Max and the Grinch Light it up

Happy first night of Hanukkah:

My kids are not very much fans of the Grinch. He is more my reference point. 

But I feel like we’ve all been a little grinchy lately, so I thought I should not exclude the green guy from the Festival of Lights.

And pyromania is really the driving force behind my kids’ interest in the menorah, so a little unsafe fire handling seemed appropriate as well. 

And Max the dog was always a highlight, but one didn’t get the sense that he would stand in the way of setting something inappropriate on fire.

Grinch and Gamora

"This green bore is not my friend...."
Or: "Just because we are both green, doesn't mean we have anything in common."

I knew this one was a bad idea from the start, but it went even more wrong than I could have anticipated. 

While I do select what to draw on these napkins with my sons' interests foremost in mind, my own issues about being the mother of two over indulged white boys who consume a lot of mainstream pop culture material creeps into the mix in some not entirely positive ways.

I thought "Guardians of the Galaxy" was a pleasantly entertaining movie, but having watched some of it again recently, (released on DVD and iTunes this week) I am reminded that it suffers from some of the usual gender and racial "insensitivities." As Gamora is the only central female character, and ahem, the only "person of color" in the cast with a large part, she stands at the center of these problems.

In a minor example: one of the biggest laugh lines in the movie as far as my sons were concerned occurs when Drax, a very literal thinker, declares the rest of the Guardians to be his friends.  He says something like, "You, Quill, are my friend. This dumb tree is also my friend. And this green whore is also my friend..." In fact, the only promiscuous character in the group is Star Lord, but Drax refers to him by name rather than calling him more appropriately "this pink whore." While Gamora is "a warrior and an assassin," she is still saddled with a peekaboo outfit and intermittent sexual slurs.

The variously brightly hued people in "Guardians" made me think of the often used invocation of strangely colored people to dismiss the topic of race: i.e. phrases like, "I don't care if you are white, black, yellow or purple..."  This sort of phrase usually comes out of the mouths of white people who are in the midst of claiming that race does not matter to them or to the world at large....( see the blog stuffwhitepeoplesay.com for a clearer discussion of this)  There are a lot of green, yellow, magenta and blue people in the movie... but... they are still mostly white.
 
I am pretty sure that I am not succeeding in conveying the importance of these issues to my sons.  My hectoring just makes them tune out all the more:  "Do your homework! Pick up your room! Brush your teeth! Don't be an insensitive, overentitled, chauvinistic, racist asshole!"

What does all this have to do with the poor Grinch? you might ask.
I am not entirely sure, but I think he might be a victim here as well.

Millie and Tigger Flanked by The Grinch and Rudolph

Millie the dog and Tigger the cat live with our pet deprived children's aunt and uncle.

This napkin was a misguided attempt at a holiday gift for said aunt and uncle.  I figured as long as I was nagging the kids to make holiday cards, I ought to set a good example.  

As you can see, bizarre creepiness ensued.  Of course last year I drew a fruitcake bearing sleigh being pulled by cockroaches for a Christmas present for my mother, so it is perhaps not a surprise that the result this year was also a bit off. (Link to roach/reindeer sleigh here)

Ansel looked at this today as I was finishing it and told me sympathetically that he thought that the Grinch's facial expression was a mistake.  I told him he was absolutely correct... (although there are several other things that also contribute to the image's weirdness...perhaps too many for me to further discuss here. )

Ansel had just finished having a tantrum because he felt he had messed up the drawings on his cards. And thus, I had a wonderful opportunity to model how to behave graciously in the face of drawing failure.

Ansel's much nicer version of Rudolph.

Rudolph, the Grinch, Max and the Abominable Snowman

Ghosts of Christmas Past:

The "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" television special from 1964 (broadcast every year since of course) and "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" (1966 version by Chuck Jones) were certainly staples of my childhood.

Not so much for my sons.   I think they would probably say that both shows are a bit boring.  Not enough weapons, too much plot.

Although I should add  that the most memorable parts of each for me were not the main characters.  My favorite part of The Grinch was always his comically put-upon dog-turned reindeer Max.  And I was somehow terrified by the "Abominable Snow Monster" (could it have been the roar?  it certainly wasn't the face).

I think my kids would probably agree that the supporting characters were the best part.

The Grinch and Vilgax from Ben 10

 

Two of my son's favorites this week: the Grinch and Vilgax from Ben 10 commiserate about being green and promise not to steal Christmas this year.