The haunter of Whoville
The hater of Christmas
There is one person during the holidays that is guaranteed to be on the naughty list. No, it isn’t your brothers or sisters, it’s the Grinch! This present-snatching, tree-stealing, green mess of a person is back for the holidays.
The Grinch has been around for 56 years and has been given three different films showcasing his chaos around Christmas time. He dislikes everything about the wintery holiday, from the lights and decorations that we put on our houses and trees, to the small sugary cookies that we bake. As the Grinch says in the 2018 film, “The presents, this is our enemy. You will want to unwrap it and play with it…but you must not!”
The Grinch sees Christmas for what it is: a joy-bringing holiday that happens every year involving repetitive music lyrics, presents, and cookies. Yet he hates all of it. Despite his grumpy Christmas hate, I don’t think the Grinch is a bad person. I see the love that he gives his dog Max. I think that he has a dark side just for this one specific time of the year.
Our favorite sadness-struck green creature has been portrayed in film several times, all by different actors. Two are very famous in our era. One is Benedict Cumberbatch, who voiced the Grinch in the 2018 rendition by Illumination. The other was played by Jim Carrey in How the Grinch Stole Christmas by FilmFlex. Both actors did a great job portraying the green negativity bringer, but they are very different from each other.
How might a British actor correctly portray a grumpy, self-centered creature with sarcastic comments and Who-hating attitude? I think it's a little bit skill-based. It also helps that Cumberbatch had a bit of a history with his work in Sherlock (2010). Then you have Carrey, bringing his wit and personality to this vengeful creature and knocking it out of the park. The comments, attitude and especially the eyebrows gave the audience everything that they were looking for in a cynical, pear-shaped, Christmas-hating creature.
Overall, I don’t think the Grinch is that bad. He has Max to love up to him and make him turn that frown upside down. Sooner or later he will turn good, and maybe his heart will grow and stay three times bigger for good! Then we can all rest easy this holiday, knowing our presents aren’t in someone’s sight and all our Christmas trees are safe. Happy Holidays!
By: Gabriel Sanders