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December is a great month for various reasons, including the fact that it brings a surge of movie-related announcements that appear to be set on ruining the enjoyment of beloved Christmas films due to unbridled capitalism.
There is currently a circulating topic regarding the movie Elf. Elf is known as a heartwarming and humorous story about family, finding a sense of belonging, and the power of belief. However, Skills Trading Group recently distributed an email reducing the movie’s plot to a specific amount of money that Buddy the Elf would have made if he were a real person.
The article carefully details the various responsibilities of a traditional Christmas elf and assigns a monetary value to each task in the form of an hourly wage. For instance, crafting and producing toys for a living currently pays £24.61 per hour, while working in a warehouse to sort Santa’s mail earns an hourly wage of £12.61. Other duties include caring for the reindeer (£10.01), working as both a baker (£11.12) and a candy maker (£9), and maintaining the sleigh (£19.71). With all of these tasks taken into account, a Christmas elf can anticipate an hourly wage of £14.46. Furthermore, due to their exceptional work ethic, working for 18 hours per day, a Christmas elf can potentially earn an annual salary of £94,348.80.
Furthermore, this information allows us to compare it with the data on Santatracker.net, which suggests that Santa currently employs 110,000 elves who are each paid three times the average salary in the UK. If we assume that all of these elves work throughout the year to prepare for Christmas, it can be calculated that Santa has an estimated annual wage expense of over £10 billion. However, with the advancements in AI and potential job loss in the future, this number is likely to decrease.
The subject of discussion is Elf. However, it must be noted that this research takes significant liberties with the core truth about Elf – that Buddy the Elf was not truly an elf. He was a human who was mistakenly brought up as an elf, making it improbable that his productivity would match that of a natural elf. In fact, early scenes in the movie depict Buddy struggling to accomplish even a small portion of the average elf’s work. If the figures from the Skills Trading Group were even remotely linked to performance, it is evident that Buddy would not be earning anywhere near £94,348.80.
However, despite this, Santa Claus is known for his generosity and fairness towards others. It is possible that he pays all elves a flat rate of £94,348.80, regardless of their level of work. This may not be the most effective way to manage payroll, as it lacks proper financial incentives for the elves to maintain high levels of productivity. This could potentially jeopardize Christmas. Nevertheless, Santa’s actions are his own and should not be questioned.
After Elf was released, Will Ferrell was 36 years old. It can be assumed that Buddy, the character he played, was also 36. According to a Reddit thread, elves do not physically mature until they are 20 years old. This means that by the time Buddy left the North Pole to find his biological father, he had earned a total of £1,509,580. Considering the living arrangements in the film and the limited retail opportunities, it is likely that the cost of living in Santa’s workshop was very low. Therefore, it is possible that Buddy kept most of that money when he arrived in New York.
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Here’s where the story takes a turn. Buddy’s dad, Walter, worked as a publisher for children’s books, a profession that Payscale reports earns an average annual salary of £80,000. This means that Buddy would actually make more money than his father.
After reconsidering, it’s possible that we have misunderstood the true message of Elf. It may not be a heartwarming comedy about family and the power of belief, but rather a commentary on the importance of money. It could be a cautionary tale about surpassing your parents’ wealth and using material possessions to flaunt your success. Perhaps it serves as a reminder that family is insignificant compared to wealth. Thank you, Skills Trading Group, for this enlightening perspective. Happy holidays!
Source: theguardian.com
