During the past couple weeks, I have watched no less than 1 billion hours of holiday movie programming. (Ok, maybe it is a little less than 1 billion hours…)
Having grown up watching classic movies year round with my Dad, my preferred genre of holiday movie is the old stop-motion films like Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. My favorite, however, is The Year Without A Santa Claus. Not due to the story or music or creative hard work involved in the process.
No, I love the Miser Brothers.
Since I first experienced those crazy guys bursting onto the screen as a child, I’ve had a little mini-bit of an obsession with them. At the age of 31, my ears will perk up and I will do a little bouncing in my seat singing along dance.
As I was watching it (for the…ahem…third time already) this year, I was especially taken with the interaction between these two brothers. Heat Miser is a hot-head who yells and screams and gets worked up about everything. When Mrs. Claus makes her “Let is snow in Southtown on Christmas” request, his eyes go all wonky and he yells and screams.
Yet Snow Miser, he’s just a cool dude. Not icy distant and unfeeling as is so often associated with cold characters, instead he is laid back and seems genuinely happy with life. He chuckles at the request and basically says “Go on, try to see if you can get it.” Then shrugs his shoulders and smiles. (Yes, he does throw a bit of a tantrum when Heat Miser wants to make it sunny in the North Pole for a day a year, but I personally believe that was Snow Miser’s attempt to stop global warming and the melting of the ice caps. What? Movies have meanings!)
Even looking at their two pictures. Heat Miser has a perma-snarl and Snow Miser has a perma-grin.
I strive to live a life that is more laid back and “just happy” myself. I don’t need a lot of things, not because I am making esoteric and condescending arguments about the value and worth of personal effects, but because it is too easy to get caught up in them. I don’t like to get overly invested in dramatic emotional affairs, because they leave you exhausted and generally without a resolution.
This is Heat Miser’s greatest fault.
And it is where Snow Miser will always have a competitive life advantage.
Getting angry about situations beyond your control does nothing but raise your stress level. Often in resolution, the compromise can be reached regardless of whether you have to be a horrid person to make it happen.
You do not need to be a jerk to be remembered and valued.
I feel bad for people who are so embroiled in their Heat Miser-ness that they often fail to see the benefits to their situation. Spending so much time being flustered about things, you miss the important things that are plainly there for you to see.
You miss out on the beautiful cool parts of life when you are so focused on the hottest triggers instead.
For a sec I honestly wasn’t sure where you were going with this (I think I missed a fair share of Christmas programming movies as a kid…) and then your point at the end “You do not need to be a jerk to be remembered and valued” was a zinger. I have a flair for the dramatic and I think you’re right, that’s an easy way to miss what’s going on.
Good point, I probably should have included more information for those who are not Holiday movie aficionados! I used to spin into a very dramatic flair. I still have my moments, but have worked a lot to maintain a much more steady level. Some things are worth getting excited/worked up about. So much stuff we can just let go of!
How did I miss this? LOVE this. Believe it or not, I was thinking similarly when I watched it this year. I never realized how different the two personalities were. I only watched it once this year, but this is the holiday movie I’ve probably watched 100 times in my lifetime. (I may even have the songs on my iPod) hahaha.
Of course, it still takes Mother Nature to step in and moderate the conflict…. but I definitely agree that “snowy” has the better life approach. Heat Miser reminds me of one of those guys who just likes to get angry.