Miracle on 34th Street- Christmas Movie

"I'm not just a whimsical figure who wears a charming suit and affects a jolly demeanor. You know, I I I'm a symbol. I'm a symbol of the human ability to be able to suppress the selfish and hateful tendencies that rule the major part of our lives. If you can't believe, if you can't accept anything on faith, then you're doomed for a life dominated by doubt."

are the lines which Kris or Santa Claus tells to the doubtful woman in this lovely Christmas movie.  I especially loved the scene of Santa communicating with deaf and dumb girl in sign language.

The URL for the scene (from YouTube) is santa signs to deaf girl

I would like to write about some ideas which I observed in this movie. The movie seems to have themes of New Age Spirituality in addition to the Christianity:

1. The little girl when asked by Santa what she wants for  Christmas , gives him a paper which is actually a sort of vision board which shows her wishes clearly and visually- so a sort of hinting towards Santa as symbolic  representation of the Universe.
2. Moreover, in the very endearing scene of the deaf and dumb little girl who goes to see Santa in the store with her mother just to see him and not to ask anything for Christmas, we do see that in the end when wishes of all others are fulfilled by Santa, she is not shown anywhere, because she never "ASKED" for anything in the first place. This again  alludes to the idea of "ask and you shall receive from the Universe"

3. The idea of reincarnation exists in this movie.  We see that Santa Claus who claims he is the real Santa, but he is walking this earth and goes through the earthly trials and troubles such as being punished for a fake crime.  So clearly Kris is the incarnation of St. Nicholas who we call as Santa Claus.
4. When asked if Santa could make the reindeer fly, when being tried in the  court for a so-called felony, he replies , " I cannot make the reindeer fly, they  only fly on Christmas Eve ." These words seem to contain a hidden message which is that miracles happen on Christmas and perhaps it is not Santa who really makes the reindeers fly on his sledge, but in fact it is the reindeers who fly in faith all by their own.

American Mary- Movie Review

I recently watched a movie, intrigued by its title and the story line. After watching any movie, I tend to google the critical reviews of the plot and summaries to understand the interpretations. And I  like to write about my own interpretations which I believe are novel and not written before. 

It is one of those rare movies which is both sad and inspiring at the same time but the feminine power outshines the sadness which it harbors. As one of the online movie reviews says,  Mary was a "sculptor with a scalpel".  Themes of male domination and male abuse are rampant in the movie. The evil and immoral nature of male has been pitted against the good and innocent nature of Mary. The movie also mocks at a sad truth which exists in many medical schools in which there are stories of medical female students resorting to sex trade in order to pay their medical college high debts.

The surgical scene of the nipple being removed and the vaginal opening being stitched shut surgically , appear to be a harbinger of closure of what defines the true femininity and womanhood. In a way, that forewarns the closing of the feminine energy which is nourishing and stimulating.  And in fact, we do see that after this Mary is brutally raped under the effect of a spiked drink by none other than her teacher at the medical school, and then she transforms herself into a revenge-seeking body who becomes  a channel for doling out revenge at its gravest, and also enhancing her under-appreciated talents of surgical skill. 

What was sad was that she faced failure in her professional life and personal life which went together throughout the film, hence, at the end I do feel sorry for the downfall and abrupt twist in the plot which leads to murder of Mary. Personal trauma included financial crunch, shock of  underworld surgery and brutal molestation.  That was followed by quitting her medical school when she almost was destined for success as a surgeon so a professional fiasco. The scenes in which she discovers that Billy also could not be trusted as a potential lover, she is shown heartbroken and resorts to the sharp scalpel. The scene showing death of her only personal relationship which was of help- her Nana (grandmother, I suppose) and the scene showing her deleting her name from the contact list was very appealing and subtle.Her transformation as a  sort of single handed super surgeon who miraculously performs intense surgeries all by herself speak well of her intelligence and inherent talent. This is reiterated in the last scene when she has been stabbed and  is shown holding two surgical scissors and suturing her own wound , but, sadly  she dies.  This scene is the culmination of what a real artist or a surgeon can be. I believe in this scene Mary transcended her medical expertise to go on to achieve status of a real artist. As one of the actors remarks to Mary in one of the scenes," you are truly an artist"

In a way , just like the spiked drink, any bit of promise of happiness or love was spiked or poisoned in her own life,  Like when we see that she began to find solace in Billy but then discovers his promiscuous act and she feels stung , and later when Billy talks to her about possibility of driving down to LA for a break and a better place, that hope was cut short by the climax in which we see her abrupt murder at the hands of an unknown person. I thus believe that the  themes of "spike" and the "scalpel" are what appears throughout the movie symbolically. Her fate, just like the real spike showed immense rise and immense fall towards the end too. To summarize the movie in few lines, I'd like to say:

"She did body altering surgeries and in the process every time with the scalpel which she uses on the patient, she cuts out a bit of her own soul each time, all under the spiked influence of revenge"