How Materialism Can Become a Source of Shared Ideals Beyond Signaling Wealth

"I cannot believe that people would keep all these ornaments at home for this time of the year." Until my wife uttered these words at the sight of the average Maltese residential area lit up in preparation for Christmas, I had never thought about the material side of the year-end holiday. Indeed, many houses are putting up more than cheap colorful lights. Many are putting up sculptures of Santa Claus, Baby Jesus, the nativity scene, and much else alongside a substantial tree so densely packed with ornaments that the green leaves are barely visible.

Yes, people buy trinkets for all celebrations of note, but the sheer carbon footprint displayed at these homes is extreme. People do not purchase life-size stone sculptures, costing several hundred euros a piece, just for the sake of one holiday. Many are durable, large, and expensive enough to occupy plenty of space in the offseason and may be passed down for decades if not generations. These are not casual displays of consumerism. Instead, they represent a substantial financial investment to show that Christmas is more than a reason to shop, but a time to recognize its religious significance.

For someone like me with little interest in materialism and personal experience in religion, the attempt to so lavishly project devotion to very physical Catholic symbols is unfathomable; at the same time, I can understand how materialism can be an outward display in identity. And that identity is much more than for displaying wealth, as is the case among frequent buyers of luxury handbags, sports cars, and spiffy sneakers. An identity based on shared materialism can also be a shared social identity, based not on financial status but on belonging to a group striving for a shared ideal.

That shared ideal need not be religious piety as is implicitly the case in the color-filled Maltese residential areas in early December. The recent showing of Gladiator II in Maltese cinemas also shows that other objects can project other ideals the broader Maltese public may strive toward. Mass patronage of the movie, which tells the tale of ancient Roman treachery through shots filmed across natural and manmade scenery on the island as the stand-in, informs how two other symbolisms are just as important as the religious one.

One is a shared ideal of Malta being more recognized around the world. I had never seen a Maltese cinema with tickets nearly sold out for a showing until Gladiator II. The movie's appeal is partly the Maltese pride in seeing the island's beauty in a Hollywood blockbuster. The wilderness of the Maltese countryside representing the outskirts of ancient Rome, and the architectural splendor of the city's streets recreated at Malta Movie Studios are the respective symbols of Malta as a place filled with natural beauty and human ingenuity, just waiting for the wider world to be acquainted with.

The other is an ideal that Malta is firmly at the heart of Western civilization, a successor to ancient Rome's technological and intellectual grandeur. While the film is centered on the immorality and arrogance of the Roman elite, the physical symbols of the state, manifested in the disciplined ranks of the army and the architectural splendor of the Colosseum, resonates with the Maltese public. The centuries-old stone towers and residences on the island, meticulously maintained through governmental and private efforts, showcase how the civilizational achievements of that bygone era are not forgotten.

Just like those Christmas decorations, these physical symbols of Maltese ideals do not come cheap – not just in the purchase price. In an already densely populated island, pandering to Hollywood means setting aside land to construct elaborate sets like that of ancient Rome. Preserving physical symbols of architectural heritage means new buildings cannot be built and roads cannot be widened, worsening the already severe gridlock on the streets due to population increase and perhaps, film shooting-related road closures. The standard of living decreases for the sake of maintaining the physical symbols.

However, to signal identity, these physical symbols are worth it. A pious family will not throw away the statues of Santa and Jesus because they always take up a big chunk of storage space at home outside religious holidays. And no Maltese will vote for kicking out Hollywood moviemakers and tearing down the stone buildings just so the average Joe can have more land and drive faster according to the island. Some physical symbols may be considered excessive and even a nuisance to those who do not adhere to the related ideals. But for those who do, a little inconvenience will not deter these objects' upkeep.