"Fatman" (2020)

 

The closing lines from Greg Lake’s song “I Believe in Father Christmas” are: 

“They said there'll be snow at Christmas 

They said there'll be peace on earth 

Hallelujah, Noel be it heaven or hell 

The Christmas we get we deserve” 

People took offense at the perceived anti-Christmas tone of the song, but it was actually directed against the materialism that had overtaken the season. 

The message of 2020’s “Fatman” might well be a similar one, albeit directed at a different cultural shift we have witnessed. 

“Fatman” tells the story of a Chris Cringle who has become disillusioned and depressed at the state of the world. His mission has been to encourage and reward children to be good, but fewer and fewer kids seem to care. Cringle feels like he is a failure. Meanwhile, a spoiled rich kid with daddy issues named Billy has gotten a lump of coal under his tree. Billy is a kid who wins in everything he does—not by earning his wins, but by stealing, coercing, and paying professional muscle to get his way. When he gets the coal, he hires his hitman to kill Santa. 

The parallels to our current culture are on the nose. Billy is a none-to-subtle dig at Trump. And the frustration Chris feels towards the world is something most people can embrace today. But the film just doesn’t have enough heart, humor, or story to really be effective. It fails at entertaining, and it fails at delivering an effective message. 

In the end, Chris Cringle comes to the realization that the world can’t be improved with a carrot. He must resort to the stick. 

In 2020, from a purely secular cultural standpoint, we get the Christmas we deserve. Thankfully, the true Christmas story is all about a world getting exactly what it doesn’t deserve and could never earn. But not the coercive, cheating win of the Billy’s and Donald’s of the world. We get the gift of Grace.