2022 SU General Election Full Supplement

Illustration by Tricia Lim

The rippling pectoral muscles of Jason Momoa’s Aquaman embody the true meaning of Christmas

By Evan Lewis, November 21 2018 —

For some, the holiday season still carries the same meaning it did centuries ago: celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. The gifts under the Christmas tree are symbolic of the gift of a Messiah given unto humanity. Spending time with our families gives us an appreciation for the important people in our lives.

But this meaning is no longer the same for everyone. For many, there are different celebrations that are given precedence over the Yuletide. For others, the spiritual meaning has been lost altogether. Christmas doesn’t hold quite the same Christian importance it once did.

Not only this, but the capitalist machine has churned out advertising and products that work endlessly to convince us that the holiday season is about receiving things. Some might say that we have never been farther from the true meaning of Christmas.

But now, Jason Momoa’s depiction of the DC superhero Aquaman seeks to return that powerful meaning to the holiday season, as no Christmas movie yet has captured the feeling of Christmas like the gleaming, oiled chest muscles of Jason Momoa’s Aquaman.

Nothing shows the spirit of gift-giving better than the shapely chest of Aquaman as rendered by Jason Momoa, which is truly a gift to us all. Choosing a present forces one to focus on someone else for a moment, to do one’s best to think, “What would this person like best?” The answer, for many, is simple: They’d like the fibrous brawn of Jason Momoa as Aquaman spread across their local theatre screens in stunning High Definition.

Jason Momoa’s physique as he depicts Aquaman is not just a gift to our eyes, but the way Jason Momoa’s version of Aquaman uses his strapping form to help others is also a gift to our hearts. We are pushed to be better than we are by the ripped pecs of Aquaman, given form by talented Hollywood actor Jason Momoa.

Nothing represents the way the holidays bring family together like Jason Momoa’s banded chest does when it’s exposed in Aquaman (2018). Like a bridge sculpted of stone over a roaring river, the sturdy, water-drenched torso of Aquaman, played by sinewy actor Jason Momoa, is the most poignant metaphor one could find for the way relatives and loved ones alike are brought together through seasonal celebration.

And for some, Christmas is a just chance to have a hot meal, drink some hot cocoa and rest in front of an open fire. The warmth of the holiday is symbolized in the way laying against the pectoral muscles of Jason Momoa, in the royal garb of Aquaman, might make one feel. One can easily imagine the heat radiating from those fleshy, rolling hills, forming a landscape of might and power that wards off the winter chill, just as a blazing hearthfire might.

What a massive man. What a big, big boy. What a beautiful emblem Aquaman is of Christmas joy.

Perhaps there are Christians who will fear that Jason Momoa’s Aquaman will overshadow Christ as the core spiritual figure of Christmas. Fear not — Jason Momoa’s Aquaman is merely a glorious retelling of that first Christmas story. Just as Aquaman is the titular character’s origin story, so too was the nativity Christ’s origin film.

Imagine Aquaman’s parents, Tom Curry and Atlanna, as perfect analogues for Joseph and Mary.

Imagine a nativity scene, but instead of baby Jesus there lies a fully grown Jason Momoa, his robust legs hanging over the end of the manger, his broad chest filling its wooden frame. All around him, instead of sheep and cows, there are fish, big and small. Maybe a whale and a dolphin or two.

Christ figures permeate film. Neo. Gandalf. That guy from The Lego Movie. Now Aquaman, played by Jason Momoa, joins their ranks as the perfect embodiment of the saviour figure. He represents the pinnacle of not only Christmas movies, but human creation itself.

And really, every movie is a Christmas movie, because at the end of the day, every movie is about Jason Momoa and his beautiful pectoral muscles.

This article is part of our humour section.


Hiring | Staff | Advertising | Contact | PDF version | Archive | Volunteer | SU

The Gauntlet