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Learning from their error with the movie “Lightyear,” Disney again cast outspoken conservative Tim Allen in his role as Santa Claus in the new Disney+ series, “The Santa Clauses.”
But it did not take long for the “Last Man Standing” actor to drive those on the left up a wall with one simple line.
When having a discussion as Santa Claus in one of the new series’ episodes, Allen is asked what is bothering him and he responds with, “Saying Merry Christmas to all has suddenly become problematic!”
Right on cue, internet critics jumped on this one line, claiming there is no war on saying “Merry Christmas,” which anyone with a memory would know is not true.
Of all the bizarre things injected into children’s programming these days, filmmaker Scott Weinberg thought this one line was “weird”:
“saying ‘Merry Christmas to all’ has suddenly become problematic!” — actual dialogue from the new Disney+ Santa Clause series starring Tim Allen
— Scott Weinberg (@scottEmovienerd) November 16, 2022
A simple Google search will show that for no less than the past four years there have been a multitude of news articles and debates about using the phrase “Merry Christmas” and how it is offensive to those who do not celebrate it.
Yet just as those who called for the death of the unvaccinated during the COVID pandemic, people instead choose to deny history and act like certain words were not said.
The difference between this and the deniers of aggression during COVID is that this is a fictional show, and people are attributing this line as Allen’s real-life stance.
In an interview with Deadline, show creator Jack Burditt discussed the now-controversial line with the show’s staff.
“This is something that I just think is silly, but then I’m like, I don’t know … I mean, look, we also had a joke at one point where Santa is on his rounds, they’re going in for a landing, and somebody’s shooting something up at him,” Burditt said. “And Noel the elf [who rides with Santa], says something like, ‘A war on Christmas!’ I’m like, yeah, I don’t wanna go that far.”
Prior to the faux internet outrage of this episode, there was a short-lived debate in the premiere episode about the use of “naughty and nice.”
“Part of what we were trying to figure out was if we were picking up this series 16 years after everyone last left it, things have changed in the world, and we should be talking about it,” Burditt said. “The naughty and nice list would probably be looked at differently this time around versus when everything was black and white.”
With the unfortunate division within American culture, even Christmas is a source of argument. Yet it also provides Christians with a prayer target: for people to come together and heal the wounds of division within our country.
Not to mention the true reason for the season: The birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. {eoa}
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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.
