It’s far, far worse than genuine schmaltz, cuz it’s schmaltzy for a devious purpose. From my review of The Christmas Shoes:

Can you believe it? They made a movie out of that insanely inane song. And when I say "they," I mean the insidious They: our overlords in the military-industrial-entertainment complex, offering us some (supposedly) feel-good pabulum about downsizing, about trading in the corporate fast-track to teach elementary school, about the nobility of the struggling working class, about how we should all be grateful we're together this Christmas and no one's dying of congestive heart failure. And all this right at the moment when our economy is about to implode from layoffs and a cutoff in unemployment insurance, and personal bankruptcies and home foreclosures are at an all-time high.

The punchline is, of course, that boy, there was plenty room for things to get even worse, and they did.

• review of The Christmas Shoes, posted 12.02.02

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