One
movie in our DVD must-watch collection is the 2000 version of How the Grinch
Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey in the title role. It’s based on Theodore
(Doctor Seuss) Geisel’s 1957 book by the same name. Making a feature length
movie out of a children’s storybook requires much expansion of the original.
The writers of the screenplay created an entire past for the Grinch that makes
him a somewhat sympathetic character and explains why he hated Christmas and
the residents of Whoville. They also needed to add several extra scenes and
plot points to the story, while staying true to Seuss’s rhyming style.
You
may or may not be a fan, but Jim Carrey could not have been a better choice. If
ever a role called for his maniacal style, this one does. Carrey delivers. I
think it’s his performance and the brilliant makeup work that bring me back to
this movie. My favourite lines do not appear in the book, like when the Grinch
steps on the scale to discover his heart is down a size and he promises, “This
time, I’m keeping it off!”
When
the Grinch receives the invitation from Cindy Lou Who to their Whobilation
festivities, Carrey ad libs. Flipping the pages of his calendar, the Grinch
reads his tight schedule aloud:
“Four
o’clock, wallow in self-pity; Four-thirty, stare into the abyss; Five o’clock,
solve world hunger, tell no one; Five-thirty, jazzercize; Six-thirty, dinner
with me—I can’t cancel that again; Seven, wrestle with my self-loathing. I’m
booked.”
The
part where the Grinch teases director Ron Howard by donning Howard’s famous
ball cap and “directing” Max the dog on how to play a reindeer was all Jim
Carrey’s. Howard loved it and left it in.
Like
most Christmas movies, this one makes no references to the real Christmas. Its
redemption comes in the lessons on bullying and its long-range results, on the
emptiness of consumerism, and on the value of community, love, and goodwill.
But
the real Christmas did include a grinch. His name was Herod the Great and he,
too, had a past. Known for his architectural ambitions, this king of Judea was
brutal. He executed members of his own family, banished at least one wife in
order to “marry up” politically, and unfairly taxed the Judeans. Scholars agree
Herod suffered throughout his lifetime from depression and paranoia. He was so
concerned no one would mourn his death that he commanded several distinguished
men to be killed at the time of his own death to ensure the displays of grief
he craved would take place. Fortunately, this order was not carried out.
One
equally horrific command was realized, however. King Herod felt so threatened
when he learned about the birth of Jesus Christ, he determined to have the
child murdered. When his initial plan was thwarted, he ordered all male
children under the age of two in Bethlehem killed. While scholars tell us the
total number of babies murdered would have been a dozen or so (not hundreds
like is sometimes portrayed), I’ve sometimes wondered how I would have felt
toward Jesus years later if I’d been one of those bereft mothers and if I understood
why my child had died.
Jesus
escaped this massacre, thanks to a warning given to Joseph in a dream. Like the
Grinch’s, Herod’s attempt at stealing Christmas failed. Not long afterwards, Herod
died an excruciating death.
Unlike
the Grinch, Herod never experienced an epiphany. He never came to understand
that, “Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas means a
little bit more.”
