WILL SELLERS: Christmas Casts Long Shadow

Asked to cite the most significant event in history for an oral exam, the late great Justice Scalia thought it was a softball question and picked an event he considered important. “Wrong!” His inquisitor corrected him: “No, Mr. Scalia; it was the Incarnation.”

This seminal event on the Christian calendar is celebrated by the faithful and unfaithful alike. Some merely acknowledge it in their actions and time off, while others take the religious significance to heart and fully participate in the seasonal countdown of Advent.

And while the secular celebration with all its associated trappings now largely undermines the religious significance, even the most secular cannot deny its importance and the overarching ideas it spawned.

The Incarnation was a religious hurricane so powerful that it spun off secular tornados that impacted the world in very subtle ways.

Think of self-sacrifice, generosity, service to others and the unity of family. While these virtues are secularized, they are lauded as worthy and so critical to society that they form the basis for moral and civic education. So even if the religious aspects of Christmas may not be acknowledged, the secular fallout, being so intertwined, cannot escape the cultural ramifications of the Incarnation.

The Incarnation as an historical event is so widely known that few movies recount the story anymore. But Hollywood and other mass media routinely capitalize on its essence. To achieve commercial success, films that open in December harken back to themes based on the Incarnation.

Be it nostalgia, sentimentality, or affairs of the heart, films during Christmas tend to bring people together and generally present a morality play focused on one or several virtues. And, while the religious overtones may be completely obscured, they are there and easy to spot. People want optimism and hope that the future is brighter, and that the new year will be better than the past.  Movies have helped us experience these things emotionally and provided a means to feel happy at least for the duration of the show.

To feel good and confident even for a moment is the spark of commercial success for films. Frank Capra, the great film director of “It’s A Wonderful Life,” used this formula well and wisely throughout his long and storied career. But he didn’t direct films that told a good story and gave a momentary emotional rush merely for box office profits. Rather, he believed in fundamental values, permanent things and timeless ideals and considered it his duty to give hope, provide optimism and exalt the individual human actor over the various manifestations of greed expressed in impersonal bigness, not only in government, but also in business, religious institutions and communities.