Santa, are you there? It's me, Courtney.

So as you may have noticed, there have been a lot of Christmas movies on television lately. But have you ever realized how many movies contain the same exact theme? Let me lay out the plot for you:
A man is convinced he is Santa Claus. He either already possesses a big fat belly and a fluffy white beard, or he grows one overnight (Tim Allen in The Santa Claus). Everyone else (except a few devoted followers) thinks he is insane. He then is either ridiculed, persecuted, or even arrested for his beliefs. Christmas spirit then begins to rapidly decline, things go badly overall, and people's faith in Santa Claus must be restored in order to save Christmas. Oftentimes, "Santa" must perform some kind of Christmas miracle (knowing what random people want for Christmas, making reindeer fly) in order to get a few key people to believe.

Sound familiar?
Who else tried to convince everyone that he was a miraculous figure, was turned away by everyone but a few key people, persecuted, and then came back in the biggest miracle of all to prove to everyone who he really was?

I doubt I even have to say it, but...

Jesus!

Originally, I thought this was pretty bizarre. But then it occurred to me that Santa is in fact a figure of Christmas, which is of course a Christian holiday...so I guess a connection to Christ isn't all that strange.

On the other hand, there are plenty of people on this earth who celebrate Christmas merely because it is a yearly tradition and not because they are actually Christian. I myself am one of these people! After all, some of the best things about Christmas aren't religious at all--being with family, decorating an evergreen tree, giving and receiving gifts, eating, drinking, being merry, and wearing ugly sweaters and pins.

It occurred to me that perhaps the movie studios who make these Santa movies are trying to disguise a religious message in their holiday movies, but then wouldn't using Santa as a metaphorical substitute for Christ be idolatrous?

I suppose it shall remain a Christmas mystery.

Happy Holidays!