SANTA CAMP, WHERE ALL SANTAS OF EVERY STRIPE AND COLOR ARE WELCOME EVERY SUMMER
Have you heard about Santa Camp? It’s a new HBO Max documentary that debuted last month. At this camp, every Santa, Mrs. Claus and all their elven friends can learn how to be the best they can be. And yes, Santa Camp is real! It’s located in the fine state of New Hampshire and is, well, an actual summer camp. All Santas are welcome! And if you want to go hang out with other Santas, you can frolic together in New England country style, and sleep in bunk beds, seim together in a lake, and hang out telling Christmas war stories sitting around a campfire. Sure, the summer is out of season. But do we really have seasons anymore, really?
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SANTA CAMP IS ALL ABOUT INCLUSION, AS THE FACES OF SANTAS CHANGE WITH NEW COMMUNITIES
The documentary has a lot of fun visuals you’ll never forget. Like, a Santa wearing red-and-white longjohns doing cannonballs into a lake is simply unforgettable. And there’s plenty more like that you’ll giggle and shake your head over. But Santa Camp is really about inclusion. The yearly gathering actually always tries to challenge Santa “norms” and to disrupt the strictures of Santa representation. While I actually have no idea what Santa representation is (and ho ho hopefully you don’t either!), I can appreciate a group of Christmas enthusiasts getting together to be different, yet the same.
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DOCUMENTARY FOLLOWS A BLACK SANTA, A DISABLED SANTA, AND A TRANSGENDER SANTA
The documentary also captures how aside from all the good-natured fun of the camp’s now storied history and its participants, is also unpacks how the camp is evolving with changing times. Communities everywhere continue to diversify and evolve, and those communities want their own Santas who reflect those emerging identities. So if you’re curious, you can watch Santa Camp as it follows a Black Santa, a disabled Santa and even a transgender Santa as they explore their Santa-ness that is so different from the current incarnation of Kurt Russell.
What does it mean to be Santa, these days? Santa Camp will give you a broader idea.
