| abstract
| - NC: Hello, I'm the Nostalgia Critic, I remember it so you don't have to. Happy Thanksgi– NC (vo): Christmas! NC: Okay, we're doing Christmas now. Because Thanksgiving is just the stepchild that nobody wants to pay attention to anymore, even though they're family! NC (vo): Don't worry, Thanksgiving. NC (vo): One day your fairy god-turkey will come... NC: ...and make you so popular that we'll start putting out... NC (vo): ...Thanksgiving decorations in September. NC: Though, of course, we'll have to move Halloween decorations to August, because... NC (vo): ...we already have September to start setting those up, because, shit... NC: (raising his voice) ...WE ONLY HAVE UNTIL THE END OF OCTOBER TO GET READY FOR THAT! (beat) Is everyone looking at their calendars upside-down? NC (vo): Why do we never celebrate the appropriate holiday in the appropriate amount of time? NC: Now, don't get me wrong, I know it's all subjective. There's no official (makes finger quotes) "rule book" for any of this. NC (vo): In fact, the dates attached to many of these holidays are usually several days, if not several weeks, off from when they were originally supposed to be celebrated. NC: (angrily pointing to camera) But you know what I'm talking about: Christmas decorations... NC (vo): ...being put out the same time as Halloween! NC (vo): Thanksgiving being forgotten between two other holidays! NC (vo): More holidays being made up just so companies can sell more products! NC: Something weird is going on, and we need to figure out if this is a good thing or a bad thing. (beat) Okay, it's a bad thing, but let me explain why. NC (vo): For years, most people celebrate the classic holidays around the same time-span: a few weeks, or usually a month preparing for the special occasion. You can tell this by how many people associate the month with a holiday: February's a time for Valentine's Day, March is a time for St. Patrick's Day, April's a time for Easter, etc. But somewhere down the line, we didn't just enjoy these holidays, we got super-obsessed with it. NC: If holidays were people, we'd be fucking stalkers! There'd be restraining orders out on all of us! NC (vo): So is it the marketing teams that say the earlier we get this out, the more products we can sell and profit from? Well, yeah, but there's a little bit more to it than that. NC (vo): Every holiday is going to have a different reception, ranging from slight to extreme. NC (vo): It's unlikely you'll celebrate Christmas with the same amount of excitement you'll have for Presidents Day. NC (vo): Though I'm sure there's a few out there. NC: But the major ones I mentioned before have gone to simple, nice moments with family to extreme access. NC (vo): We're more excited for these holidays now than we've ever been before. NC (vo): Companies wouldn't force these holidays on us so early if we weren't buying them up so early, so the buyers and the sellers are feeding into each other. NC: So naturally, that raises the question: "Why have we become so obsessed?" NC (vo): Okay, I know I shouldn't talk, with my slight fixation over a certain holiday... NC: Save it. NC (vo): But even I know that some of these holidays are getting so big that they're overlapping over totally fine ones. NC (vo): Why is Thanksgiving becoming more and more overlooked, especially with more and more... NC (vo): ...stores staying open and thousands of people waiting in line... NC (vo): ...instead of eating a family meal? NC (vo): You could argue it's consumerism gone mad, and in some cases, it has. Anything that can be exploited for profit will. NC (vo): But we feed into it not just because we like materialism, though, again, it does play a big part... NC: ...but because... I don't know if you've noticed... (leans in close; sotto voce) we're kind of on a big nostalgia kick. (Cut to a montage of movie posters for The Smurfs, X-Men: Days of Futures Past, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel) NC (vo): Movies, merchandise, songs... we've become focused on reliving the happiest parts of our childhood. NC (vo): It went from underground hipster talk to big, big bucks. (Cut to a shot of a pair of men cosplaying as the Wet Bandits from Home Alone) NC (vo): We love to relive those happy, innocent times over and over and over. NC (vo): Is this a bad thing? It can be if you glorify the wrong areas. NC (vo): But you could always look at it as, we're trying to figure out what made us so happy in the past and use it more in our everyday lives. NC: Remember when Christmas and Halloween were just seen as kid stuff? (Cut to a shot of a group of people all dressed as the cast of Gilligan's Island for Halloween) NC (vo): Well, now adults love it. It reminds us of that special feeling we got as children, and now we can pass it on to our children. NC (vo): But on top of that, by trying to reclaim those carefree times, many more people are becoming carefree in real life. NC (vo): Adults 50 years ago didn't really dress up for Halloween, but now, plenty of adults do, and with great technique. Now, does this mean we've gotten so uptight that we're craving our carefree ways, or have our carefree ways made us less uptight? NC (vo): It's probably something everyone can answer a little differently, but it does explain why we have such a hard-on for the holidays that gave us the most memorable childhood memories. NC: The downside is, we are connecting it too much to the holidays and not to our normal state of being. NC (vo): We want Halloween and Christmas to come early because we like what we do and who we are around those times. So it just makes sense to celebrate earlier and earlier. NC: I guess it's not bad, but how about this idea: try doing the things you want to do and being the person you want to be any day. NC (vo): You don't need a date to be nice people. Go donate to charity or find a friend in need. NC (vo): You don't need an excuse to make awesome costumes or projects. Hell, there's a ton of conventions every year dedicated to people who celebrate their personal likes, and they do so by building incredible things. There's people that go out on the streets, make videos, do all sorts of things with incredible creations because... they just like it! Why wait for a holiday? They can do this shit right now! NC (vo): You don't need a certain time to come earlier to feel better; just do the same thing every other day. NC (vo): The holidays are supposed to be reminders of what's wonderful in the world. Christmas is a reminder of how important it is to care, Valentine's Day reminds us of how important it is to love, Thanksgiving reminds us of how important it is to be thankful, and Halloween reminds us of how important it is to stir things up a bit. We go overboard with celebrating them because we want to show how much we treasure these values, which is fine, but we're not bound to do them only during the designated shopping days. Hell, if I'm in a down mood, I'll sometimes put on a Christmas CD, even if it's long after Christmas. I do it because those songs are about peace and harmony, and those are worth enjoying, even after the holiday is over. They're values that still work even if it's not the 25th of December. NC: So, are we gonna keep celebrating holidays at strange times? Probably, but it's not about when it starts, it's how long you keep it going. NC (vo): Hell, even more holidays are getting recognitions, celebrating even newer values, but as always, the idea is not to help create a holiday, but rather a better life... NC (vo): ...doing things you that should be trying to do every day. NC (vo): Well, except maybe St. Patrick's Day. You know, be an alcoholic. NC (vo): But you get the idea: let the holidays be a reminder to do great things, not permission. NC (vo): Instead of extending their message another month, why not practice it the whole year? NC (vo): Who knows? The more you praise how much you value the great things in life, the more you might actually start to value it all the time. NC: I'm the Nostalgia Critic; I remember it so you don't have to. (gets up from his chair and leaves)
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