Line #80 Main/SantaClausmas


1	->''"What does UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} have to do with you?\
2	You've got as much to do with Jesus as you do with Franchise/ScoobyDoo\
3	What do you have to do with Jesus?\
4	You have as much to do with him as you do your mother's penis"''
5	-->-- '''Creator/SarahSilverman''', addressing SantaClaus in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gRGMOhslq0 Give the Jew Girl Toys]]"
6
7	A depiction of a religious holiday which centers entirely around its secular trappings, with the actual religion in question not even cropping up casually. In Western media this is primarily applied to the Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter, and occasionally to such Jewish holidays as Hanukkah, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur (as is seen in ''Shalom Sesame'', the Jewish American version of ''Series/SesameStreet''). An especially common feature of CommercializedChristmas, this trope can naturally appear in many other types of holiday-themed works.
8
9	This does reflect TruthInTelevision, as nowadays there are plenty of people from Christian cultural backgrounds who are not particularly religious but still celebrate Christmas and Easter with parties and dinners and gifts and candy and decorations, and even some from non-Christian backgrounds who do the same. As you might expect, this secularized version of holiday observance can come in for occasional backlash, both from those Christians who see it as undermining the TrueMeaningOfChristmas and from those non-Christians who view it as perpetuating Christian cultural hegemony.
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11	In Japan, Christmas was imported as an excuse for local UsefulNotes/KentuckyFriedChicken franchises to sell their product as an "authentic" American-style seasonal tradition. It worked spectacularly, and now a country that is 2% Christian [[UsefulNotes/ChristmasInJapan has a robust Christmas-based economy]], which inevitably means a bevy of Christmas-themed works in Japanese media that have nothing whatever to do with the religious aspects of the holiday. This can be the case even when the characters are Christian-style devils, or the setting involves explicitly non-Christian spirituality.
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13	Compare and contrast EveryoneIsChristianAtChristmas, in which characters who haven't shown any Christian tendencies the rest of the year suddenly celebrate a Christian holiday. Also compare YouMeanXmas, which addresses this indirectly by depicting a lightly-fictionalized version of a holiday in a setting where the actual one couldn't be expected to exist, rather than by portraying it without its religious elements.
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15	----
16	!!Examples
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18	[[foldercontrol]]
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20	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
21	* In ''VisualNovel/KamigamiNoAsobi'', the Gods have a Christmas market. Yes, you read that right - the series' CrossoverCosmology cast puts together a Christmas market. Apollo makes ''melting'' Santa candles. [[AccidentalNightmareFuel Yeah]].
22	* ''Manga/GabrielDropOut'': Vignette, a demon, celebrates Christmas with her friend Raphiel, an angel. Raphi reassures her it's okay to celebrate Christ's birth because in Japan it's just a commercial holiday. Satania, another demon, rushes over to Vigne's place for aid in carrying out one of her asinine schemes on the holy day, but they manage to brainwash her into forgetting about it by tempting her with [[TrademarkFavoriteFood melon bread]].
23	* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' humans are shown to celebrate Christmas even after [[RememberTheNewGuy God was established]] to be a [[OlympusMons Pokémon as well]]. Early on in the anime Misty is shown using a crucifix to try to repel a Gastly but this can be chalked up to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness.
24	[[/folder]]
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26	[[folder:Fan Works]]
27	* ''Fanfic/BaitAndSwitchSTO'':
28	** USS ''Bajor'', commanded by Captain Kanril Eleya, has a 15% Bajoran crew, but even the non-Bajoran crew members are seen taking part in Bajoran religious holidays such as the Day of Remembrance in "Fanfic/ToAbsentFriends". Also used with Christmas in "Fanfic/MistletoeOnMirhassa": LTJG. Kate [=McMillan=]'s father is Reform Baptist, her mother was raised Neo-Norse, and she herself is an atheist; Christmas for her was a way to get her divorced parents to both spend time with her.
29	** {{Discussed}} in passing in "Fanfic/SolaereSsiunHnaifvdaenn". Jaleh Khoroushi, a Muslim, derisively refers to Christmas as a "Christian holiday that got bastardized by big business centuries ago", and is pleased nobody managed to do that to Ramadan.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
33	* Downplayed in ''WesternAnimation/TheGrinch2018'', where some Who carolers singing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", explicitly sing the line which mentions Christ.
34	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'', all the holidays are in their secular forms, though, interestingly, Jack ''does'' refer to God offhandedly twice in "Poor Jack".
35	* On a surface level, played straight in "WesternAnimation/ThePolarExpress"; but Santa Claus is given a more divine presence than usual, and discussions about faith and doubt are clear allegories for those terms as they apply to religion. (Though no specific religion)
36	* Averted with ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess Christmas''. It features more references to Jesus, especially in its songs, than most animated Christmas specials despite being set in a fairy tale land.
37	[[/folder]]
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39	[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
40	* ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' centers around a man who believes himself to be Santa Claus, and his efforts to have himself declared sane in time for Christmas. (While there is a theme relating to the importance of faith, it's not depicted as overtly religious in nature.) The 1994 remake does introduce a couple of religious elements, however.
41	* Unsurprisingly, ''Film/SantaClausTheMovie'' makes Santa's toy-delivering mission the heart of the holiday, to the point where a corrupt toymaker imagines he can upstage Santa with his own gift-giving and call it "Christmas II". While the ''elves'' have a quasi-religious holiday they call Season's Greetings, it appears to coincide with the winter solstice.
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44	[[folder:Literature]]
45	* ''Literature/AngelinaBallerina'''s book ''Angelina's Christmas'' focuses on the holiday as a time of gifts, companionship, belief in Santa Claus (complete with Mr. Bell dressing up as such)--and because the series focuses on dancing, a performance of ''Theatre/TheNutcracker''.
46	* The Whos from ''Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'' celebrate an evidently non-sectarian (albeit warm, caring and good-hearted) version of Christmas.
47	* Creator/CSLewis wrote a couple of essays highlighting the commercialization of Christmas [[OlderThanTheyThink in the 1950s]]. In fact, this actually became a subject for concern very soon after the "old-fashioned" Christmas-as-we-know-it was invented in the 19th century, largely [[NostalgiaFilter as a reaction to the earlier Christmas traditions of getting inebriated, begging door-to-door, and burning stuff]]. The main reason for the commercialization was to center Christmas observance in the home and avoid the property destruction that the holiday caused before, which was one reason the Puritans had banned it when they ruled England.
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50	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
51	* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'':
52	** The several Christmas episodes, on both radio and television, revolve around gift exchanging and spending Christmas eve with loved ones. On other occasions ("Citizen's League", TheMovie GrandFinale) church is mentioned in passing, but isn't noted in the Christmas episode. The specials were; "Magic Christmas Tree" ([[SoundToScreenAdaptation radio and television]]) "Christmas Show 1952" (television), "Department Store Contest" (radio), "Christmas Gift Returns" (radio), and the "Music Box Revue" (television).
53	** The two radio-exclusive Easter specials, deal with Easter Eggs (in "Dying Easter Eggs") and Miss Brooks buying a new dress for the Easter Parade (in "Easter Outfit").
54	* Both averted and played with in ''Series/TheVicarOfDibley''. The title character is obviously well-aware of what Easter actually means, but one of her parishioners (a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}) was never told the truth about the Easter Bunny. When the old woman who usually filled this role dies, the vicar has a ''lot'' of explaining to do.
55	* Having a Christmas-themed episode is common in ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' seasons (which are usually nearing the end of their runs around this time).
56	* Amusingly averted in ''[[Series/KnowingMeKnowingYouWithAlanPartridge Knowing Me, Knowing Yule]]'', when Alan attempts to interview the bell-ringers of Norwich Cathedral.
57	-->'''Alan:''' Christmas, I imagine, a very busy time for bell-ringers?
58	-->'''Woman:''' It is, it's very busy, but it's lovely for us to be able to celebrate, through bell-ringing, the birth of Jesus Christ, our Saviour.
59	-->'''Alan:''' ''[nonplussed]'' Fair enough.
60	* In ''Film/TheGuardiansOfTheGalaxyHolidaySpecial'', Quill's explanation of Christmas apparently didn't include the Nativity at all, as the aliens' song is based on (a warped understanding of) Santa Claus and secular Christmas songs.
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63	[[folder:Music]]
64	* Many if not most of the popular ChristmasSongs from the 20th century and beyond pretty much ignore the holiday's religious elements in favor of lyrics revolving around such topics as Santa, snowfall, reindeer, romance, shopping, partying, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjPm0o04lGE hippopotamuses]], etc. It's probably no accident that most of these songs were actually written by assimilated Jewish-American composers and lyricists.
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67	[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
68	* The Christmas strips of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' concentrate on Calvin's attempts to behave so that he'll get all the presents he asked for. Semi-averted in one strip which has Calvin doubting the existence of Santa Claus:
69	-->'''Calvin:''' Why all the secrecy? Why all the mystery? If the guy exists, why doesn't he ever show himself and prove it? And if he ''doesn't'' exist, what's the meaning of all this?
70	-->'''Hobbes:''' I dunno... Isn't this a religious holiday?
71	-->'''Calvin:''' Yeah, but actually, I've got the same questions about God.
72	** It should be noted that, while God is mentioned by Calvin a couple times in the strip, Jesus isn't.
73	* Besides ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'', the ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' newspaper comic averts this on at least one occasion, in a Sunday strip where Linus once again [[AsTheGoodBookSays reads the Nativity account from Luke]] (this time using the Revised Standard translation).
74	-->'''Linus:''' ''[after the reading]'' [[InternalHomage Like I've said before]], that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown!
75	-->'''Charlie Brown:''' You're right.
76	-->'''Linus:''' So who needs Santa Claus?!
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79	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
80	* In ''Film/ElmoSavesChristmas'', the Easter Bunny sells "Christmas Easter Eggs for Easter". There's nothing religious about any of the episode, whether Christmas or Easter.
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83	[[folder:Web Animation]]
84	* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' has Decemberween, which is basically Christmas combined with every sort of other winter holiday rolled up into one absurdist ball, with Halloween added for good measure. Just what it even entails is largely unknown, but it's said that it becomes a "Dethemberween" when the Decemberween Thnikkaman says "Shut up" to you, and to a lesser extent, gives you a vast variety of presents, from blank media to discount travel packages.
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87	[[folder:Webcomics]]
88	* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''
89	** When Bun-Bun sets out to become the King of All Holidays, he has to kill the previous leaders of the holidays to gain their titles and powers. To gain control of Christmas and Easter, he kills Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, not Jesus.
90	** A later arc implied that Santa, Father Time, and one of Halloween's former patrons were originally [[spoiler: gods of the ancient civilization of Mohkadun. As was Bun-Bun.]]
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Western Animation]]
94	* ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' specials:
95	** While ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' very famously averts this trope, it's played straight with ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheEasterBeagleCharlieBrown'' as well as most of the later Christmas specials.
96	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' paint the Easter Bunny as a disgruntled "hard-boiled" figure who is envious of the big guy's popularity. The 'big guy' being SantaClaus: One episode revolved around all the other holiday mascots kidnapping Santa.
97	* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': Christmas is focused on Santa, who is revered as a deity by the population.
98	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
99	** ''South Park'' plays this straight by making Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo, a Christmas Spirit in the vein of WesternAnimation/FrostyTheSnowman. There is an Easter Episode wherein the secret message behind the Easter Bunny, hidden from you by [[CorruptChurch the eeevul Vatican]], is uncovered.
100	** Actually averted in the shorts that preceded the actual show, where Santa Claus and Jesus try to kill each other over who's the real Christmas deity, [[{{Irony}} only to be presented with the message of what Christmas is about]]. Similarly, a couple of episodes in the main series do allude to the schism between religious Christmas and commercial Christmas.
101	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee'' featured "Juniper's Egg-Cellent Adventure". Here Easter is all about eggs.
102	* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' universe, Christmas (officially known as X-Mas in the future) is less about religion and more about finding a good place to hide from the killer robotic Santa who judges everyone ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg except Zoidberg!]]) to be naughty due to his standards being set too high.
103	* The first ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' Christmas episode does this, focusing on Santa, but the second [[AvertedTrope averts]] it: the babies stumble across a Nativity scene and don't understand what it is, but decide to give presents to the baby Jesus. (They never refer to him or the scene by name, so arguably this is more PlayingWithATrope.)
104	** Also PlayedWith during the show's Passover and Hanukkah episodes: the Biblical stories are recounted, but {{God}} is never directly mentioned, even though the various miracles occur (non-fatally, in the Passover example--a mysterious force is going to "[[NeverSayDie take away]]" the firstborn). There was a normal episode of the show based on Noah's Ark that did the same thing, claiming that Noah was just "told by the Heavens" (or something) of the coming Flood.
105	** This is justified by the fact that Didi and her side of the family are devoutly Jewish, while Stu's side and the other main families don't seem particularly religious; hence why we get retellings of the Biblical stories behind Passover and Hanukkah, but at Christmas we get this trope instead of anything about Jesus.
106	* ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'': The ChristmasEpisode revolves around Santa and Christmas parties, with all the main characters participating. Later in the series one of the main characters is [[InformedJudaism revealed to be Jewish.]]
107	* On ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy,'' when Lois discovers that she's Jewish and wants to put on a Passover seder, Peter objects because it's Easter.
108	-->"In this house we believe in the Easter Bunny! He died for our sins in that helicopter crash..."
109	* Exaggerated with Jazmine from ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks''. She is so young and naive that she believes Christianity revolves around Santa instead of Jesus and she thinks that Christmas is exclusively about Santa.
110	* The ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016'' celebrated Generic Tree Lighting Day in place of Christmas in "You're a Good Man, Mojo Jojo." Odd as in the original series, they had a proper celebration of the holiday in "'Twas the Fight Before Christmas."
111	* ''WesternAnimation/TheBearWhoSleptThroughChristmas'': A Christmas parade, toys in a department store and Santa Claus are present in the special but there's no mention of the religious aspects.
112	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': The denizens of underwater Bikini Bottom don't know about Christmas until Sandy (a land squirrel from Texas) tells [=SpongeBob=] about it. He gets everyone (except [[TheGrinch Squidward]]) in on it, but the there is no mention of Christ and the holiday focuses on stockings, Christmas trees, and most of all, Santa Claus.
113	[[/folder]]
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115	[[folder:Real Life]]
116	* Japan at large practices the commercial holiday of Christmas, but only two percent of the population is Christian. Of course, they practice it [[UsefulNotes/ChristmasInJapan somewhat differently than everyone else]]; one of their popular Christmas traditions is eating UsefulNotes/KentuckyFriedChicken, which is treated as something of a "special event" delicacy in Japan thanks to KFC's marketing and Japan's lack of turkeys. UrbanLegend has it that [[TheThemeParkVersion the image of Santa Claus nailed to a cross]] has been witnessed in Japan at Christmastime unironically.
117	* In the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]], the celebration of the New Year absorbed many elements of Christmas due to the Communist Party banning the latter and (in the 1930s, allegedly at the suggestion of UsefulNotes/JosefStalin's daughter Svetlana) using the New Year's Eve to fill the vacuum. Ironically, this resulted in Christmas customs spreading even to those parts of the Soviet Union that were not Christian, such as Central Asia or Tuva. This tradition stuck even after the USSR collapsed and Christianity was legalized once again: in modern-day {{UsefulNotes/Russia}}, Christmas serves as a more solemn, spiritual holiday, while the Christmas tree, the presents and the local version of Santa Claus continue to be associated with the New Year.
118	* [[http://www.npr.org/2015/12/23/460726559/what-american-muslims-do-on-christmas-new-traditions-emerge This]] Creator/{{NPR}} story describes American Muslims celebrating Christmas, including an amusing anecdote where Iranian-American podcast host Zahra Noorbakhsh said that as a girl she conflated a description of Santa Claus with images in Iranian textbooks of Ayatollah Khomeini. For the record, Islam considers Jesus a prophet of the same line as Muhammad, and Literature/TheQuran has an entire chapter devoted to Mary that includes the nativity narrative. However, Muslims believe that Jesus was a man and do not place a particular importance on his birth, hence the lack of a Christmas tradition.[[note]] Muslims do have an equivalent of a religious figure's birthday celebration: Mawlid, which celebrates the birth of UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad. However, Mawlid is neither religiously mandated nor universally celebrated and has become rather controversial these days, especially among purists, because, again, Muslims consider Muhammad just as human as any other person.[[/note]]
119	* As noted in the trope description, some nonobservant Jewish families celebrate a family gift-giving and love-sharing holiday on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day instead of during Hanukkah, the logic being that one holiday night is easier to arrange than eight--and if you're not religious, which day you do it on is moot anyway. These celebrations may often include Christmas trees and ornaments, Christmas wrapping paper, a turkey feast, and other festive touches that are essentially evoking this trope.
120	* While some Christian fundamentalists can be heard complaining about Christ being omitted from Christmas, there are also a variety of strict Biblicist churches which reject the religious observance of holidays. Some (such as the Jehovah's Witnesses) don't celebrate them at all, while others celebrate Christmas (and Easter, and a few others) as purely secular holidays.
121	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SantaClausmas