Creative Rebellion Against
Christmas Commercialism
By James Donahue
Dec. 15, 2005
Ever since Aaron
C. Donahue suggested it on his radio show, the concept of killing Santa as a public form of rebellion against the ugly
commercialism of Xmas has been making headlines and even breaking into the national television media.
The first vision was
that of a hanging Santa, with a blindfold and his hands tied, in a tree in Florida that made Channel 6 television news in Florida.
Since then the story has spread across the country.
A New York image shows an evil Santa with a bloody knife in his hand and someone’s head
in the other hand. Dolls with their heads cut off clutter the ground around him.
Another Santa is depicted
with knives buried in both eyes and blood draining down his face
And this week we found
the lighted image of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer hanging by the neck from a tree, with blood dripping from the animal’s
dead body. Rudolph is hung as a hunter hangs his prey following a kill. He is being field dressed for the butcher’s
block.
All of this is great
fodder for the media, and horrifying for the zombies that fail to get the joke.
For the rest of us, the
images are keeping us in stitches. It has been a merrier than usual holiday this year for this reason alone. The other good
thing has been the battle among retailers on just what to wish customers that enter their stores. Do they say Merry Xmas,
or Happy Holiday?
Why not just say Hi?