Thanksgiving

With the upcoming holiday, I've found Thanksgiving and familiar traditions to be a hot topic for discussion. For example, I have a close friend who has never had a Thanksgiving dinner at home; his family always eats out at a restaurant. My family, on the other hand, has always had a huge home cooked meal that takes days to prepare. I think it would be interesting to film a documentary about Thanksgiving traditions and beliefs about the holiday. In my documentary, I would like to raise questions about the origins of the tradition of the Thanksgiving meal, people's perceptions of these origins, and the ways in which the practices have evolved.

In this documentary, I would interview a wide variety of people. I could envision interviewing three generations within a family - small children, parents, and grandparents. I would ask them why they celebrate Thanksgiving in their family. Children may cite learned stories about the original meal between the pilgrims and Native Americans, while parents and grandparents may understand that this story is a myth and may cite family ties as a reason to celebrate this holiday.

I would like to compare and contrast two approaches to the holiday. My family, for example, prepares months in advance by deciding which family member will host the meal. We begin cooking about a week before the meal and invite over as many people as the house can hold. Other traditions, though, include visiting the same restaurant with a small group of friends year after year.

Creating an authentic, realistic portrayal of family traditions should be fairly easy. However, in order to make a statement with the film, I would like to interview historians and teachers in order to analyze how the tradition has evolved and the real story of the first "Thanksgiving." If I could provide this sort of balance through juxtaposing the roots of the tradition and how families practice the holiday now.