In 1996, Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped his macho tough-guy image and donned the role of Howard Langston in the Christmas-time film Jingle All the Way. Howard is a successful businessman, but not as successful as a husband and a father. When work deadlines and customer needs cause him to miss an important awards ceremony in which his son is to be honored, Howard is buried with a sense of guilt and failure. Determined to make it up to his son, Howard goes in search of the perfect Christmas present -- something he is sure will earn his son’s love and forgiveness.

            The quest becomes focused on a toy Howard comes to believe his son wants more than anything. The toy in question, “Turbo Man,” is an action figure so popular that no store can keep it on the shelf. The movie moves forward with Howard dashing from one place to the next trying to find the elusive toy. He is thrown down, beaten up and banged around in his quest for the perfect gift.

            The movie gently probes some of the not so funny attitudes that often dominate this season of the year. How many of us shop frantically trying to find just the right gift that will express to someone we love just how important they are to us? How many of us literally lose the joy of the season standing in long lines, circling full parking lots, enduring incessant mechanical Christmas tunes, all in the name of celebrating the birth of God’s Son? How many times are we struggling on the verge of anger simply because we are tired or frustrated or stressed by how much money we are spending?

            This says nothing about the meaning of the gifts themselves. What possible connection can there be between some plastic toy, some shiny bobble or some techno-gadget and the meaning of the gift God has given us in the Son.

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