autry, Andy Williams, or the Ray Conniff Singers (or even "oldies" rock and roll acts like Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys) would get you fired and blacklisted from the industry if played on a hard/AOR rock station under normal circumstances. But their Christmas stuff tends to get a pass.

* At contemporary pop stations and sometimes even hard rock stations come December ([[ChristmasCreep or November]]), it is not uncommon to hear vintage ChristmasSongs from artists (pre-1960s pop, MOR, and adult standards artists) that would be laughed off the air at those stations at any other time of the year. To wit: playing artists like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, The Carpenters, Leroy Anderson, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Burl Ives, Gene Autry, Andy Williams, or the Ray Conniff Singers (or even "oldies" rock and roll acts like Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys) would get you fired and blacklisted from the industry if played on a hard/AOR rock station under normal circumstances. But their Christmas stuff tends to get a pass.

* At contemporary pop stations (and sometimes even hard rock stations) in December, it is not uncommon to hear vintage ChristmasSongs from artists (pre-1960s pop, MOR, and adult standards artists) that would be laughed off the air at those stations at any other time of the year. To wit: playing artists like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, The Carpenters, Leroy Anderson, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Burl Ives, Gene Autry, Andy Williams, or the Ray Conniff Singers (or even "oldies" rock and roll acts like Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys) would get you fired and blacklisted from the industry if played on a hard/AOR rock station under normal circumstances. But their Christmas stuff tends to get a pass.

* At contemporary pop stations (and sometimes even hard rock stations) in December, it is not uncommon to hear vintage ChristmasMusic from artists (pre-1960s pop, MOR, and adult standards artists) that would be laughed off the air at those stations at any other time of the year. To wit: playing artists like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, The Carpenters, Leroy Anderson, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Burl Ives, Gene Autry, Andy Williams, or the Ray Conniff Singers (or even "oldies" rock and roll acts like Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys) would get you fired and blacklisted from the industry if played on a hard/AOR rock station under normal circumstances. But their Christmas stuff tends to get a pass.

----

The title of this trope is taken from the Band Aid song, "Do They Know It's Christmas?"--although that particular number belongs under CharityMotivationSong (or, to the more cynically inclined, WhiteMansBurden).

The title of this trope is taken from the Band Aid song, "Do They Know It's Christmas?"--although that particular number belongs under CharityMotivationSong (or, to the more cynically inclined, WhiteMansBurden.)

Averted hard by TheGrinch. Compare and contrast with SantaClausmas, EveryoneIsChristianAtChristmas, DidIMentionItsChristmas and SoaplandChristmas.

Compare and contrast with SantaClausmas, EveryoneIsChristianAtChristmas, DidIMentionItsChristmas and SoaplandChristmas.

What happens when StatusQuoIsGod smashes into a ChristmasEpisode. Perhaps no one ever goes to church or mentions a deity the rest of the year, but every now and again, around Christmas, our heroes will be shown the TrueMeaningOfChristmas (it's never presents - well, [[SubvertedTrope not usually]]) and caring, and realize just how lucky they really are. They may even go to a Christmas service, [[ChristianityIsCatholic probably midnight mass on Christmas Eve]]. At the very least, they attempt to be kinder and more charitable toward those around them, embrace the brotherhood of man, and so forth.

* Anyone who's seen an otherwise sparsely-attended church fill up for Christmas Eve services can attest that this is very often TruthInTelevision. This can also apply, incidentally, with Easter; a church that has been half-full all Lenten season will suddenly burst at the seams with churchgoers on Easter Sunday.

* The ''LoveHina'' Christmas special focuses on Keitaro and Naru trying to meet up with each other while it is still Christmas Eve.
** ...as does the ''MarmaladeBoy'' Christmas episode.
* ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' both upholds and subverts the trope, as the protagonist and his ladylove use the holiday as an excuse to kiss over a christmas cake, while there are scenes of the religious aspect -- a priest and a (very obviously Christian) church are highlighted in one sequence, implying that people in the city were taking in Midnight Mass just before the HumongousMecha attack launched by Kamujin.
* On ''{{Vandread}}'', Hibiki gives Dita the gift of Christmas snow, despite their position on a ship in deep space, by grabbing a chunk off a nearby comet with his Vanguard mecha.

* ''Anime/TheBigO'' episode "Daemonseed" takes place on "Heaven's Day", a day of gift-giving whose origins have been lost to the amnesiac residents of Paradigm City. At the end, Alex Rosewater says, "Tell me, Chief, do you know the real meaning behind Heaven's Day? It's the day God's son was born." Also, a HumongousMecha fights a mutant Christmas tree.
** This could be a subtle subversion, as later revelations about Rosewater indicate he was probably talking about [[AGodAmI himself]].
* More than once in the ''MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' manga, although in the anime, these episodes were all altered to remove the Christmas element. Oddly, the anime still put out Christmas merchandise with the girls in Santa suits.
* ''TokyoMewMew'' had a Christmas episode where Ichigo tries to give Masaya a magical piece of jewelry she got from Zakuro. He ends up in the hospital [[spoiler:after being hit with an exploding Mew Aqua, setting up a plot point that was left unexplained in the manga, so this Christmas episode actually ''means'' something.]]

* ''[[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'' has one of these. [[HeterosexualLifePartners Genma and Soun]] are grumbling about how, in their day, [[LampshadeHanging everyone was still Buddhist and didn't celebrate Christmas.]] [[FeminineWomenCanCook Kasumi]] comes in and asks if everyone is ready for a Christmas ham, leading Genma and Soun to cry, "Hooray for Christmas!"
** Similarly, in the original manga version of ''DominionTankPolice'', Al gives Leona a Christmas gift, which she gladly accepts, though she mentions if her devoutly Buddhist grandfather ever got wind of it, he'd smack her with his boukken.
* ''TokyoGodfathers'', of course, for a unique Japanese Christmas story. It even opens with two of the main characters attending Mass and watching a Nativity scene, and there is a surprising number of allegories to the birth of Christ in itself --the most obvious being the Three Magi.
* ''{{Kamichu}}'' subverts this when the [[PatrioticFervor rather jingoistic and culturally supremacist]] {{Miko}} Matsuri would [[MisplacedNationalism rather it]] ''[[MisplacedNationalism not]]'' [[MisplacedNationalism be Christmas Time]].

* Averted in ''[[{{Film/Babe}} Babe]]'': a bunch of thieves steal half the sheep flock on Christmas Day.

* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'' spoofs the everloving hell out of this one. Most notably, when Death announces that, as the stand-in Hogfather he can teach people "the real meaning of Hogswatch", his assistant Albert helpfully lists the more unpleasant aspects of pagan solstice ceremonies. Death instead resolves to teach people "the ''unreal'' meaning of Hogswatch".
** Also in the Discworld novel "Sourcery," Small God's Eve, when the Archchancellor is elected, is the one day in the year when wizards are not actively trying to kill brother wizards.
* In spite of no one ever mentioning deities or religion of any kind in the highly supernatural world of ''Literature/HarryPotter'', the wizarding world still celebrates Christmas. Presumably this stems from the series being set in [[UrbanFantasy modern Britain]], as well as the author herself [[AuthorAppeal being a Christian]].
** Or rather, that religion is considered a private matter in Britain, and so the characters would naturally refrain from using it to spiel off Aesops.
* Creator/CSLewis was a fairly inclusive fellow. While {{Narnia}}'s creator Aslan is indisputably Jesus Christ as a huge talking lion, the world is also populated with various mythical figures. In later books, we would see Triton, Bacchus, and Silenus and their various nymph daughters tending to parts of the world. But in the first book, many was the child delighted to learn that [[strike:Santa Claus]] Father Christmas visited Narnia as well as Earth for Christmas. The Narnians certainly had no complaints.

* The episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' "Amends," which ends with the heroic vampire Angel being saved from [[spoiler: his Christmas morning suicide attempt by a [[DeusExMachina miraculous]] snow storm (in southern California, for those of you wondering why it's miraculous)]].
** Subverted, the [[strike:people]] gods that caused it, called ThePowersThatBe are an important thing on [[Series/{{Angel}} his own show]].

* ''EastEnders'' is infamous for subverting this trope most years, by turning the [[CrapsackWorld usual tone of the series]] [[UpToEleven up to 11]].

* At the end of the TV movie ''Series/TheHebrewHammer'', the titular Hammer brags to his mother that he's saved Hanukkah, and she isn't at all impressed - it's not like he saved one of the high holy days.

* Subverted in the ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "Comparative Religion". Shirley plans an overtly religious Christmas party for the group, but learns that the others are all non-Christian. In the end they share a decidedly secular, inclusive holiday together.
** By attempting to beat the crap out of Star-Burns and his friends.

* Although the only religious background shown in ''{{Warehouse 13}}'' is Arty and family being Jewish, the show still had a Christmas-themed episode that had a Santa Claus themed villain-artifact creation, but brought everyone together and celebrated the theme of 'family togetherness'.
* Averted in ''{{Misfits}}''. The typical idea of the christmas spirit does not include [[spoiler: killing Jesus (or at least, the man pretending to be him.]]
* ''{{Roswell}}'''s Christmas episode had Max saving a ward of young cancer patients because he was being haunted by the ghost of a man he didn't save. Yeah. He ends up at Mass with - well, everyone.
* ''{{Glee}}'''s Christmas episode of the third season had Rachel, who is very vocally Jewish, greedily demanding Christmas gifts from her boyfriend and eventually learning the "true meaning of Christmas" after having a bible verse about Jesus read to her during a Christmas special the Glee club is shooting. Her Judaism is not mentioned until literal last second of the episode as the camera is pulling away and Rachel throws out a "Happy Hanukkah" that is essentially lost in the shuffle of the other noise going on.

* The {{Trope Namer|s}} is "Do They Know It's Christmas?," a charity song by Band Aid. It is certifiably an EarWorm, but it really doesn't have to do much with the trope; the question is whether the poor and starving children in Ethiopia (which was having a famine at the time) knew about the joy and happiness that was their due on Christmas Day. Of course, while their hearts may have been in the right place the Western-centric overtones of this premise was not lost on younger listeners (For instance, while most Ethiopians are Christians, they don't celebrate Christmas the same way, and, being Orthodox, it falls on 7 January; to say nothing of the UnfortunateImplications of a line like "Tonight thank God it's them instead of you"), and so the song was parodied and its premise subverted by "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?," which is what happens when a bunch of (mostly Canadian) indie rockers get their hands on something like this.
** The UnfortunateImplications were deliberate - the line was there to shock people into realizing that attitude, breaking out of it, and giving. [[JustAsPlanned It worked.]]

* From the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'', the story in which Bungie and Ultra-Man brow-beat the normally aloof Achilles, who's never really experienced a ''real'' Christmas himself, into dressing up as Santa Claus for a local orphanage and handing out presents. It ends with Achilles discovering a gift-wrapped present on his bunk in Guardians headquarters. We never find out who sent it, or what was in it, but it is implied that the gift came from his father.

* While it was played fairly straight in the rest of the episode, one plot-line of the ''JusticeLeague'' episode "Comfort and Joy" involved an alien bar fight.
** That was how [[BloodKnight Hawkgirl]] celebrates her holidays.
* Subversion of the parenthetical note above: ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' had a Christmas short that ended with Dexter and Santa discussing what the holiday's really about. Dexter argues with the usual (family and things like that)... surprisingly, Santa says "No, (it's about) presents."
** This is the same conclusion reached by the kids in "The Spirit of Christmas," the short film that formed the basis of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark.''
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' also subverted the trope in the "Red Sleigh Down" episode; Santa Claus is taken prisoner in Baghdad and Jesus leads a commando mission to rescue him. Santa makes it out alive, but Jesus is shot and killed during the escape, which prompts Santa to give a conclusory speech about how Jesus died for him.

** Going even further back, "The Spirit of Christmas," the original South Park short from before there was a South Park, concludes with "Christmas is about presents."

* The final episode of ''InvaderZim'' entitled "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever" is a highly absurdist Christmas episode, ending millions of years in the future with a monstrous spider-like Santa Claus who returns to Earth having gathered power from being shot out into space by the show's protagonist.

* In the show ''CloneHigh'', Christmas had been replaced by the highly-secularized "Snowflake Day", with "traditional gifts" of hot sauces and a pirate mascot. Joan of Arc learns the True meaning of Snowflake Day from what she suspects was [[strike:an angel]] MandyMoore, but was really a homeless person whose buddies looted her house. (I would recommend not watching the episode if you are offended by gratuitous amounts of blood.)
* ''StaticShock'' had a Christmas episode which dealt with homelessness - Virgil is forced to constantly miss holiday celebrations over a Bang Baby with the power to cause snow storms. Following the advice of his preacher, he tries to see the Bang Baby as a person and realizes that she's just a scared, crazy, homeless girl who never meant to hurt anyone. It all follows up with Virgil, Richie, and their families attending a massive Christian/Jewish/Islamic celebration at the local church. Very touching, although the Hawkins family already was shown to put massive amounts of time and energy into community service and helping others, so yeah...
* Subverted in ''TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' when Spidey tries to use this on Sandman and Rhino.

* Anyone who's seen an otherwise sparsely-attended church fill up for Christmas Eve services can attest that this is very often TruthInTelevision.
** This can also apply, incidentally, with Easter; a church that has been half-full all Lenten season will suddenly burst at the seams with churchgoers on Easter Sunday.

----

* Spoofed in the two Christmas episodes of ''{{Futurama}}'', "An Xmas Story" and "A Tale of Two Santas", in which everyone is terrorized by a robotic SantaClaus who judges everyone as naughty and attempts to kill them. At the end of the second, Fry comes to the conclusion that Christmas does bring everyone together... through fear of death.

* In ''KimagureOrangeRoad'' the Christmas episode involved Kasuga [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong time traveling]] [[ResetButton three times]] in order to create a Christmas Eve meeting that didn't leave either [[LoveTriangle Hikaru or Madoka]] furious at him, due to the [[SeriousBusiness Serious implications]] of a [[WackyMarriageProposal Christmas Eve Date]].

'''Lucy:''' Said what?

* On ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'', there's a DoubleSubversion. Boots asks Dora if Swiper would swipe on Christmas; Dora tells Boots not to let his guard down. She turns out to be right, but once Swiper is told that he just swiped a present meant for Santa, [[SwiperNoSwiping he gives it back, and scampers off in peace]].