[Event Recap] KLAUS Celebrates World Kindness Day

I watch a horror film every night and I watch the worst of the worst: Gore and brutality. But, surprisingly enough, I also love the Holiday season. Despite looking like a grown-ass woman who hit the Hot Topic tree hard, I’m a sucker for Christmas.

I like hot apple cider, bright red bows, trees with white lights and cookies. I like baking pies and cakes in my kitchen. I like Christmas! I like the idea of a holiday created to celebrate kindness. And the absurd idea that there’s an elf out there who CARES ABOUT CHILDREN, so much that he spends an entire year MAKING TOYS FOR THEM. What a crazy, beautiful notion.

So, I jumped at the chance to experience a holiday event at The Grove, hosted by Netflix on World Kindness Day to celebrate the release of its first animated feature film, KLAUS. For the release, Netflix delivered a large gift to three cities: Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, to be unwrapped in the morning, in a special ceremony.

Netflix’s KLAUS is about the myth of Santa Claus, starring Jason Schwartzman, Rashida Jones, Joan Cusack, Norm Macdonald and J.K. Simmons as Klaus. For those of us who remember HBO’s Oz, it’s going to be pretty weird to listen to Simmons step into the voice of Klaus. But he’s a great actor, he can do anything.

The large gift, which was about the size of a tiny house, turned out to be a gift wrapping station, filled with hundreds of gifts for participants, including tiny tables and chairs for the children so that they could sit and write a letter to Klaus. Klaus and his friends were there to pose with kids and adults alike as well.

At 4 pm, the volunteers and children from Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America arrived to unwrap Netflix gifts for the children participating in the organization, chosen from their holiday wish list, in addition to charity donations.

Not bad, I thought and headed to Sprinkles to buy a cupcake, which I smashed into my face, walking back to my car, thinking about the event. Sure, I’m a cynic but nothing is sweeter to me than watching a bunch of kids receive free toys and charity donations. I want more toys for them! Universal healthcare! Free college tuition! World peace! And candy every day too! A girl can dream, right?

Perhaps that is what invented holidays are for: to smush our hopes and dreams and our best selves into one day…though it’d be pretty nice if every day was Christmas. I’m dead serious. I’d live with Santa and bake gingerbread men and forget the evils of the world. But that begs the question: Would I rather live in Christmas town or Halloween town?

I’m sorry but NOTHING BEATS HALLOWEEN, not even the adorable, all-knowing and all-good Santa Claus. But like Jack Skellington, I’d like to visit Santa land every once and awhile. Someday, I might even decide to stay for a spell.

KLAUS is now streaming on Netflix and you can read our review here.