Christmas Shopping in November: Memories from Two Decades of my Life

It’s almost like a story out of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, the remaining member of the family who believes in Santa ends up growing old and becoming him.

I always start my Christmas shopping round about October, because that’s when it’s before the crowds and I feel a lot more comfortable doing it this way than the way other people do it. My twin brother never truly understood this. He thought it was all about the giving into capitalism, when really I was just shopping early because I felt, well, uncomfortable having to navigate large crowds. My brother, he’d just sit there doing nothing expecting me to wrap all the presents for him, and decorate the tree – because he couldn’t be arsed to summon up some Christmas spirit.

Yes, the Haruhi picture above is symbolic. In the light novel The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Kyon mentions that he has never truly believed in Santa Claus. What I am experiencing in terms of emotions this Christmas isn’t just the burden of being the lone Santa Supporter in the family, but the idea that this could be the last Christmas where I will be a teenager, and soon, I will be twenty years old. Two decades of my life will be over six days after Christmas, a birthday I share with my namesake from The Brothers Grimm, Jacob Grimm.

Jacob Grimm edited many folktales associated with magic and wonder, but also terror and awe. They’re very violent and passionate stories, much like I myself feel when struggling to prevent myself from entering a rage over something. And this Christmas there is a lot to rage about. In my lifetime the peace of the 1990s (relatively speaking) was shattered by September 11, which led to a war which it seems has no defined enemy, because in reality the enemy is us. Maybe my generation is living as a generation of cynics shaped by the political climate of our times. Michael Atkinson, the Attorney General of South Australia, still won’t back down on his censoring of video games. Australians experience the desperation of a government which makes them ridiculed by people overseas, Americans frequently troll us on internet forums about the subject… but what are we really fighting against, in this? Is making fun of Australia the new national sport as we lose pride in our country? It certainly wasn’t like this in 1998, as I remember it.

1998 remains one of my sole memories of the 1990s, even though I barely remember 1998 at all. It was this memory I keep with me, where we had Super Soaker water pistol fights with each other in the park, played multi-player matches against each other on the Nintendo 64 – as well as battling each other with Pokemon cards… but maybe all those memories will be lost, like tears in the rain. (Blatantly quoting Blade Runner, which I studied in HSC English Advanced, blergh)

Bob Chipman has a good video about video games and cultural relevancy in all mediums, right here (Some coarse language, NSFW):

What parts of my generation’s experiences will remain? I hadn’t remembered Banjo-Kazooie for a while until the video above brought it up. There’s also a powerful and somewhat chilling examination of the falling relevancy of Archie Comics in there, I mean, part of that can be attributed to the fact that no Archie graphic novels are available, you have to buy the issues individually from a comic book shop. Manga doesn’t seem to have this problem because, as Great Big Nerd says, graphic novels are “bookstore friendly”.

It’s fascinating isn’t it? What was once an argument between comics and manga fans seems to have fizzled to an uncomfortable acceptance that the older demographic who reads comics is getting older and younger people from Gen Y seem to be into manga more. Generation X is a generation behind us, and even Kurt Cobain isn’t a sacred cow to people my age. To us he’s just another rock star that killed himself. To Generation X he has much more meaning.

What will happen to Western culture as it is reshaped by this economic crisis that makes newer content with fresh ideas harder to sell? Maybe the old culture may have a chance in this economy, at the expense of newer writers and directors who are struggling at this time. For example when I watch anime shows I don’t really watch moe shows because that just doesn’t appeal to me much, at least not any more. Now growing to be nearly twenty years old it’s not enough for female anime characters to be moe, the older me demands fascinating stories and compelling, strong characters.

I remember I used to be a lot more optimistic than I am now. In 2009, I graduated from high school but am confronted by a scary future of financial uncertainty and possible unemployment at my age, but at the same time my country’s government has anti-discrimination schemes set up to make sure that mildly disabled people like me have jobs. No amount of nostalgia could prepare me for the unsettling reality that my twin brother doesn’t want me to grow up, and is concerned that one day I might fall in love and get married, and there’s nothing he can do to prevent that possibility.

So, whatever generation you’re from, what say you about the state of growing up and the social changes you’ve experienced close to the end of the 2000s?

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Text Copyright © Jacob Martin 2009. All Rights Reserved.