Hot-take: What We Can ALL Learn from the Grinch

Everyone knows The Grinch as a legendary piece of Christmas cinema—originated from Dr. Success’ child book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This child-book became world-renowned, enough to capture the attention of Universal Studios to film the classic movie. As many know, the infamous Jim Carrey plays the lead role of the Grinch.

The story takes place in a fictional “utopia” of Whoville—where the inhabitants are called Whos. However, the Grinch is a character that does not seem to fit into their stereotypical culture, based on the acquisition of superficial materials and gifting. Their whole society is based on counting down the days of Christmas; they’re stores are dependent on buyers, their community is based on who has the best lights, and their sense of self is all driven from the Christmas season—year around. The commercialism of Christmas in Whoville is on another level. However, The Grinch never really felt a sense of belonging to this mold. In fact, he always felt amusement in making a mockery of the Whos.

Does the Whoville Christmas spirit sound familiar to y'all? Do you think it relates to our society around the holidays?

Now I want to preface this by saying, I do not identify with the Grinch because of his emo, Christmas hating tendencies. Rather, I love the Grinch because he challenges the norms of the society around him and makes people question their beliefs. Instead of conforming to a culture that he doesn't believe in, the Grinch rejects these constructs and decides it is better to live in isolation than to continue living in the unforgiving town of Whoville.

While I do not believe isolation is the ultimate solution, I do believe the Grinch had significant growth during the years spent in his dark and gloomy cave above Whoville. He was unjustly bullied, ridiculed, and exiled to the point that he had to escape. The Grinch was only a young child facing such horrible treatment, so I do believe the escape was necessary. However, while residing in his cave, the Grinch did grow exceedingly bitter, physically shrinking the size of his heart due to increasing resentment.

Does this relate to y’all? Has a hurtful situation ever resulted in you alienating yourself from others? Did growth come from that season?

Despite this, it only took one person, Cindy Lou Who, to encourage the Grinch to come out of hiding and rejoin Whoville. Though he laughed this idea off at first and denied any reasoning for reunion, he eventually caved—ironically enough—and returned to celebrate Christmas. Although he did this, he still wanted to get revenge on the Whos for making his life miserable thus far and not accepting him, so he created a sleigh and “stole” the Whos' Christmas by taking away their gifts.

Have you ever experienced the desire of revenge in your life? Has that revenge ever resulted in positive outcomes or did it instead provoke negative implications?

However, the Grinch exposing the Whos for their superficial giving, resulting in gifts in his garbage is worthy of noting. This stark reality leads one to question: what is the point of giving if it results in rejection? More specifically, how does our culture engage with this similar notion of gifting around the holiday season? Is our society more “Who-based” or rather “Grinch-based” in this regard?

Surprisingly though, when the Whos woke up, they eventually decided that they were still grateful for each other—stating that's what the Christmas spirit is all about: having the gift of community. Thus, the Grinch returned their belongings and rejoined the Whos hand in hand with Cindy Lou Who, as his heart had returned to its former, full size.

I enjoy this Christmas story because it serves as an allegory to more than just a traditional Christmas piece. In my opinion, it is a Coming-of-Age story; the Grinch and the Whos both growing internally to contribute to a happy ending. While the ending may have not been what the characters initially expected, in the end, all that mattered was that they were together again and truly knew what was valuable.

This allegory speaks to so many different themes and tropes in our modern society today because many have felt deserted, exiled, or rejected themselves—unjustly. However, why Whoville is depicted as a Utopia at the end is because these wrongs were healed, forgiven, and made right on both parts.

The Grinch is such a relatable figure for many, and I think this is why I continue to have so much reverence for him. Not only do I catch myself constantly borrowing some of his key quotes, but I also feel a sense of relatability to him; there’s been many times in my life where I don’t feel like I belong in a certain space, setting, environment, or with certain group(s). Even so, I feel like there’s been many times where people have wronged me or the people I love unjustifiably. However, instead of living in a victim mentality like the Grinch did partly for so long, I think we all have to decide to no longer live in retrograde; at some point, the pieces have to be picked up and whether there’s a form of reunion, reconciliation amongst those parties, or NOT, establishing your own habits, mindsets, amd perspectives beyond that hurt is essential for personal growth. I noticed that about myself and the Grinch overtime.

Have you ever experienced a similar adversity in your life that changed your outlook on something?

Lastly, also around this festive season, I think it’s wise to be mindful where/what we are placing our identity in. The realization that no amount of money or gifting can truly satisfy is important. So many people around us during the holidays are truly suffering financially, and this reality should all give us sympathy and become grateful for what we have. If we are going to share our gifts, yes share it with our loved ones, but also share them with those most in need…

Here's a link of a list of organizations doing Christmas volunteering and/or donation giving if you’re interested: https://www.signupgenius.com/home/christmas-volunteer-opportunities-ideas.cfm

Lastly, I believe we can ALL learn a variety of things from the Grinch. Maybe ask yourself:

What things do you value? Is hyper superficialism one of them? How can we give to both our loved ones and engage in selfless giving to others in need? How do you handle hardships or emotions of being bullied or socially outcasted? Do you find your identity within the friend groups you “belong to” or does it reside rather within your own self-worth? Who are the people (or Whos) that surround you during the holidays? Are these people a reflection of good values? How can we be intentional to surround ourselves with those that do not drain our spirit? Why is self-reflection important?

I know many may say “it’s not that profound; it’s just a child movie”; however, I agree to disagree. Maybe there is no symbolic reasoning about the Grinch—maybe it is all for entertainment. All I will say is that I love a good redemption story, and I am constantly looking for the subliminal meaning in movies, messages, and phrases all the time, learning how to navigate life by thinking in these ways: if we don’t, what’s the point?

Or maybe it's just me... :)

Happy Holidays everyone!

There's more to come from A Graceful Space soon,

Grace

Finally, here's some of my fav quotes from my spirit animal: the Grinch.