Christmas and the Media
Christmas and the Media
This chapter explores the costs of terrorism and war on Christmas media through case studies of The Office, The Catherine Tate Show, and Doctor Who. It concentrates on light entertainment, exploring the remaking of ‘the special’ for the twenty-first century. The Office, The Catherine Tate Show, and Doctor Who provide a more subtle interpretation of (under)employment and power distribution in this era than most daily newspapers. Within these three programmes, Christmas was a hub of challenge and an opportunity to unravel assumptions about the confluence of tradition, family, and television. All these episodes confirm that there can never be a happy ending — or even a happy day — without consequences. Christmas in/and the media provides a warm and comfortable place to deny and displace pain, discomfort, or problems while hoping for a different and better future life.
Keywords: media, Christmas, terrorism, war, The Office, tradition, Doctor Who, light entertainment
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