A Miracle on Larch Drive

My kids believe in Santa Claus. Perhaps I am lying to them. Perhaps this is not rationally sophisticated. Nonetheless, this myth gets perpetuated. I am ok with that. I am thinking about this as I have just watched Miracle on 34th Street. This for me is one of those Christmastime staples. Some of these films offer nothing other than sentimental value. I find more however in this film. Every year I watch it, I see more and more value. On the surface, the film deals with the existence of Santa Claus. The films main character, Doris Walker, has at some point had her heart broken by a man who left her alone to bring up their daughter Susan. Mrs. Walker has apparently been profoundly shaped by her painful past. In an attempt to spare her daughter similar heartbreak, she is bringing her up to only believe in what can be perceived using common sense. Two men enter their lives and threaten this situation. Susan becomes friendly with a friendly lawyer neighbor named Fred Gailey who seems to be the poster boy of romantic optimism. Fred seems intent on challenging Susan's refusal to believe in anything irrational. They also happen upon a gentleman named Kris Kringle who believes he is Santa Claus. Kris comes to work as the Macy's department store Santa for Doris, who also works there. Although Doris and Susan take to this kind old man, they refuse to believe that he truly is Santa Claus. Kris gets into trouble when he becomes angry at the store psychologist for his treatment of another co-worker named Alfred. He confronts the man Alfred's defense, and ends up being criminally charged for his actions. The district attorney attempts to have him institutionalized due to his belief that he is Santa Claus. Fred Gailey, the Walkers' lawyer, becomes Kris lawyer. He tries to prove that not only is there is a Santa Claus but that it is indeed Kris. The film is clearly about more than the existence of Santa however. Throughout the film the character of Doris struggle to maintain her refusal to accept anything outside of empirical reality. It becomes clear that for her this is a way of coping with a fear of hope. Fred confronts her on the need to believe in more and tells her "Faith is believing in something when common sense tells you not to." Most of the inhabitants of the world created by the filmmakers seem to share the sentiments of Doris and Susan. Alfred the Macy's janitor is declared mentally ill by the store psychologist fort being caring and good natured. The district attorney rests his case as soon as Kris affirms that he believes himself to be Santa Claus. Simply using the backdrop of New York City adds to the feeling of a world which is too busy to care about anything more than the next thing. Although religion is never expressly mentioned, I believe that what is on trial is God. Two years before this film was made, 350 years of modernist and scientific arrogance ended abruptly with World War II. Obviously science itself did not end, nor should it have. Rather, a time began when it became slowly more fashionable to consider belief in something outside of the natural world. Clearly this film is asking questions related to this topic. Clearly the film is also critical of the cynical products of the modern era. I certainly have no idea is the God of the Bible was being considered by the makers of this film. The film does though provoke some interesting conversations about the role of faith at the crossroads of modernity and post-modernity. In this film, the idea of Santa simply has no place in a reality fashioned by the struggle for self-preservation of its inhabitants. It is the same struggle for self-preservation that the Bible identifies as sin. According to Fred, what Doris and the rest of the world are lacking is faith. As far as my own kids go, I don't think its right to wean them off of Santa and onto God. At the same time, it seems that to deprive them of the experience of Santa would just rush them into a world of business and unbelief that much sooner. I want them to believe in something. I am afraid that the process of aging and becoming wiser will rob them of the ability to believe in more than just Santa.

Where is the promise of youth for my child?
Where are the faraway kingdoms of dreams? We've been to the moon and there's trouble at home

They vanished in the mist with Saint Nicholas ,

they lie scattered to the ghettos and the war zones
Why can't I sleep in peace tonight underneath the satellite sky
I want to stand out in the middle of the street and listen to the stars

I want to hear their sweet voices

I want to feel a big bang rattle my bones

I want to laugh for my children I want the spark to ignite

before they find out what it means to be born into these times

-Mark Heard "Satellite Sky"