Carnival of crassness

Wednesday, 12th December 2007

Stephen Bayley on why he despises December’s tawdry and sentimental retail landscape

Christmas balls. This is a season to be forced into jollity. And one of mixed messages, dark ambiguities. Ghosts of Christmas past make me shudder. There is an old story about a Tokyo department store which, anxious to demonstrate its easy familiarity with sophisticated Western tastes, arranged for a vitrine to have an illuminated tableau of Santa Claus busy being crucified. Perhaps some similar installations on high streets and malls would have an admonitory effect on the sewers of avarice, cupidity and unreflective sentimental tosh that comprise Britain’s retail landscape in December. Then again, maybe not. There is perhaps something in the British personality that finds itself inevitably drawn, as maggots with rotting cheese, to the carnival of crassness that is Christmas.

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Laurie Macdonell-Sanchez

December 27th, 2007 10:01pm Report this comment

Stephen Bayley's crucified Santa in Tokyo brought to mind the cultural inconsistencies and anachronisms in the Japanese kiddy cartoons my daughters used to watch some years ago on TV stations in Latin America. Most were forgivable, once I had explained the inaccuracies to my little girls. NOT so was the inclusion in children's fare of such western cultural taboos as blatant bloodiness, snot bubbles and flatulence emanating from the human heroes, heroines and even the animal sidekicks. As a result, afternoon TV was off-limits & we stocked up on the pirated videocassettes of the Disney classics so readily available on the local markets.

TRH

January 8th, 2008 9:21pm Report this comment

Your terminology is confusing. Most of your complaints are about Advent which the retail industry has renamed 'Christmas'. There's no reason for us to follow suit. Stores throw out their Christmas trees on Boxing Day but that's when true Christmas begins. Advent is about drunken young men staggering about the streets wearing Santa hats and singing Jingle Bells out of tune. Christmas is about time off work and spent with the family - walks, football matches etc.

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