Muppet Christmas Carol: "Come in, and know me better, man!"
The Muppet Christmas Carol gives us a super serious turn from Michael Caine, timeless muppet fun, memorable songs and even a therapeutic lesson!
In the past, the Christmas past, Scrooge is shown his childhood, and we see it too. His remorse highlights a growing awareness of how unchecked greed and isolation have affected his mental well-being, and it comes as a surprise to him how innocent he was. As readers, or in the case of Muppet Christmas Carol, viewers, it helps us see beyond the tyrant. Just as it is in therapy, a visit backwards can offer an objective look, a reflection on what occurred to change us in the intervening years. In the past, he saw there had been loss, the loss of self. He begins to understand how that experience is presenting itself in the here and now. What might he have become under different circumstances? We all grow up and play the hand we are dealt.
Currently, in the here and now, Scrooge does not value empathy and connection - and why would he? When we encounter the Scrooges of this world, it is hard to see beyond how they treat us and consider their lived experiences. We only see the adult that has emerged on the other side of a lifetime of disappointments and how their behaviour affects us.
In the absence of our own ghostly Christmas revelation, to understand Scrooge is to approach things phenomenologically. That is, he emotionally revisits where he was at that earlier period and how he experienced it back then. It is there that we find compassion for the child and then begin to understand the adult. Avoiding social connections in later life kept him safe, and chasing wealth became an armour that brought security. His defensive behaviour made sense back there; that’s how he felt then, what he needed to do. We don’t understand him now because he has wealth; it doesn’t make sense to see him accumulate more. He doesn’t require more, but the part of him driving forward is a fearful, inner-child accountant. It appears to us as greed; it doesn’t appear to Scrooge as anything at all, and if he were to receive therapy, he may become aware that it is even a thing he does. If we could go back and visit someone’s childhood, we’d see the pain behind their defence and why they present in the here and now as they do.
Poor Scrooge, nothing sobers you up like looking at your gravestone! However, looking to the future, there is always hope that transformation can take place. Therapists will tell you, to witness transformation is a privilege and perhaps a reason why this story is so enduring. His therapeutic, muppet-based apparitions help him to become aware and acknowledge the influence of the past, cherish the present connections, and embrace the potential for personal growth in the future. In Scrooge’s case, charity, joy and redemption!
It’s never too late for any of us to change; in fact, some wise muppets once said, ‘Why don’t you get things started? It’s time to get things started.’
