Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Okay, Now I Get It

I didn't watch this before because it was connected to a video of Laura Ingraham, and I didn't want to ruin my Xmas spirit (or sour my stomach).  Now that I've watched it, I see that it includes two classic and wholly American idioms:  jazz and tap dance, with black dancers and people dressed in costumes appropriate to the tune:  "Waltz of the Flowers."  The same ballet includes both tin soldiers and dancing sugar plum fairies.  What did they expect?  (Amanda Marcotte tells me this is a jazz rendition arranged by Duke Ellington.  For the record, I listen to hours of jazz Christmas music this time of year.  And I have recordings of some even jazzier versions of this music; but they would be much harder to dance to. This video pleases me no end.)

And not a blood-red tree in sight.  Although Ross Douthat can’t let them go, and, as usual, I have no idea what he’s talking about:
Because neither Christmas trees nor "The Nutcracker" have anything to do with Christianity. Sure, they're associated with the Christmas season (and good thing, too!), but you don't hear Tchaikovsky ballet in church and most churches don't put up Xmas trees in the sanctuary/worship space. So, as usual, Douthat is an idiot who doesn't realize Christendom ended about a century ago.

I do find myself agreeing with Amanda Marcotte:
We are apparently at that point in fascist development where they reject syncopated rhythms as decadent and emasculating.

Who knew "Swing Kids," the 1993 Christian Bale movie about the Nazi ban on jazz, would be so relevant in 2023? This is especially idiotic coming from people who always falsely accuse liberals of waging "war on Christmas." I have yet to see a progressive influencer, much less a liberal New York Times columnist, get angry because someone else is having holiday fun. 

Still, this is a tempest in a Twitter teapot, and it should stay there.  Marcotte references Twitter influencers who have berated this video. I've never heard of any of them.  And, as she points out, I don't get angry because someone else is having holiday fun.  So I'm not going to get angry at someone whose idea of fun is getting mad about other people’s holiday fun. I prefer to stand with Scrooge's nephew, for whom "Merry Christmas" never did him any harm, either.

Besides, what joy did red Xmas trees bring? 

Marcotte makes some good points about gays in art (Tchaikovsky, Billy Strayhorn, who worked on some of these arrangements), but I don't agree with her that we must take these complaints seriously.  If you were supporting Trump, or indifferent to him, before this video, now and this are not the time and reason to change your mind.  Best ignore the brickbats from tiny minds and even tinier voices, and enjoy the holiday joy!

What is Christmas for, after all, if not that?

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1 comment:

  1. The Thought Criminal8:51 AM

    The FOX Lies, Stephen "Goebbeles" Miller objection was racist, impure and simple-minded. It was Black People dancing to music reimagined by a Black genius in what they know their audience sees as the White supremacy House and being outraged by Black People being joyous instead of joyless. That is the FOX Lies brand, that's why the Republicans brought Murdoch here from Britland to reproduce the fascist trend he created in that benighted land after he did the same in Aussiland. Racism is and has always been the primary engine of American conservatism since the earliest days, that hasn't changed.

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