Christmas at the Movies

[sdimbert]

When I lived in Teaneck, NJ, which has a large Jewish population, we used to joke about how Christmas Eve was "Jew-Night" at the movies. I mean, when my wife and I went to see a flick, we laughed about how, literally, 90% of the theater audience looked Jewish.

So, now I live in Kansas. There is a much smaller Jewish Population here.

As is our custom, jdimbert and I went to see a movie on Christmas Eve. (We saw Cast Away... Good movie!!) To our surprise, the theater was filled. I mean packed. To the gills.

So, what's up with that? Don't you non-Jews have places to be? Isn't Christmas this big family holiday? Aren't there services to attend, dinners to eat and carols to sing?

Or is moviegoing the new American Christmas Tradition?

DISCLAIMER: The above is a serious question; no offense is intended.

[hazel-rah]

well, our family celebrates christmas, and there's probably a copy of the bible in the house *somewhere*, so i guess i'm qualified to answer.

we don't bother with church services (although a lot of christians go to midnight mass anyway, which frees up matinee time, i suppose), i wouldn't know what to do anyway and i've heard it takes hours. if i was in a country that had giant monstrosity churches built during the renaissance with tons of stained glass and ornamentation, i'd go. the churches in houston are mostly t-shacks or in strip malls. and too far away from my house. if they had midnight mass in the astrodome, i'd go.

what all do we do? open presents, have a big breakfast, and then need to find a way to kill the rest of the day. the choices on TV are abysmal, i forgot to ask for any toys, so why not a movie? everything else is closed. if compUSA was open on christmas, i would probably go there.

thanksgiving is a popular movie day as well. i might add i have successfully ordered a pizza on both xmas *and* thanksgiving over the last few years. i love big cities.

this year the xmas movie for my family was "crouching tiger, hidden dragon." god, it was amazing.

also, i suppose if your extended family drives you crazy, a movie is good temporary escape before you have to engage them in conversation again.

-fh

[Chas.E]

Originally posted by sdimbert
DISCLAIMER: The above is a serious question; no offense is intended.

Offense taken. Your question reeks of bigotry. You assume you can tell someone's religious affiliation on sight. If you ever met me, you'd probably think I am a protestant but you'd be wrong, I am a buddhist.

Aside from the issues of religious bigotry in your question (which offends me on so many levels I can hardly begin to explain), the answer is simple: people tend to do whatever the hell they want, whenever the hell they want. And that includes xmas eve.

I apologize to the moderators, I know we're not supposed to flame people in GQ. But it is my belief that bigotry, especially religious bigotry, must not go unchallenged. I have attempted to keep my flame levels low, but it is hard to restrain myself in the face of such offensive content.

[Tristan]

Hey Chas, mayhaps it was meant more as a small joke... you know, the whole "Jewish people don't do Christmas, so they must all be at the movies, since it's packed on a day that folks that do celebrate Christmas are supposed to have better things to do."

I think that you're being over sensitive. The key word to look for in the first line was joke not Jew.

[Chas.E]

Tristan, I am sure you are right, they thought it was funny. Some people used to think nigger jokes were funny too. But they were always bigoted and offensive.
The anecdote describes joking about people's religious background, and makes sweeping generalizations about people based on their religious affiliation. There is plenty in this message to offend Christians, Jews, and everyone else.

Suffice to say, unless you have lived as a non-christian, you have NO idea what kind of offensive behavior people try to pass off as "innocent joking." And the OP was a prime example.

I'm going to cut it short right there, because I'm about to go full-flame mode. And neither of us want that. I will just make my opinion known, stop here, and leave an analysis of the bigotry in this question as an exercise for the reader.

[BobT]

Without getting in to any religious aspects at all, I believe that movie theaters are crowded around Christmastime because:
1. Good movies tend to premiere around that time
2. Most people who celebrate Christmas have the majority of the celebration on Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning.
3. While television has made us believe that Christmas is a special day when everyone gathers together with their family and shares longtime family traditions, in reality, many of us have families that are spread out or splintered for a variety of reasons.
4. If movie studios believed that nobody went to the movies on Christmas Day, there wouldn't be any new films released on that day, but there are.

[GraceTX]

I don't know about you but we spend a few hours every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve by going to the movies. Everything else is closed but you can count on the theatres to give you something to do not to mention a much needed break from the relatives.

[peepthis]

Originally posted by Chas.E
Originally posted by sdimbert
DISCLAIMER: The above is a serious question; no offense is intended.

Offense taken. Your question reeks of bigotry. You assume you can tell someone's religious affiliation on sight. If you ever met me, you'd probably think I am a protestant but you'd be wrong, I am a buddhist.


Hey Chas, here's a quick holiday tip for ya that transcends all theology: get over yourself, and don't be so quit to press the "OFFENDED" button. You probably take enormous pride in the fact that people can't peg your religious affiliation; wow, good for you. As for "full flame mode," bring it on -- you are a sad case indeed of a frustrated soul trying to paint someone into the "bigot" corner.

As for the OP, maybe it's a regional thing. I know as a kid I used to always take in a flick with the family for Thanksgiving before (and sometimes after) the big meal. Maybe it's similar for other families?

[pgmarsha]

Whether you are celebrating the holiday or not, there's not much else to do in the afternoon and evening on Dec. 25th, and you can't beat family members who will babysit for free.

[nebuli]

Chas, your comment-Suffice to say, unless you have lived as a non-christian, you have NO idea what kind of offensive behavior people try to pass off as "innocent joking." And the OP was a prime example. makes me wonder if you realize that the dimberts are also non-Christian. Not sure if that fact would change your feelings any, but IMHO it really was intended as a serious question, not a joke. sdimbert was genuinely surprised to see the movie so packed on Christmas Eve in a heavily Christian area, and was asking a question about it to the board's Christians.

[Bad Hat]

gotta go with peep this on this one...Chas

Lighten up. This certainly isn't a new argument to have, but I can't see where being hypersensitive to these things does anything other than show biggots that they are getting to you.

And I'll save the arguement about whether or not racial humour is ALWAYS INHERENTLY biggoted for another board, but I will take this opportunity to suggest a distinction between mean spirited, derogatory "nigger" jokes and jokes based on peculiarities (or percipeved peculiarities) of certain ethnic groups. ie: theres a difference between the observation:
"all jews are bankers or doctors and they have big noses and complain all the time"
and
"not really attatching any religious significance to the birth of christ, jews are probably more likely that christians to engage in casual non-celebratory engagements on christmas eve."
Nor is it IMHO unfair or unreasonable to suspect that most of the inhabitants of the midwest are Christian. its not religious biggotry or stereotyping, its demographics, son.

And if I can find something funny in that, by god I intend to. And and no amount of reactionary, knee-jerk PC revisionism is going to change that.
Counter-flame over, If this has to go on further, lets do it elsewhere, but I think we are finished...

[GuanoLad]

Most people who celebrate Christmas have the majority of the celebration on Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning.

They do? On Christmas Eve? But why? What happens then?

[Chas.E]

Look, I already said I'm not going to get into a flame war. I am offended by the OP and I already said so, but I'm not going to explain the full reasons for taking offense as that would only lead to a lengthy flamefest. It is not a case of political correctness, which I abhor, but a case of fundamental ignorance and disrespect for people's religious beliefs. There is an old saying about tolerance for other religions, "to each, his own master; and who are YOU to judge another's servant?"

I will merely respond to a few brief comments.

nebuli, the OP was addressed to "you non-Jews." I think that this slur includes me. I did not mean to say the OP was a joke, I was referring to the OP's anecdote that described making jokes about Jews watching a movie on xmas eve and calling it "Jew-night."

Bad Hat, both "innocent" and "meanspirited" bigotry come from the same source, ignorance. Fundamentally, there is no difference.

peepthis, I take NO "pride in the fact that people can't peg [my] religious affiliation." I merely cited this as an example that to judge people's religion by their appearance IS prejudice. YOU are the one who needs to chill out. I called sdimbert on his offensive remarks, but unlike you, I did not resort to petty personal insults.


Sheesh. You guys all need a lesson in religious tolerance. I suggest a good starting point would be Mark Twain's essay "Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven." The protagonist goes to heaven and is disgusted to find the place is filled up with niggers, chinks and heathen buddhists. And I DARE you to call Mark Twain "politically correct."

[manhattan]

Hmmm. Everyone is coming from good-faith positions here, but clearly there is a conflict.

Let's try rewording the OP. How about:

For folks who celebrate Christmas, is an outing to the movies a traditional part of the family get-togethers that occur around Christmas? If so, is it a relatively new tradition, or was a Christmas-day outing to the movies also traditional in the 50's?

Does someone have Christmas-day box-office figures over time that might serve as a proxy for an answer?

[nebuli]

Originally posted by Chas E.:nebuli, the OP was addressed to "you non-Jews." I think that this slur includes me.Well, clearly sdimbert would have been better saying "you Christians", but you consider "non-Jews" to be a slur?
I did not mean to say the OP was a joke, I was referring to the OP's anecdote that described making jokes about Jews watching a movie on xmas eve and calling it "Jew-night." I hope [b]sdimbert, or anyone else for that matter, will correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the distinct impression that he/she is Jewish. I cannot consider such such mild, self-referential, observational humor to be an example of bigotry and ignorance.

[sdimbert]

Ummm... Chas, you know that I'm Jewish, right?

:confused:

Let's go back, together, and look at the "offensive" parts of my OP. Let's start with:

we used to joke about how Christmas Eve was "Jew-Night" at the movies. I mean, when my wife and I went to see a flick, we laughed about how, literally, 90% of the theater audience looked Jewish.
Chas, when I said that I could tell that most of the audience was Jewish, I didn't mean that they had big noses, looked money-grubbing or had Christian-blood on their dirty lips. :rolleyes: I meant that the men wore yarmulkes, the women had on snoods or shaitels and I recongnized most of them from the shul I attended and the yeshiva at which I taught.

(And if you don't understand some of those hebrew terms I used, go look them up at the JewFAQ (www.jewfaq.org). I have a feeling the learning experience might be good for you.)

You know, I was going to snip other sections of my OP and deal with them one at a time in that fashion that DDG and Cervaise use so well, but, for the life of me, I can't figure out what else I said that rubbed you the wrong way.

Was it my use of the words, "you non-Jews"? Are we really so sensitive nowadays that one can't be exclusive at all? Does your dictionary define "exclusionary" only as "religious bigotry?"

You say I offended you. I am sorry that you feel my remarks are offensive. It was certainly not my intention to do so. I put forth the suggestion that you might be a bit too sensitive (as tristan and many others have pointed out), but that discussion does not belong in this thread.

Suffice it to say that I never meant to be offensive. I don't believe that my remarks, "reek [...] of bigotry," make "sweeping generalizations about people based on their religious affiliation," or display "fundamental ignorance and disrespect for people's religious beliefs."

I didn't put those things into my OP; you did. You did so while introducing an angry and belligerent tone into an otherwise peaceful discussion and didn't really help me get to a thoughtful answer to my original question.

You simply snapped at me behind veiled threats of your terrible temper. :rolleyes: You got a problem with me? You know where to take it.

Manny, how was that? ;j By the way, your re-write of my question wasn't quite on target. Can we reword it a bit to ask about Christmas Eve?


PS - tristan, nebuli, peepthis and Bad Hat: thank you.

[manhattan]

Originally posted by sdimbert
Manny, how was that? ;j By the way, your re-write of my question wasn't quite on target. Can we reword it a bit to ask about Christmas Eve?


Doh! Sorry, reword to Christmas Eve. (And I don't care what anyone says, I am not going to mention that non-Jewish Manhattanites refer to Passover as "the feast of the guaranteed reservation."

[Fillet]

Originally posted by GuanoLad
Most people who celebrate Christmas have the majority of the celebration on Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning.

They do? On Christmas Eve? But why? What happens then?


Speaking just for my family, which is German, we open all our gifts on Christmas Eve (making it real hard to accommodate an American-style Santa, let me tell ya ;) ). Christmas Day is then a day to go to church and hang out with various friends and relatives.

If memory serves, Christmas Eve is also the time for the traditional Italian "seven fishes" dinner.

sdimbert, I have a Jewish friend (from Brooklyn) who has also joked about Christmas Eve being "Jew night at the movies," since so many of his family's Jewish friends would also turn out. I would agree, though, with some of the other posters that Christians might turn out because going to the movies was their own family tradition, or perhaps because there wasn't family nearby to celebrate with. Non-Christians of any flavor are of course free to do whatever they like with the evening, since it holds no special meaning for them... but I'm not certain that you'd find that many in Kansas. :)

manny - LOL!

[Alias]

Hey guys, I'm Jewish, but my boyfriend is a prodestant. We celebrate both holidays with our daughter.

ANYWAY, Christmas day is always fun in the morning, but as the day wears on it loses a lot of its holiday magic. What to do? Hmmmmm, what's at the cinema? I've been to the theater lots of times on Christmas day with Christians. It's just something else to do when you're too old to recieve toys for Christmas.

As for you, Chas E, lighten up! I know it must be wonderfully fun for you to pick on all of us of the Western Faiths. Get over yourself! I'm sure you're absolutely ecstatic when you get the chance to drop it into conversation that you're an White-Anglo-Saxon BUDDHIST. Good for you.

Sorry Manhatten. I know this doesn't belong here. I'll be glad to move it to the BBQ Pit if I have anything else to say.

[BobT]

Originally posted by GuanoLad
Most people who celebrate Christmas have the majority of the celebration on Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning.

They do? On Christmas Eve? But why? What happens then?


As mentioned earlier, a significant portion of people open presents on Christmas Eve and have their big dinner that night. Also if you are going to a Midnight Mass or service (which are rarely held exactly at midnight anymore), everyone usually just wants to sleep late and just hang out the next day. Such activity lends itself well to movie-going.

[Kepi]

As a 10-year movie theater veteran in the Dallas area, I can tell you that Christmas day was definitely the busiest day of the year for us. Christmas Eve, however, was usually busy for the first set of evening shows (7 p.m.-ish), but business dropped off drastically for the last set (9 p.m.-ish).

Here's my theory on why Christmas Day is so busy. By about 2 p.m. or so, everybody has opened gifts, eaten dinner, the kids have broken their new toys, and everyone is getting on each others' nerves. So the movies are a perfect way to get out of the house, wear the new clothes you got as gifts, and not have to talk to anyone for a couple of hours.

BTW, I hated all you people who came to the movies on Christmas Day. Just once, I would like to have had Christmas dinner with my family instead of having to be at work at 10 a.m. Christmas morning to open the theater.

As for the OP, my guess is that this year Christmas Eve was busier because it fell on a Sunday. When it falls during the week, most people don't have time to go to the movies after working all day.

[Alessan]

Sdimbert, my dad grew up in Teaneck, and from what he tells me, its Jewish community was mainly Conservative. From your description, however, it seems as though the town is far more Orthodox nowadays. Is this indeed the case?

[sdimbert]

[Continuing Hijack]

Alessan,

From where I sat, yes, Teaneck is a mostly Orthodox community. But I don't really know for sure. I just know that there were 6 or 7 kosher eateries and 3 or 4 Orthodox shuls within 2 blocks of our apartment. I never really looked into any other flavor of Judaism.

[/Continuing Hijack]

[DocCathode]

As a Jew, I am familiar with Christmas day at the movies.
However, I've always had the experience of the crowd being overwhelmingly or completely Jewish. Before any one makes any assumptions, this judgement is based on people I recognise from synagogue, poeple speaking yidddish, etc. Until recently, the only places you could count on to be open Christmas day were movie theaters and Chinese restaurants. Stereotypical it may be, but I have personally seen the spectacle of a restaurant packed with Jews eating fried rice and discussing the films they've just seen.

I had always assumed that Christians went to church on Christmas. Sadly, many Jews go to services only on Rosh Hoshanah and Yom Kippur. These are the two big holidays in Judaism. I assumed that many Christians(this is a statement on the state of religion in America today. I do not think Christians are more likely to lapse than any other faith and no specific insult towards Christianity is intended) went to church only on Christmas and Easter. I thought that the typical schedule went something like:
Kids wake everyone up early
Open presents
Go to church
Come home
Clean up wrapping paper
Spend rest of day enjoying presents and basking in
warmth of family

When I lived in Virginia, Easter was the day for going to Kings Dominion. There were virtually no lines. Again, the crowd was full of Jews.

[vandal]

Well, you have to keep in mind that a typical theater can seat about 200 people. Now, especially, the larger stadium style theaters that are being constructed, they can seat 300 or even 350 in one theater.

So, when the entire theater is filled to capacity, it is easy to assume that people are not spending time with their familes. However, when you keep things relative to the population of a given city, and populations of surrouding cities, 300 is minuscule when compared to populaces of 100,000.

So, of the combined, say 500,000 people within a given populace, you have to presume that at least 300 of them want to see a movie that night, being saturday night and all. Also, the hype that is attatched to this film adds a little to the mix.