happy holidays from galaxy quest

Rating: 2/10 (12 April 2006)

This is deeply odd. it's like space aliens have recorded earth television for fifty years, and have attempted to make their own sentimental television classic.
The results are like those creepy un-Xmas cards you get from insurance agents that say "happy holidays" rather than "merry Christmas".
As far as I can tell, the Betazoids who wrote the script seem to believe that Santa Claus is a religious figure, and the centre of Christmas. (Indeed, the whole Christ thing is so embarrassing that the Betazoids are very careful to avoid it: so no carols on the soundtrack, just "seasonal" hits).
Somehow Santa elides into a kind of all-seeing, ever-present Jehovah, with a thousand faces, all of them Tom Hanks. Finally, he morphs into a type of giant embalmed Stalin figure, complete with Soviet star on the Christmas tree, and the orchestra blazing the melody of "The Red Flag".
(As Anna Russell would say, 'I'm not making this up, you know') Apparently the message of the picture is that if we all just BELIEVE in this wonderful deity, we shall all receive train-sets on Christmas morning. (That's all that's at stake for the leading character, apparently. There's no 'redeemer' or 'forgiver' character in this plot, but that's OK, because no-one needs one.)