The period of time between the beginning of October and the end of December is a very special time of year, a time when television shows, websites, and retail stores alike dress themselves up in holiday themes.
The “holidays” being Halloween and Christmas. But what happened to Thanksgiving?
As we approach that time of year when our forefathers first came to our nation as illegal immigrants and destroyed an entire race of people — but come on, those pilgrim hats are just adorable – one wonders at what time Thanksgiving became the holiday that slips through the cracks in fantasy stories.
The answer is very simple: like many things in fantasy, it’s all about magic.
Halloween and Christmas, by their very nature, are magical holidays. Halloween, a descendant of Samhain, is a celebration of all things macabre and horrific, the only time of year when children are allowed to embrace their dark sides and become the demons that they really are, a time of year when all it takes is a mask to transform someone from something plain into something sinister. The veil between the living and the dead grows thin, and spirits roam the night. (Kind of like what’s happening on Legend of the Seeker right now.)
Christmas, of course, holds a very important religious significance to Christians, and the story of the nativity is an all-you-can-eat buffet of magic and miracles. Beyond its religious core, Christmas has taken on a new, secular fantastical identity with the story of Santa Claus and his Christmas Eve mojo. And how often have we heard the phrase “The magic of Christmas?”
So, sorry, Thanksgiving. What with your shady, murderous origin and your lack of supernatural attributes, you fall a little short when compared with your siblings.
In fact, the only Thanksgiving-themed episode of any fantasy show I can recall was the rather brilliant episode “Pangs,” during the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Hey, who feels like a quickie review?
Pangs
Five Torches (Out of Five)
As usual, rather than being a throwaway gimmick episode, the writers dealt with a very real issue — Willow’s anger at Thanksgiving being celebrated due to the aforementioned atrocities — as well as moving the plot forward cleanly and cleverly.
This episode set up many plot points that would affect the rest of the season: Spike’s slow but inevitable crawl towards the side of good, Angel not truly being out of Buffy’s life, and the group’s awkwardly growing distant from one another. By this point in the show’s life, the lead actors were a well-oiled machine, playing off each other with great comic timing, and the episode boasts one of my favorite lines by Xander, who had been cursed with all sorts of diseases (venereal and otherwise) by a vengeful spirit: “Can we get back to me and my new syphilis?”
In short, this episode rocked.
Who knows, maybe another show will come around in a few years with a great Thanksgiving episode with a fantasy twist. Until that time, however, we’ll just have to make watching “Pangs” an annual November tradition.
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Another reason why Fantasy might not feature Thanksgiving is because not all Fantasy takes place in the USA.
I think another reason why Thanksgiving is not as popular is it is no longer “PC” to celebrate the founding of America and our basically taking this country from the Native Americans. I mean, sure “Let’s celebrate stealing this land from others with a ritual sacrifice and pie!” (to butcher a fave line from that Buffy ep.)
So I think a lot of people might feel it’s inappropriate to really do more than have a meal to give thanks, or something.
Also, that Buffy episode? Is the only Fantasy Thanksgiving special I know of but not the only “special”. I know there’s a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special and a Garfield one as well, I think.
And just because I love it “A bear! You made a bear! Undo it, undo it!” Spike got the best lines!
How come Hallowe’en gets its pre-Christian roots mentioned but Christmas doesn’t? Winter solstice was celebrated long before Christianity made off with it.