Festivals is a secular holiday celebrated on December 23 as an alternative to Christmas pressures and commercialism. Originally the family tradition of scriptwriter Dan O'Keefe, who worked on the American sitcom Seinfeld, Festivus entered a popular culture after being focused on the 1997 episode "The Strike".
The non-commercial holiday celebration, as depicted in Seinfeld, took place on December 23 and included Festivus dinners, Festivus aluminum unadorned poles, practices such as "Complaint Views" and "Courage of Strengths" and labeling of events easily described as "the miracle of the Festivus". This episode calls it "Festivus for all of us".
It has been described both as a parody's holiday festival and as a form of consumer fighting playfully. Journalist Allen Salkin described it as "a perfect secular theme for a comprehensive December meeting".
Video Festivus
Histori
Festivus was conceived by writer and editor Daniel O'Keefe, father of TV writer Dan O'Keefe, and celebrated by his family as early as 1966. While the Latin word festivus means "excellent, carefree, alive" and in turn comes from the festus "happy, holiday, feast", Festivus in this sense was created by the older O'Keefe: according to him, the name "just popped into my head ". In the original O'Keefe tradition, the holiday will take place to celebrate Daniel O'Keefe's first date with his future wife, Deborah. The phrase "a Festivus for the rest of us" originally refers to what remained after the death of O'Keefe's old mother, Jeanette, in 1976; that is, "the rest of us" is the living, as opposed to the dead.
In 1982, Daniel O'Keefe wrote a book, Stolen Lightning: The Social Theory of Magic, which deals with idiosyncratic rituals and their social significance, a theme relevant to the Festivist tradition.
It is now celebrated on December 23, as described in the episode Seinfeld written by the younger O'Keefe.
Seinfeld
The Festivus episode of Seinfeld was titled "The Strike", although O'Keefe noted that the authors then wished they named it "The Festivus". It was broadcasted for the first time on December 18, 1997. The plot revolves around Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) back to work in his old job, H & amp; H Bagels. While dining at Monk's Restaurant, when George Costanza (Jason Alexander) opened his letter, he received a card from his father saying, "My son, Happy Festivus." This causes Jerry Seinfeld and Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to discuss George's father's work on Festivus even though George does not want it to be discussed. Kramer later became interested in generating a vacation when, at the bakery, Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller) told him how he created the Festivus as an alternative holiday in response to the commercialization of Christmas.
Meanwhile, George makes a donation card for a fake charity called the Human Fund (with the slogan "Money for People") instead of having to give Christmas office presents. When his boss, Mr. Kruger (Daniel von Bargen), asked George a question about the $ 20,000 check he gave George to donate to the Human Fund as a corporate donation, George rushed to rationalize that he formed the Human Fund because he feared persecution because of his belief, celebrate the Festivus instead of Christmas. Trying to summon his bluff, Kruger comes home with George to see Festivus in action.
Kramer eventually strikes from his bagel-vendor job when his manager tells him that he can not take December 23 to celebrate his new-found holiday. Kramer is then seen on the sidewalk, photographing H & amp; H Bagels, carrying a sign saying "Festivus yes! Bagel no!" and singing to anyone who passes the shop: "Hey! No bagels, no bagels, no bagels..."
Finally, at Frank's house in Queens, Jerry, Elaine, Kramer, and George gather to celebrate the Festivus. George took Kruger to prove to him that the Festivus was "too real".
O'Keefe was initially reluctant to incorporate his family tradition into this episode, but when executive producer Alec Berg and Jeff Schaffer caught the wind from a strange holiday through his younger brother, they became curious, then enthusiastic, then insisted that it had a place in the episode. Schaffer then reflects: "That's what happened with the Seinfeld story, the original is always the best.There is a sense in reality that sometimes it's perfect.We can sit in a room for a billion years and we'll never make a Festivus.This is crazy and funny and very funny and very annoying.
Maps Festivus
Custom practices
The holidays, as depicted in the Seinfeld episode, include practices such as "Complaint Views", which occurred during the Festivus dining hour and where everyone tells others all the way they let them down last year. After the meal, "Feats of Strength" is done, involving the household head wrestling to the floor, with the holiday ending only if the household head is pinned.
Festivus pole
In the episode, the Festivus tradition begins with an aluminum pole. Frank Costanza cites the very high "to-strength-to-weight ratio" as an attraction. During the Festivus, the pole was displayed without decoration. According to Frank, "I found tinsel interfering."
And O'Keefe praises Seinfeld Jeff Schaffer by introducing the concept. The aluminum pole is not part of the original O'Keefe family celebrations, centered on putting the clock in the bag and nailing it to the wall.
Festivus Dinner
In "The Strike", a celebration dinner is featured on Festivus nights before Feats of Strength and during Complaint Views. The food in the air shows Estelle Costanza serving a reddish-shaped meat slice on a bed of lettuce. In the episode no alcohol is served at dinner, but boss George, Mr. Kruger, drinking something from a hip flask.
The original holiday dinner at O'Keefe's household features a turkey or ham as described in Dan O'Keefe The Real Festivus .
Complaint Views
The "Airing of Grievances" takes place immediately after dinner Festivus has been served. In the television episode, Frank Costanza started with the phrase, "I have a lot of trouble with you, and now you will hear it!" It consists of everyone who denounces other people and the world about how disappointed they were last year.
Strength of Strength
The Feats of Strength is the last tradition observed in the celebration of Festivus, celebrated immediately after (or in the case of "The Strike", during ) of Festivus dinners. The head of household chooses one person at the Festivus celebration and challenges them to a wrestling match. Tradition declares Festivus not over until the head of the household is pinned. In "The Strike", however, Kramer managed to avoid the rules by creating a reason to leave. The Feats of Strength are mentioned twice in the episode before they occur. In both cases, no details were given about what had happened, but in both cases, George Costanza ran out of the coffee shop in a crazy panic, implying that he had had a bad experience with Feats of Strength in the past. What the Feats of Strength caused is expressed at the end of the episode, when it happens. Failed to pin head of household result in Festivus continues until such requirement is fulfilled.
Festivus Miracles
Cosmo Kramer twice stated "The Miracle of the Festivus" during the celebration of Festivus at Costanza's household. Kramer led to two "miracles" by inviting two off-track bets for dinner with Elaine (the man Elaine wanted to avoid), and by causing Jerry Gwen's boyfriend to believe that Jerry betrayed her.
Wider Adoption
Some people, most of them inspired by Seinfeld episodes, then start celebrating holidays with varying degrees of seriousness. Book of 2005 Allen Salkin Festivus: The Holiday for Rest of Us recounts the early adoption of the Festivus. Rabbi Joshua Eli Plaut 2012 A Christmas Kosher: "Tis the Season to Be Jewish" Festivus reference.
During the Baltimore Ravens' run to the Super Bowl XXXV Championship in 2000, head coach Brian Billick superstitiously issued an organizational ban on the use of the word "playoffs" until the team had snatched the postseason first place. "Playoffs" are instead referred to as "Festivus" and Super Bowl as "Festivus Maximus".
In 2005, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle was declared a "Festivus Governor", and during the holiday season featured a Festivus Pole in the living room of the Executive Residence in Madison, Wisconsin. Governor Doyle's 2005 Festivus Pole is now part of the Wisconsin History Museum collection.
In 2010, a CNN story featuring Jerry Stiller detailed the increase in holiday popularity, including the originator of Festivus Representative Eric Fantor from the US, and Christian Science Monitor reported that Festivus was the top trend on Twitter that year.
In 2012, Google introduced a special search result for the term "Festivus". In addition to the normal results, an unadorned aluminum pole is displayed at the bottom of the search results list and "A festivus miracle!" prefix results and speed. Also in 2012, a Festivus Pole was set up in municipal property in Deerfield Beach, Florida, in addition to religious themed holiday themes. A similar Festivus Pole is displayed next to a religious exhibition at the Wisconsin State Capitol, along with a banner provided by the Freedom From Religion Foundation that advocates separation of government and religion.
In 2013 and 2014, a Festivus Pole built with 6 feet (1.8 m) cans was erected next to birth scenes and other religious fairs at Florida State Capitol Building, in protest supporting the separation of church and state. In 2015, the same people were given permission to showcase the Festivus mast, this year decorated with a theme of gay pride and closed with a disco ball to celebrate the US Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage, at Parliament buildings in Florida, Georgia. , Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Washington.
In 2016, US Senator Rand Paul released a special edition of Festivus from The Waste Report . In 2016, the Tampa Bay Times became the first newspaper to allow readers to submit Festivus complaints through its website, with a promise to publish on December 23, the Festivus holiday.
In 2017, CNN's Jake Tapper confiscated President Donald Trump's statement about the news media as "instead of focusing on his achievements and offering an optimistic, positive view of what he did for the country, it was a complaint, it was Festivus, it was complaints about the media. "Upstream 2017 television series The Future refers to a holiday as a future event commemorated by characters with fat cats and fresh-colored tea water.
family practice O'Keefe
The O'Keefe family holiday features another practice, as described in The Real Festivus (2005), a book by Daniel O'Keefe's son Dan O'Keefe. In addition to giving a first-person account of the early version of the Festivus holiday as celebrated by the O'Keefe family, this book tells how Dan O'Keefe changed or changed the details of his father's discovery to create the Seinfeld episode.
Festivus Clock
In the 2013 CNN segment on Festivus's origins, O'Keefe talks about real-life experiences related to vacations. O'Keefe's father, who is from some of the now recognized Festivus traditions, uses a clock in a bag nailed to a wall instead of an aluminum pole. It's never the same bag, rarely the same clock, but always the same wall. Nailing is most often done in secret, and then reveals with pride to his family. The younger O'Keefe told CNN: "The real symbol of the holiday is the hour my dad put in my bag and nailed to the wall every year... I do not know why, I do not know what that means, he will never tell me. He will always say, 'It's not for you to know. ' "So the real meaning of nailing the pocket watch has gone.
See also
- Buy No Christmas
- Buy No Day
- What will Jesus Buy? , documentary 2007
- Reverend Billy and Church Stopped Shopping
- Winterval
References
External links
- Festivusweb.com - Festivus Excerpt and script from "The Strike"
- The Origin of Festivus
Source of the article : Wikipedia