Christmas is around the corner, but for the rest of us, there is Festivus.
In 1997, "Seinfeld" introduced the alternative holiday, celebrated today, and sparked a counterculture phenomenon. Events in cities such as New York, Washington, D.C., and Denver fete the festival, bringing together both "Seinfeld" fans and revelers of the ridiculous.
How did Festivus come to be? It's best to let its fictional creator, Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller), explain:
"Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized, there had to be another way!"
The doll was destroyed. But the elder Costanza saw that as a boon: "Out of that, a new holiday was born! A Festivus for the rest of us!"
And I think the emergence of Festivus was partly due to the emergence of Kwanza. I have nothing to base that on... but it seemed to me to be a reaction to another holiday with no history all of a sudden appearing.
SeasonsGreetings wrote: That was one of the best Seinfeld episodes ever.
And I think the emergence of Festivus was partly due to the emergence of Kwanza. I have nothing to base that on... but it seemed to me to be a reaction to another holiday with no history all of a sudden appearing.
Nmysys wrote: BTW, Wayne, before your Festivus there was Chanukah!!!!! Just saying!!!
Before Festivus there was every other holiday in that time period. Festivus started in 1997. If you were referring to the particular year and not historically, I'm not sure what your point is. Did you post much about Chanuka when it was observed earlier this month?
Chanukah also precedes Christmas, but I'm not sure what the significance of that is. And it's not "my" Festivus. I didn't start it.
I had really hoped a light-hearted post about a made-up holiday from a TV show wouldn't end up as a political fodder but it seems someone always has drag politics into almost every discussion on here. There is nothing political about Festivus. There is also nothing religious. It takes no political or religious sides or stand. It's a made-up holiday that some people embrace as an alternate way of celebrating the season or poking fun at the commercialism of the holidays and really has nothing to do with being liberal or conservative.
"Liberals revere things done by comedians"?? How do you know? Are you a liberal now? Liberals have been accused on this board many times of having no sense of humor so I'm not sure how they could revere comedians. So which is it, they revere comedians or they have no sense of humor?
We could actually have a conversation on here without mentioning politics sometime. It would be a breath of fresh air. Just sayin...
