So, here's the next Simpsons Christmas episode, and boy is it good. (To be honest, this isn't the NEXT Christmas Simpsons, but it's the next one on my DVD. I haven't seen "Marge Be Not Proud" lately.) As you may recognize from the picture above, it's "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace." Bart gets up early to open his presents and ends up destroying his family's Christmas. A quick lie snowballs into a news story that rakes in $15,000 from the town, but the car bought with all that money also goes up in flames (shortly after a Mr. Plow callback). Then Bart's story goes up in flames, and the Simpson family once again find themselves pariahs. (According to The Simpsons Wiki, this is one of twenty episodes where one or more of the family become social outcasts.)
Bart's tearful confession is a nice redemption moment for him. (I can't help but be reminded of "Bart Sells His Soul," which still has a warm cushioned place in my heart.) Eventually, the town strike upon a uniquely Springfieldian resolution: they will take all the family's stuff, and forgive them.
Christmas, at its heart, is about forgiveness, at least, as we practice it in this predominantly-Christian country. The best Christmas stories examine faith, warmth, generosity, and forgiveness. Most of those qualities can be in short supply in Springfield. The townspeople in this episode, while quick to anger when provoked, make it their own duty to find a way to forgiveness within themselves.
I'm a lousy forgiver, most times, but constantly find myself needing to be forgiven. I don't go to church anymore, but I still think of that line from The Apostle's Creed: "Forgive us our trespasses, while we forgive those who trespassed against us." There's not a much better goal for humans, I think.
As a Simpsons episode, I rate this 9/10. The show was still going strong, and there's just enough metaphor here to fuel the comedy.
As a Christmas show, I rate this 10/10. The whole episode is about Christmas, and about lots of different parts of Christmas, both spiritual and materialistic.
I can quote Assassin's Creed too! Everything is permitted!
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