November marks a time that divides the nation — the world, even. It’s the time when people take one of two sides and will fight with their whole chest to prove they’re right. The issue at hand: whether it’s Christmas season or not. With Halloween far in the past now, you’re either a Christmastime before or Christmastime after Thanksgiving person. This year, all signs point toward an early Christmas season. The first snow fell atop the fallen leaves, Starbucks dropped its bear cups, red cups and holiday menu. But most of all, the queen of Christmas made her annual proclamation. It’s time — or rather, “it’s tiiime!”
Jingle bells, snowmen, sleighs and all, Mariah Carey released her yearly video declaring that it is in fact time for Christmas celebrations to begin. This year, in partnership with Sephora, Mariah shared her video across her social media on November 1, preemptively stopping anyone that says Christmas is to be celebrated after Thanksgiving.
The video features Mariah stepping out of a Halloween setting, looking to prepare for Christmas, only to find the elves going on strike. One elf, played by comedian Billy Eichner, steals her Sephora makeup with the intent of pawning it for money to pay for “elf therapy” after the hard work he goes through every year at Christmastime. But his strike attempt is no match for the Christmas queen herself, who then proudly sings out, in her signature impossible-to-reach register, “it’s time!” This of course transitions the scene into a perfect Christmas-like winter wonderland, complete with none other than her hit song, “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
Mariah becomes Santa, dropping bags of Sephora products into chimneys off her reindeer-drawn sleigh. Eichner, no longer an elf but now a snowman, is ever the downer about the onset of Christmas. With little enthusiasm, he says, “Oh, I’m a snowman now — great.”
However, the lack of enthusiasm begins and ends with the elf/snowman, because fans of Mariah Carey and Christmas alike can hardly hold back their excitement. One commenter under her YouTube video said, “Mariah Carey has officially made every November 1st an event and we love it!!!”
Another said, “It’s not officially time, until Mariah Carey screams it at midnight on November 1st! She nails it every year!”
As referenced by the comments, Mariah is known for releasing these Christmas announcement videos every year. Beginning in 2019, Mariah has released a yearly video with the same message: Christmas time is here. However, the production value has increased year by year, with the very first one being a simple skit shot on an iPhone.
Every year, the budget and her vocals get higher, leading fans to expect more each Christmas season. 4.1 million likes on her Instagram post later, Mariah has released “It’s time” merchandise, further spreading the word that the season is upon us.
Every year, without fail, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” shoots to the top of the charts, ultimately proving that, despite the debate, the people want to celebrate Christmas.
