“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” truly is a romp for all ages.
Throughout the film, Cindy Lou is ignored and dismissed by the adults in her life.
For example, there’s the scene where Cindy Lou first meets the Grinch at the post office.
The Grinch reluctantly rescues the child before gift-wrapping her.
Then, he dismisses Cindy Lou when she tries to tell him about her Grinch encounter.
Somebody get this child some adult supervision!
The scene starts off innocently enough, with Baby Grinch arriving in Whoville via a flying bassinet.
When the wind knocks him off course, he lands on the doorstep of his future adoptive mothers.
The camera pans through the window, where a festive party scene is underway.
The Grinch’s moms refer to the shindig as their “annual holiday get-together.”
However, savvy viewers have noticed a subtle yet utterly salacious detail about the scene.
Key parties like the one depicted in “The Grinch” are a popular staple within the swinger community.
At these gatherings, everyone places their keys in a jar.
Not only do the Whos snub their noses at proper garbage disposal, but they’re also excessively wasteful.
As the Grinch points out, the townspeople even throw away most of their Christmas presents.
“You wanna know what happens to your gifts?”
the Grinch sneers during a scathing monologue to the Whos.
“They all come to me … in your garbage.
You see what I’m saying?
In addition to their wastefulness, the Whos use loads of electricity to power their Christmas light displays.
Frankly, we shudder to think about Whoville’s carbon footprint.
Even Dr. Seuss himself would disapprove of Whoville’s wasteful habits.
As an adult viewer, you might notice that the Grinch has depression symptoms.
“When people think about depression, they often think about people being sad,” Bulik toldCBC.
“But that’s not always how depression expresses itself.
But it’s not just the Grinch’s cranky, misanthropic attitude that indicates possible depression symptoms.
Some of his other behaviors like emotional eating, mood swings, and low self-esteem are just as concerning.
As Bulik pointed out, the Grinch’s emotional state might be related to his complicated feelings about Christmas.
Remember all of those shots featuring large crowds of Whos?
Well, those scenes were actually created with the help of CGI.
Unfortunately, you’d be wrong.
The film features very few characters of color it also lacks any visibly queer characters or nontraditional families.
If you’re wondering, “Does race even exist in Whoville?”
the answer is yes.
Some Seuss-isms are so popular that they’ve become part of the cultural zeitgeist.
In fact, Dr. Seuss is credited with coining the term “nerd.”
They also added a soundtrack featuring songs written by Dr. Seuss.
But what exactly do those words mean?
The answer: absolutely nothing.
Not too shabby for a load of gibberish.
Keeping with tradition, “Welcome Christmas” appeared in the 2000 “Grinch” adaptation.
Young audiences may not notice the objectification of Martha May but as adults, we can’t unsee it.
For one thing, the character oscillates between two tropes: sex symbol and damsel-in-distress.
Can we get a spin-off starring Martha May?
Or at least a hair tutorial?
And thanks to the 2000 adaption of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” we finally understand why.
As depicted in a flashback, the Grinch’s Yuletide resentment stems from being bullied as a child.
Then, he lashes out against the whole town by stealing their Christmas.
In the end, the Grinch has a change of heart and returns the stolen goods.
The Grinch’s redemption arc seems more about vengeance and external validation than seeking closure from his childhood trauma.
The Grinch himself is especially critical of this phenomenon.
At one point, he proclaims, “That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?
That’s what it’s always been about.
For one thing, the Grinch’s lifestyle is profoundly anti-capitalist.
He’s a die-hard dumpster diver who sources all his food and household items from the local garbage dump.
He also calls out the Whos for their shameless overconsumption.
Most notably, the Grinch believes he can destroy Christmas by stealing material items like gifts and decorations.
His experience with class discrimination probably fuels his hatred of Christmas.
For all these reasons, the Grinch is somewhat of an anti-capitalist icon until he isn’t.
In the final scene, the Grinch eagerly indulges in lavish holiday traditions alongside the Whos.
One resident walks outside to find that his baby has arrived and exclaims, “Hey, honey!
Our baby’s here!”
After a closer look, he pauses and says, “He looks just like your boss.”
That’s quite the scandal for a Seussian storyline!
And due to strict rules from the powers-that-be, the scene almost didn’t make it into production.
No crude or sexual humor.
All told, Geisel struck down seven screenplays.
“There was much I didn’t like,” she toldTimeof the rejected scripts.
Finally, the eighth rewrite was the charm Geisel approved the script and gave permission to make the movie.
But following the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Dr. Seuss' work took a bleak turn.
He started embracing anti-Japanese sentiments and promoting stereotypes about Japanese people.
In 2021, Dr. Seuss Enterprises discontinued six of Seuss' books due to racist and culturally insensitive content.
Still, critics insist that the damage has already been done.
