Today’s Film: The Man Who Invented Christmas
This is a pseudo-biographical retelling of the writing of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The film follows Dickens during the six weeks he was writing the classic and shows where his inspirations came from. During the film Dickens interacts with his own characters who manifest to comment on their portrayal and the progress of the narrative. Dickens must confront his own insecurities through Scrooge and come to his own redemption along with his character. This film was directed by Bharat Nalluri and stars Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, and Johnathan Pryce and is less well known than other entries in this calendar but a good, cozy watch during the holidays.
Today’s Tradition: Christmas Stockings; Global.
While there are no written records of the origin of the Christmas stocking, there are popular legends that attempt to tell the history of this Christmas tradition. One tradition is that of St Nicholas who came across a family so desperately poor that the daughters were about to be sold into slavery. He decided to help in secret and after dark, he threw three bags of gold through an open window. One landed in a stocking. When the girls and their father woke up the next morning, they found the bags of gold and were, of course, overjoyed. The girls were able to get married and live happily ever after. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas.
