Main focus of Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Christmas 2009

Of putting Santa Claus on a diet, the Christmas lie and mankind's most wonderful myth: the European press comments on Christmas.

La Vanguardia - Spain

According to a study published by the British Medical Journal, Santa Claus is far too fat and serves as a poor role model as far as eating habits go. Màrius Carol fears in the daily La Vanguardia that Santa Claus et al are in for rough times in a politically correct world: "Today's world is so politically correct that the problem isn't global warming but the freezing of reason. ... As a figure Santa Claus has not yet been the focus of such attacks, but his days are numbered. Any time now he'll be put on a diet and banned to an exercise machine (just like the way Bibendum, the Michelin tire symbol, was slimmed down). But he'll be in for even worse times when people see fit to arraign him for cruelty to reindeer." (23/12/2009)

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Rue89 - France

How old do you have to be to stop believing in Father Christmas? In an interview in the news portal Rue89 the youth psychiatrist Yves Boudart says whatever the age, children will be ready for the truth when the time comes: "This doubt generally arises between kindergarten and elementary school. It happens progressively, when the little ones discover presents that have been carelessly stashed in a cupboard, or by talking with other kids who stopped believing long ago. But often they refuse to admit these doubts. At 5 or 6 children have little trouble believing several truths. It's like with the famous question: 'Where do babies come from?' Children can have two theories, their own and their parents', and so believe in Santa Claus and don't believe at the same time. ... Parents will sense whether they want to believe while at the same time voicing doubts. But when they really have doubts it's important not to lie and treat them like dummies." (22/12/2009)

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All available articles from » Lucie Blanchard

168 óra - Hungary

Chirstmas is also a very beautiful festivity, writes the deputy editor in chief of the left-liberal weekly 168 óra, András Jolsvai: "The birth of the infant Jesus is in my eyes one of the most beautiful myths of mankind. He symbolises the hope that life can be beautiful after all and that people are good and charitable. … But Christmas is also a festivity for children. Under the Christmas tree we all go back to being children for a while. We recall all those Christmases when we still believed that Santa Claus would bring us a little bike, … when we trembled with joy when we found a book about Indians under all the wrapping or when we would have given an arm for one of the chocolate decorations hanging on the Christmas tree. The memories of our childhood belong to this festivity, no matter where the whizzing conveyor belt of life has landed us." (23/12/2009)

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Sega - Bulgaria

The financial crisis is preventing hundreds of thousands of Bulgarian emigrants from coming home for Christmas, writes the daily Sega: "Some haven't earned enough money to travel during the holidays. Others are unemployed and can't come home either because they can't afford to buy the tickets or because they racked up too many debts at home before going abroad to make money. Now they're waiting for the holidays, huddled up in sombre flats. ... Thousands of Bulgarian families will be separated on Christmas Eve, and the only sound on this silent, holy night will be the sobbing of those far from their loved ones." (23/12/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Migration, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Dian Morkin

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