How to survive the holidays, Hollywood style

MANILA, Philippines - Though the Christmas season is supposed to be time spent pondering the birth of Jesus Christ, it is traditionally spent coping with the stress of juggling relatives, gift-buying and party scheduling, to the point that there are as many articles about holiday relaxation techniques as there are Christmas movies. But sometimes, there are those rare gems that combine the entertainment factor of a Hollywood movie with an important life lesson (directly applicable to the season at hand) without the whole thing being cheesy. Here are some holiday hits, and what they teach you about handling holiday ups and downs:

The Muppet Christmas Carol

The Lowdown: An adaptation of the Dickens classic that placed an importance on kindness during the holidays and on valuing human relationships over material possessions, the whole thing made cuter by Muppets.

The Lesson: Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol teaches us to love and cherish other people so that we may be loved and cherished ourselves. The Muppet Christmas Carol teaches us that it is easier to do this if you have cute googly eyes like Kermit’s nephew Robin, who plays Tiny Tim.

Mean Girls

The Lowdown: Mean Girls isn’t a Christmas movie, but one of its most memorable scenes occurs when the Plastics, the popular clique that Cady Heron (Lindsey Lohan) joins, dress up as sexy Santas and dance to Jingle Bell Rock, which they perform every year.

The Lesson: Sad, but true: if you are hot and popular, you can do the same thing — party, program, leftovers, whatever — every Christmas and no one will complain. In the real world, “hot and popular” can be substituted with “have a lot of money and/or booze.”

Bad Santa

The Lowdown: A trash-talking alcoholic thief who works as Santa in the mall (Billy Bob Thornton) inadvertently befriends a socially deficient kid and the two end up saving each other.

The Lesson: If there’s a time to be nice to that annoying relative or co-worker, it’s probably Christmas. Even if you don’t get a heartwarming story out of it, you will at least get good karma.

Elf

The Lowdown: In this movie about Buddy (Will Ferrell), a man reared by elves in Santa’s workshop who goes to New York to find his biological father, the engine of Santa’s sleigh breaks down in Central Park from lack of good cheer. Aside from believing in St. Nick, the fastest way to get into the Christmas spirit and to get Santa’s sleigh airborne is through singing Christmas carols, such as “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is by singing loud for all to hear,” one of the basic things the elves learn in school. Though the movie used Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town as sleigh juice, any Christmas song will do.

The Lesson: “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is by singing loud for all to hear” doesn’t just apply to making Santa’s sleigh fly. Get into the Christmas spirit even if you don’t feel like it by humming a holiday tune or two.

Edward Scissorhands

The Lowdown: In this bittersweet tale of small town jealousy and romance, newcomer Edward Scissorhands (Johnny Depp) is wrongfully accused of several things including battery, burglary, attempted rape and chased back to the mansion he came from. Later, Kim (Winona Ryder), Edward’s love interest, convinces the mob that Edward is dead, just so they will leave him alone.

The Lesson: The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, especially during the holiday season. Sometimes, the best way to keep a bad situation from getting worse is to settle for the lesser of two evils, such as losing face by not inviting drunk Uncle Bob to Christmas dinner for the sake of a joyful (and sane) holiday celebration.