Well, I guess It's Time for Me to Talk About "Klaus"...and Santa

It's a YES from me

Yes, it's as good as everyone is saying it is. You should watch it.

...Oh, you want me to actually talk about it? Well okay, I suppose I will. Just as a warning, there will be some Spoilers, so you've been warned. If you don't want it spoiled, go and watch the movie, then come back and read this. Oh, and don't read this out loud to your kids unless you want them to know the truth about Santa...yeah, trigger warning for people who are sensitive about Santa stuff, I guess.

Hey look at that, a Christmas movie that isn't about the power of "believing" in a mythological figure who was created as a hoax to get children to behave! Thank you! Yes, Klaus is one of those rare Christmas movies that doesn't make you feel guilty for having to "drop the truth bomb" on your kiddos after watching it. That's kind of the problem I have with other Christmas movies. Take Elf for example. The majority of that movie is hilarious and absolutely heart-warming...until the climax. During that movie's climax, we get some half-hearted schlop about how important it is to believe in Santa Claus, as the day is literally saved by somebody saying "I believe in Santa"...someone who all adults know does not in fact really exist and is merely just a legend we tacked on to a real person's life (Saint Nicholas was a real person, who was actually pretty cool...but he died a long time ago).

Yeah, as you can tell, I don't really like it when movies teach children to "believe" in someone who the movie-makers explicitly know doesn't exist. I mean, as all parents know, there is NOT a fat guy dressed up in red who goes around leaving free gifts under your Christmas tree (Heh, Christmas shopping would be a whole lot easier if there was), reindeer cannot fly, and, as far as we know, there are not little elves who live at the North Pole. The whole idea of Santa is a lie that we tell children for a multitude of reasons. Some of the reasons are benign (it is kind of fun to play pretend), but other reasons are a little more devious (do this or Santa will give you coal...) I mean...sure, it's mostly harmless for the majority of children, but what about the kids who truly believe...only to have the rug pulled out from underneath them? And let's not even mention how a poor kid in Africa must feel about the whole "Santa brings toys to every good little girl and boy" thing...

No Jimmy, Santa doesn't love rich kids more than you, he just thinks they're "nicer" than you...

You could say, "but, these movies are just fiction! What about other fictional movies? Are those "lies" too?" Well, yes and no. Yes, they are "technically" lies. But, they aren't lies that ask you to believe them. Frozen doesn't ask your kids to believe that Olaf or Elsa are real. A lot of Christmas movies, on the other hand, do ask your children to believe them. And, let's not forget how obsessed our culture is with teaching kids to believe in Santa. "Be good or Santa won't come", "You didn't get what you asked for, you must have been naughty", etc, etc. Bah Humbug to that I say. 

Does this make me a Grinch? I don't really see how embracing the truth would make me a Grinch, but if you insist on calling me that, then go ahead. I'm not calling you out if you do teach your kids to believe in Santa. I'll trust that you're doing it out of goodwill and mean no harm by it. I just personally dislike the practice.  

All of that aside, what I do believe in is a God up above who sent His Son to earth to show us a better way to live. I believe that the true meaning of Christmas is that regular, every day people can give from their heart. I believe that it is the millions and millions of loving and sacrificing individuals going around doing small acts of kindness that are what make Christmas special. Which brings me to this movie.

Hope I don't get any hate-mail for dissing Santa...

In Klaus, we are introduced to a spoiled rich kid, named Jesper, who gets booted out by his father to a small island town, Smeerensburg, to learn a lesson. Jesper is informed that the only way to leave this Podunk town is to deliver six thousand letters (his dad owns a postal company, so that's why the letters). Predictably, Jesper is whiny and insufferable for the first thirty minutes or so, however, he eventually starts to become more selfless and kind as the movie goes on.

Jesper meets and befriends the mysterious woodcarver, Klaus. Together, they eventually start the whole "write letters to Klaus to get a toy" gig. Jesper does it (initially) to meet his 6000 letter quota, and Klaus does it because he genuinely cares about the children and wants to give them hope. In order to get more presents, the children start performing good deeds and acts of kindness, transforming the miserable town into a somewhat happy place.

 Now, does anyone have any dastardly plans to do good?

Now, you may be tempted to say, "Oh they're just doing that for materialistic reasons", and you may be right, initially. But you see, the funny thing about the human brain is that, it doesn't always remember the "reasons" for doing something. What this means is that, what might start out as a selfish attempt to garner favor from the mysterious gift-bringer, can transform into acts of genuine, selfless kindness. And that's what this movie demonstrates. The kids go around doing all these good deeds--even well beyond the "quota" required to get something from Klaus. The children's kind deeds then start to inspire the adults of the town. The adults start performing acts of kindness, setting aside generations of animosity and hatred in order to show each other good will. 

One incredibly heart-touching example of this is the bedraggled school-teacher/fish saleswoman, Alva.

Hmm, maybe I would have payed attention more in school if my teachers drew snowmen...

Alva is a woman who achieved an education and had the dream of teaching children. Unfortunately, due to the miserable condition of the town, nobody sent their kids to the school where Alva got hired, and she was forced to sell fish in order to hopefully move out someday. 

However, when some of the children need a teacher in order to help them write letters to Klaus, Alva suddenly comes face to face with a choice: keep saving up to move to a better school, or help the children she can help now? She chooses the latter, and uses money from her own savings to purchase school supplies (sound familiar?) She completely remodels her fish shop into a place of learning and starts teaching the children with gusto. The smiles on the children's faces show just how meaningful her actions are.

I haven't even talked about the animation, which as you can see, is simply beautiful

Even Jesper starts to change, as he realizes what a difference his and Klaus's operation is making. He starts genuinely befriending the children and townsfolk, and even develops a relationship with Alva. He starts to forget about his 6000 letter quota, and starts enjoying the simple gift of bringing joy to others.

Unless you've never seen a feel-good movie in your life, all of this is pretty predictable stuff. However, being predictable isn't bad, as long as you do it with heart. And that's where Klaus succeeds. It isn't perfect, mind you. There's a very contrived conflict brought up during the third act which relies on Klaus and Alva completely forgetting Jesper's character development (they essentially find out that he, at first, started the gift giving thing as a scheme to get his 6000 letters...but they already knew that he was selfish at first, so why does that bother/surprise them now?) There's also a few jokes here and there that don't really land. However, overall, the movie is witty, heartwarming, and genuinely concerned with teaching children the importance of being a good person (and not concerned with the whole Santa worship I described earlier).

This movie shows a grounded Santa Claus. In this movie, Klaus encapsulates what made the real Saint Nicholas so endearing--genuine kindness. The movie doesn't end with the characters using "the power of belief" to make Santa's sleigh fly. It ends with Klaus passing away, joining his beloved wife in the afterlife, leaving behind a legacy of generosity. This movie doesn't shame kids for not "believing" in Santa Claus. Rather, this movie delivers a realistic story of love and kindness which kids and adults alike can learn from and apply.

Well, that's all for now. I'll talk to y'all later!

In case you need another reason to see this movie, Klaus is voiced by J.K. Simmons...so, yeah.