CLICmas #5
Welcome to window #5 of the CLICmas Advent Calendar! If you'd like a window of your own to strut your Christmas stuff in (or should that be stuffing - parp!) and have the chance of winning a Nintendo 3DS then email sam@cliconline.org.uk as soon as possible.
If you didn't know already, in last year's CLICmas I discussed the rather happy subject of A Christmas Carol and questioned why the ghost of Christmases yet to come is almost always depicted as the Grim Reaper.
For this CLICmas, I'm going to talk about something less grim and you shall reap the rewards from it.
Yes, I'm going to discuss with you the subtle offensiveness that is hidden within gift giving. Huzzah for abnormal thought processes that has resulted in my secluded life thus far. Huzzah indeed.
If you're new to life and Christmas (it's a relatively new thing, I think), on December 25th, some people give these things known as "presents" to people they like or tolerate for the sake of a baby being born over two thousand years ago, even if said baby possibly was not born on the 25th of December.
Some presents are rather stereotypical for some people. For instance, some people would buy a male some socks while others may buy females some sort of bath stuff. But that's not where I see the offensiveness manifest itself.
Think of all the presents you've had in your life. Have you ever had some sort of body wash? New clothes? A mobile phone? Now, have you ever considered that these nice gifts could possibly have a hidden meaning?
Perfect example here is the mobile phone. If, for this example, your parents buy you a phone for your Christmas, what could it symbolise?
Could it symbolise your conversion from being an immature child to an immature teenager? Could it mean that your parents trust you enough to have your own point of contact?
Or, is it a devious way in which they can keep an eye on you? Or, if you go out too much for their liking, is it their subliminal way of saying "hey, we know you like going out, we miss you when you're gone, give us a call sometime"?
And then objects of the hygiene variety come to mind. Men (please ignore the stereotyping here), have you ever been given a Lynx gift set by either a relative or a partner? Ever wondered if that's secretly saying, "Merry Christmas, you smell"? Not to mention clothes, where the giver gives the gift to the givee, assuming that they know what clothes you like and suit you more than you do. Where's the sanity in that?
Not to mention the possible outcome that the gift either is not to the receiver's taste or just doesn't fit. Then, it gives another present to the receiver. A bad one. One where they must get the receipt back and return this product. And then they'll find out how much the giver actually paid for the present in the first place. And when you find out that said present was bought in either a set of three or in the bargain bins, you might just adjust your though process for them in next year's present giving process.
Anyway, I'm beginning to lose my marbles (great Christmas present there, if anyone's short of ideas for someone), so I shall end it here. Hope I haven't depressed anyone.
As they say in many soaps on the telly-box these days, "turrah".
Are you a writer, photographer, film-maker, illustrator, DJ, musician, animator, blogger, poet or generally creative so-and-so who has something to say about Christmas? Well email sam@cliconline.org.uk to grab your CLICmas window now and win a Nintendo 3DS!
IMAGE: Presents by Alice Harold
6 Comments – Post a comment
769
Commented 2 months ago - 5th December 2011 - 12:16pm
i am rubbish at buying presents...
worst present i ever heard of (and with hidden meaning) was my friend who got a set of house keys from his parents for his 14th birthday...
OMAR
Commented 2 months ago - 5th December 2011 - 14:58pm
HAAAAAA KEYS???!!! THA BAAAAD LOL
Ihavethecyrusvirusx
Commented 2 months ago - 5th December 2011 - 18:08pm
Hmmm... I wonder what a Nikon camera's hidden meaning is? iPhone juicer clearly means "you don't charge your phone for long enough so use this so I can get in contact with you when you're out without your phone dying." x
MarshMallo
Commented 2 months ago - 7th December 2011 - 22:21pm
I'm getting a Kindle for my birthday, and I read a lot so does that mean
"Stop nagging and get your own books"?
ToWriteLoveOnHerArms
Commented 2 months ago - 12th December 2011 - 14:58pm
For Christmas, I'm getting a pair of ice skates (since I like to ice skate), a rubix cube stool and a PSP. I think that means "get out of the house and skate, you're obsessed with retro things- try and solve that puzzle and you're a game freak, here's something else to keep you occupied..." nice.
pspplayer
Commented 2 weeks ago - 8th February 2012 - 09:48am
for chirstmas i got a psp and games to go with it and i got ben 10 alien force and i am on level6 of it and the level i am on is very very hard for me and my sister louise.