EDITORIAL: When Is the Right Time to Start the Christmas Season?

Opinion posted November 8, 2020 in CommRadio, Arts & Entertainment by Jade Campos, Nicholas Mancuso

DISCLAIMER: You are reading editorial content. The views and opinions in this article are that of the author and are not necessarily representative of CommRadio.

With Halloween now in the rearview mirror, the eternal yearly argument rages on: Is it time to turn up the Christmas music and get into the holiday spirit? Or should we wait for Thanksgiving to come and go before doing so? Jade Campos and Nicholas Mancuso make their arguments for each side.

FOR:

Ah, it’s the best time of year.

The leaves are falling, the air is becoming crisp cold, and the countdown to Christmas begins.

You may be asking yourself, well, what about Thanksgiving? Genuinely, I really love Thanksgiving. I have so many memories of staying up late the night before, making food with my family that would be ready to pop into the oven on Thanksgiving Day.

I love the food, I love the fall leaves, I love the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the dog show. Unfortunately, though, besides the two specials that specifically take place on the holiday, there really isn’t any music or movies to indulge in leading up to the holiday.

It’s a sad reality of the holiday considering there are so many Halloween- and Christmas-specific movies and music that exist. However, I need something to get myself in the festive spirit, so you can definitely find me listening to Christmas music on Nov. 1.

Not only is Christmas music a reminder of one of the best holidays of the year, but most of it is genuinely great. If I could, I would listen to Christmas music year round, because songs like “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” are extremely well-written and catchy. It’s just good music.

However, there is a huge social stigma surrounding listening to Christmas music outside of the holiday season, as was kindly pointed out by my older sister when I was 8 years old. So, since there’s such a limited time to enjoy listening to Christmas songs and watching Christmas movies, why not take advantage of all the time you have?

I don’t see it as skipping over the Thanksgiving festivities, as it’s more so about combining the two holidays into one giant season of celebration.

Even with all of the Christmas music and movies, I really wouldn’t be feeling the holiday spirit if Thanksgiving never happened. For me, it’s all a part of the “best time of the year,” and I should be allowed to celebrate appropriately.

The anger surrounding Christmas music “before” Christmas has never made sense to me. The holiday is literally a part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which happens before most people have actually sat down for a slice of turkey. So, doesn’t it make sense that the two holidays should be celebrated together?

Also, where is the anger for a holiday like New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day? By the time they roll around six days after Christmas, most people still have their lights up and are taking in their last breath of movies and music while they can. Like Thanksgiving, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the New Year.

It’s not just about a single day of the year or a couple of weeks It’s about the entire holiday season. Since coming to college, I’ve found myself really pressed for time with finals in the first few weeks of December, so I’ve had less time to listen to Christmas music throughout November and December.

As a result, each year feels a little less and less like Christmas, and the few glimpses I get of Christmas music are just my tiny efforts to retain the magic I had as a kid through adulthood.  —Jade Campos

AGAINST:

Halloween is a time for tricks and a time for treats, for kids and grownups to dress up and go out to enjoy their nights, whether it be trick-or-treating or having some quality time with friends.

Nov. 1 rolls around, and Christmas music decks the ears of listeners with boughs of holly before they can take down their inflatable Frankensteins or skeleton decorations from their front lawns.

Christmas is arguably one of the best times of the year with all of the movies like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” or “The Year without a Santa Claus” and music that warms the hearts of listeners like a marshmallow in hot chocolate.

It’s no wonder why the holidays are normally rushed to immediately after Halloween. But let’s not forget that they are not as far away as they seem.

There is no other holiday that has its music played almost two months before it starts. There aren’t people listening to Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash” on Sept. 1, but on Nov. 1, Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” can be heard from every other house on the street.

Before turning on Spotify and fa-la-la-la-laing to Michael Bublé’s album “Christmas,” don’t forget about Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving doesn’t give people that same serotonin rush as the holiday season tends to, but it’s a time for families to sit down and say what they appreciate the most about each other or what they are thankful for.

In a year like this, it can be quite easy to rush to that nice nostalgic feeling that Christmas tends to offer, but especially in this difficult time, we should celebrate remembering to be thankful for everyone helping out on the front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak and the ones who are risking their lives daily to keep people safe and working to find a cure.

Thanksgiving may be forgotten since Christmas lights tend to go up as soon as Nov. 1 rolls around and Mariah Carey enjoys her annual boost in listeners, but it should be a time that we can turn down the music and instead sit down and enjoy the company of those who are closest to us and to be thankful for them and their safety.  —Nicholas Mancuso

 

Jade Campos is a junior majoring in print/digital journalism. To contact her, email jmc7727@psu.edu.

Nicholas Mancuso is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email nbm9@psu.edu.