The Santa Clause 2 Review

 By: Dylan Smith

Premise:

'Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) carried the responsibilities of being Santa for the eight entire years, his elves consider him the best Santa Claus to ever reign over the North Pole. Scott's world abruptly turns upside down when he is dealt with disheartening news of his son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd),  being put on the naughty list. Scott also is dealt with more terrible news when his elf servants tell Scott that he needs to find a Ms. Claus before Christmas morning, leaving Scott only one month to fix two problems at once! 

Review:

This film generates numerous questions and themes:

Monogamy as a requirement for identity. Without a relationship in matrimony, you lose who you are. You are nothing without a spouse, a partner, etc. Another theme is that of the parents' dilemma work and children and the balance of that.

This film also prompts the question "What does it mean to be naughty?" or "How can we redeem ourselves?" and "Is it justified for one person to determine who's naughty or nice, who deserves punishment or reward?"

Where is the line drawn between the balance of naughty and nice?

This film presents the question of how does the world of Santa determines naughty and nice with no real answer, there is also the question that if people commit any naughty act then does not that instantly make them guilty? What acts can be pushed away and ignored and what acts are punishable? None of these questions in ethics are answered but they are brought to the audience's attention which is interesting. All in all, the subplot makes the viewer think about the whole system as a whole like:

Is North Pole a greater metaphor for Utilitarianism?

Santa Claus enslaves an intelligent form of life (Elves) and makes them build and construct toys, monitor their factory, and handle any other means of production. All of this in the means to serve a greater public, not on their position in any class standing or demographic but ethical merit. Is this ethical in and of itself? Do we need a Santa Claus? Does the public benefiting from slave labor make them just as responsible and therefore naughty? Do the ends justify the means?

Does the joy of a child once a year justify a slave camp hidden in the north pole?

So, let us pull into this film's "Santa Clause" as it reads "The card holding acknowledges a WOMAN of his choosing to be bound in holy matrimony… true love- not valid in the state of Utah."

Scott Calvin must marry a woman before Christmas Eve to maintain the utilitarianism system he was granted when he murdered the previous Santa (We're not going to ask what happen to that Santa's wife). What if Scott was gay? What if the person who killed Santa was a woman?

Again, more questioned raised and none answered. This says a lot about the system in place at the North Pole, people repeatedly refuse to question anything. The elves workday and night to please Santa, the feel like failures when they cannot make toys, if they cannot serve then they are useless to Santa. At the end of the day, one must question if this is a form of fascism. There's a society the punishes the naughty (who the people in power determine with their own rules), where people feel useless for not being able to fulfill their roles in society, and where serving without question, for the good of Christmas and the North Pole is encouraged by all members of the society regardless of class structure.

What we already know from Scott Calvin from the first film is that he is already gone through the wringer, he has been married before, with a child and that married failed. Throughout the first film, he learns how to be a loving father and to handle the responsibilities of being a divorced dad, and I guess that all it takes to earn your child's love is to become a figure young children idolize the most?

Either way, Scott learned to put forth the things that make him happy the most, Charlie and making others happy. He never felt he needed to be married but now, as we see, he must fulfill the role and become partnered with a female.

Perhaps this film is suggesting the older stereotype of a political leader and their need to be married in a heterosexual relationship to maintain the power of the people regardless if the marriage is made authentically or if the two members are actually in love (marriage of state).

Now, that's a resemble plot line the film could travel down, as Scott learns to challenge the tradition and ancient and barbaric rules of the Santa Clause and in the meantime learns to appreciate and understand his son for doing practically the same thing, challenging the system.

But no… the film goes in a far worse and weirder route.

The Mechanical Santa.

To maintain a schedule for Christmas day and to find a wife Scott Calvin needs to be in two places at once. Without wanting to worry the public, Santa and a small cabinet of higher-ups create the mechanical Santa to keep production moving while Santa works on family problems as well as finding a wife.

Now the mechanical Santa or 'Toy Santa' is another type of this political allegory, a bodyguard or doppelganger in use to ensure the public's confidence in the political leader's health and status. Toy Santa is the ultimate form of production when the fact that the workers themselves, the elves, are now being ordered and pushed around by a toy. It is a classic man vs. machine, or even man vs. society, and towards the end of the film, man vs. himself.

Charlie Calvin is our second protagonist and the son of Scott Calvin. Throughout the film, Charlie is under the naughty list and must redeem himself for his crimes before Christmas Day. Throughout the film, he constantly defaces public property and challenges the institutions he is put in. Why? Well, we do not learn until the end but his reasoning behind his protests and his rebellious nature against the authority is because he is tormented with the burden of loving his father so much. He loves that his dad is Santa but hates that he cannot tell the world. He hates that the public-school system does not decorate the halls and celebrate Christmas. This is the reasoning the film gives us, and we just have to say, oh ok yeah that makes sense.

What ‘The Santa Clause 2’ Means for Divorced Families:

There is something nice about the films' depiction of divorced couples, they are both happy separated and decent towards each other’s partners, Neil for example. Neil (Judge Reinhold) is not joked on or ridiculed like you may see stepdads are in countless other movies, one, for example being, Ant-man (2015). Just kidding, he is constantly joked on by Scott Calvin and is depicted as lame and dull. This whole dynamic is emphasized in the principle office scene when they address Charlie's actions.

It is a tired joke especially when Neil was just trying to find the actual reason for Charlie's behavior. Scott dismisses and interrupts and treats the whole parent-teacher conflict as dismissive and stupid. This shows lack of care in his child, and with the mother, has no input on the matter either, so Neil seems to be the only parent in Charlie's life the cares for his well-being. Neil needs more love.

Another problem that Scott has with Newman is the fact that her domain, a public school, lacks any decorations for Christmas, a religious holiday, that when pointed out to Calvin he shakes it off as if that point is without merit.

Principle Newman another political metaphor in of itself and will later form a marriage of state with Calvin to bond a greater power in each form of Charlie Calvin's life. There is one scene where they both look at ways to mutually punish Charlie.

Scott Calvin does not tell Carol until the end of the film, minutes before Christmas that he needs to marry someone to keep the Christmas spirit alive. He guilt's her into marrying him, if she fails to marry her all the elves disappear from existence, Christmas will disappear. She must agree to a life of isolation from society and live in a cold, distant place. The only question she has is "Is there a school here?". It is a very dark ultimatum Calvin presents to her and yet the movie glosses over it and acts like she was not put into a position where she felt forced to marry him, where was she going to go? She was in the middle of the North Pole, I guarantee that if she said no and everything disappeared, Charlie, Scott, and Carol would have died from the cold temperate.

` Scott Calvin constantly uses the powers gifted to him for his gain. There's no rhyme or reason to the Santa Clause, he operates with no real limits, this is put in the spotlight with Toy Santa as they operate the same system just one uses a militia to enforce order while the other just earns there servitude?

The elves know Scott killed their previous boss, these poor creatures are obligated to serve countless masters but never once reach the highest power, they must have made a deal with some demon or hell king and this is their punishment.

In conclusion, this film and this franchise incentives the need for magic to get people to love you, whether that be a partner or your child. It is a dark message that makes viewers (especially divorced Dads) lacking in the relationships that they currently have.