Understanding Christmas with the Kranks: A Holiday Reflection

One of my favorite, more recent Christmas movie discoveries is Christmas with the Kranks. In this film, married couple Luther and Nora Crank decide to go on a cruise while their only child, their daughter, will be in her gap year with the Peace Corps. They shed their long-held Christmas traditions to save enough money for the cruise. What I found most annoying watching them was the lack of respect everyone seemed to have for each other. The Krank’s neighbors harass him and his wife over not putting up their blow-up Frosty the Snowman. Luther Krank was overly unpleasant when people pushed him not to participate in certain traditions within their community. Is it so bad that they want to go on a cruise for Christmas? Why are the neighbors obsessed with Frosty? Everyone celebrates the holidays differently; a cruise doesn’t sound like the wrong way to do so. I understand that the antics in the movie are supposed to be over the top and create a comedic effect. Still, a more significant point to take away from the holidays is the importance of communication and going into the holiday season with the fewest expectations possible.
I have been thinking about my hopes for this holiday season. I don’t expect a lot, but I do hope for some things that should be easily accomplished. I want to return to the neighborhoods I visited last year and see the Christmas lights this year. I hope I’m able to bake sugar Christmas cookies. I also look forward to spending quality time with my family and friends. I am not a big gift giver. I like to do baked goods for Christmas presents if possible because it is cheaper, easier, and something I enjoy doing. I have lived in apartments for the past few years, and I don’t have a lot of storage space for new items. I say quality time when people ask me what they can get me for Christmas or any other special occasion. What matters the most to me is spending time with those who I love and who love me. I don’t expect how much time or who I will see; I want to spend quality time with my loved ones.
Christmas with the Kranks does emphasize the importance of coming together as a community for those in need. The Kranks end up giving their cruise tickets to their neighbor whose wife’s cancer has returned. Their neighbors pull together to help them have a traditional Christmas when they learn their daughter is coming home with her newly minted fiance. I never understood how they only found out she was coming home after she had already purchased her ticket; it seemed like horrible planning. The fiance is impressed with the festivities, and the movie ends happily.
As we head into the holidays, I encourage everyone to take inventory of their expectations and hopes for the holidays. Sometimes, communicating with those with our loved ones ensures we are all on the same page. I chat with my parents and any significant other to make sure we balance time between the two families. To be kind is to be precise.