Basic Trope: Christmas is said to have a "true meaning", that's delivered via An Aesop.
- Straight: Alice wants a remote-controlled plane for Christmas, but gets a teddy bear instead. She's disappointed until she feels happy giving the teddy bear away to Bob, and realises that the true meaning of Christmas is that it's better to give than receive.
- Exaggerated: The Christmas Episode has several morals — Alice learns that it's better to give than receive, Bob learns to be thankful, Charles learns that Christmas is about family, and Dana learns that Christmas is about optimism.
- Downplayed:
- There's a brief gag scene where Alice and Bob are arguing, and their father Charles scolds them by saying, "That's not what Christmas is about".
- Alice learns the true meaning of Hanukkah or some You Mean "Xmas" type celebration.
- Justified:
- Inverted: Alice learns the True Meaning of Halloween.
- Subverted: Alice says, "I guess Christmas is all about giving, huh?", but Bob replies, "Nope, it's about hot cocoa!"
- Double Subverted: Then Charles scolds Bob for making fun of the meaning of Christmas.
- Parodied:
- Alice learns a blatantly wrong moral, like "The true meaning of Christmas is the presents".
- Alice says, "What is the true meaning of Christmas?!", and Bob responds with the dictionary definition.
- Alice learns the true meaning of Talk Like a Pirate Day.
- Zigzagged: Several characters come up with different ideas for what the true meaning of Christmas could be, and eventually conclude that Christmas doesn't have a "true meaning".
- Averted:
- There are no Christmas episodes.
- There is a Christmas episode, but there isn't a moral.
- Enforced: "Every episode has a moral, so why should the Christmas episode be any different?"
- Lampshaded: "Why does everybody get so preachy around Christmastime?"
- Invoked: Charles and Dana see Christmas as an opportunity to teach their children, Alice and Bob, life lessons.
- Exploited:
- Defied: Alice is a Bratty Half-Pint and spends Christmas deliberately vowing not to learn anything.
- Discussed: "Are you gonna, like, teach me the meaning of Christmas or something?"
- Conversed: "Why do nine out of ten Christmas stories have to have a moral?"
- Implied: Alice mentions she 'learned a valuable lesson' on Christmas, but it's never stated what the lesson was.
- Deconstructed:
- Reconstructed:
- Played for Laughs:
- Played for Drama: Alice learns the "better to give than receive" moral by meeting Ethan, who is a miserably poor boy whose parents can barely afford food.
- Played for Horror: Alice learns the importance of optimism on Christmas when a demon who feeds on pessimism awakens.
Back to True Meaning of Christmas.
