The Hogfather

Some Christmases are... stranger than others...

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Time for candies and trees and presents wrapped up in bows!

It's the time for...

Terry Pratchett?

Well, if you know me, and let's face it, if you've read this blog at all, you know me, every time of the year is a time for Terry Pratchett.  Heck, my kids will probably know all the movies by heart before they learn proper sentences. I'll probably read them Tiffany Aching before trotting out nice, family-friendly stuff like The Wizard of Oz or Little House on the Prairie. Though, seriously, I never understood why people would want to read Little House of the Prairie when the Bible and Edward Eager exist.

But... enough about this, it's CHRISTMAS!

Or... on the Disc, it's HOGSWATCH!

That is a very good thing for kids... most years, but this year (according to the book and the movie) The Auditors of Reality have decided to put a stop to all this Hogswatch and Hogfather nonsense. The fat man in a suit can't exist in an orderly world! So they hire and assassin to kill the Fat Man (the Hogfather/Santa). Of course, they get a bit more than they bargained for when Mr. Teatime (Teh-Ah-Tim-Eh) is put on the job. He doesn't just want to kill the Hogfather, no... he enjoys killing. He even has a plan to kill Death (he thinks of it as a... social service). And, his plans include breaking into the Tooth Fairy's territory and taking control of allllll the children.

How nice is that?

But, Death... wait a minute...

DEATH has decided to put a stop to such nonsense. He and his granddaughter Susan (who isn't so much willing as dragged into the business by being a responsible sort of person) are going to stop Mr. Teatime with the help of a bunch of rowdy wizards ans the Oh God! of Hangovers.

That's... the basic plot. It sounds silly because it is silly. It's completely hilarious actually.  I love every minute of it. Now, it has come to my attention that some people (i.e. my supposed best friend) find the made-for-TV movie to be... boring.

I don't really see how that's possible, but you can't always account for bad taste. She didn't even watch the second half because she "couldn't get interested". Then again, she only just watched the worst of the Pratchett films (Going Postal) and she was watching The Color of Magic last I checked and enjoying immensely. So maybe, she'll be ready for the Hogfather some other time. Who knows?

Either way, I've gone into this in a previous post and I'll say it again. My favorite, favorite, favorite part of this book and movie is the stress it places on the fact that our imaginations, our ability to believe in things that aren't exactly real and make them real by belief is the best part about humanity.

Before us, it was all "kill or be killed". You were either a predator or prey and your biggest concern was passing on your DNA before you died. Then, we humans came along and thought and imagined and we came up with so many wonderful things like truth, mercy, justice, freedom, love, beauty, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera...

Those are just concepts, people! There's over one hundred different elements on the periodic table. These elements are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. The protons and neutrons are made up with quarks. Now, there are strange quarks. There are charm quarks. There are up, down, top and bottom quarks. There are many different particles and waves and forces...

But none of those things creates anything remotely resembling "truth" or "mercy" or "justice" or "love". Yes, they all exhibit traits I'd describe as "freedom" and "beauty", but others would probably scoff at my doing so and have a full dissertation on how foolish I am to think it, but I bet me saying so has other people thinking it too. And they spread their thoughts to others. And those others share their thoughts.  And if enough people believe that something is beautiful... well, it shows up in a fashion magazine and becomes fact to most of the morns of the world, doesn't it? Freedom kind of tends to go the same way, but with politicians.

So, this Christmas, pick up Terry Pratchett. You'll never regret it... until you realize there are so many books to choose from! Which one do you pick up first? (Hogfather for Christmas or Guards!Guards! just because.) And... think about what you believe in. Not specifically. I'm not talking about God or gods or The Invisible Pink Unicorn. I'm talking about those other things that you take for granted. Like, what is mercy? What is love? Deep down, too. At their cores. I'm not saying decide anything specific because that's up to you. I just want you to think about it and imagine. And then go out and have fun.

You really shouldn't be reading stuff on Christmas Day! Go get out the the house and do something!

Bloody layabouts...