If we discuss the meaning and ending of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, we must start at the beginning.
In the opening scene, we see The Grinch spying on the kids, running towards his home. Grumpy and frustrated, The Grinch’s immediate plans are to terrorize and scare the youths because of his bitterness. The Grinch wants to be seen as scary, to push everyone away.
Cindy Lou is fascinated with The Grinch and sees his heart pained. As the story progresses, we witness Cindy Lou digging into the Grinch’s past, curious to understand why he is the way he is (quite a high level of emotional intelligence for a kid, if you ask me!). A flashback shows us life experiences that led him to this behavior.
Treating Everyone with Kindness and Compassion
Firstly, The Grinch was different from everyone else in Whoville. In his younger years, he paid no attention to this—he didn’t feel any persecution. He had two parents who loved and raised him despite his outward difference in appearance.
As the famous saying goes, “You should never judge a book by its cover.” However, as school started, The Grinch was subjected to bullying and torment from his classmates. This sent The Grinch straight into his anger and self-protection.
A theme Ron Howard (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Cinderella Man) touches on is bullying. Sometimes, we can have parents and friends around us who love us, but school is a brutal place. A place where depression and anxiety rates are through the rough—school can be a very damaging place for A LOT of people. The storyline of How the Grinch Stole Christmas touches on this. Though it’s made in a comical light, it is still genuine.
When we don’t treat everyone with kindness and compassion, we can deeply hurt another person’s soul and spirit despite our differences.
Child–Like Innocence
Following on from and paradoxically related to this, Howard’s second theme is the beauty of child-like innocence. At the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Cindy Lou’s sweet, loving, and persistent kindness transforms The Grinch’s protected heart.
Cindy Lou is a character that displays child-like innocence, which some are blessed to keep. She doesn’t see The Grinch’s differences; she sees the struggle, hurt, and pain he’s reacting to (though this isn’t conscious). From the continued act of love from Cindy Lou, we see how The Grinch begins to feel and love again.
“Maybe Christmas” he thought “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps. Means a little bit more.”
– The Grinch goes flying backward –
“OW, OW, OWWW, ARGH…
– insert Jim Carrey noises–
MAX HELP ME…I’m FEELING.”
The Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day.
As a result, The Grinch can have his redemption story. And everyone LOVES a redemption story!
He may have stolen Christmas and created chaos, but in the end, he sees the error of his ways, rectifies his actions, and apologizes.
The meaning here is that no matter how damaged, broken, or troubled we may feel, it’s never too late to change, it’s never too late to accept love, and it is never too late to turn our lives around. “All we need to survive is one person who truly loves us.” – (LOST reference) This is what The Grinch feels… Love.
Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) in ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’
Spirit of Christmas and Community
This leads to the two major themes within How the Grinch Stole Christmas:
- (1) The Spirit of Christmas and;
- (2) Togetherness and Community.
At the end of the movie, we are met with the town of Whoville standing up to May Who, who is ranting and raving, exclaiming that if you bring The Grinch into Christmas, it gets destroyed.
Let’s not forget that this is the same boy who bullied him in school. Nonetheless, the Community of Whoville takes a stand and expresses that they are glad the Grinch stole Christmas so they can understand its true spirit again.
They finally see that Christmas isn’t about how much you spend or gain; all we need is our loved ones around us.
Howard shows the transformation of the community’s mindsets from the beginning to the end by creating two different scenes. The first shows the town hypnotized with overconsumption, stress, and chaos, and in the end, everyone is standing around the town’s Christmas tree, holding hands and singing together.
The Christmas Spirit is togetherness, peace, and love. Love is what will save the world and us all. When we offer togetherness, peace, and love to everyone around us, broken hearts and spirits can be healed, softened, and set free. All Christmas movies should encompass this, and The Grinch delightfully delivers.
