I’m normally not one to expect TV Christmas specials to uphold the true meaning of Christmas. A secular program is going to be secular. However, when a secular program subtly and not-so-subtly moves from secular to sacrilegious, that’s going too far.
So, it was with a desire to relax a little and with low expectations that my wife and I sat down the other night to watch the premier showing of Shrek the Halls. We watched half of it before we had to turn it off.
From an artistic perspective, the show left much to be desired. It seemed to have been given little entertainment thought other than making a boatload of money off of the legion of fans of the three Shrek movies. But, I’m not a Hollywood critic, so that’s not the true focus of my thoughts.
Boring is one thing, supplementing the true meaning of Christmas with secular additions is another, but supplanting the Christ Child entirely is an entirely different matter. Two examples stand out.
When Santa comes to town, everyone erupts into the singing of “Hosanta!” That’s right. Instead of “Hosanna!” sung in worship of Christ, it was “Hosanta!” sung in worship to Santa.
Then, after several minutes of build-up, Shrek finally agrees to read The Christmas Story. Here I thought we might actually have a scene like the memorable one from A Charlie Brown Christmas. You remember. Linus shares the true meaning of Christmas by reading the Christmas story from Luke’s Gospel. I guess times really have changed in these past 42 years.
What does Shrek read when he reads The Christmas Story? He reads “Twas the night before Christmas.”
Ah. So now we know the rest of the story. The Christmas story is about worshiping Santa with “Hosantas!” and it is telling the narrative of Santa coming to town, instead of worshipping the Christ Child and telling the narrative of God coming to earth.
That’s the last time I will watch Shrek the Halls. Sucker that I am for a good Christmas special, I’m not a sucker for supplanting the Savior with Santa.
