A Christmas Story
(1983) dir. Bob Clark
viewed: 12/18/09
A friend of mine had asked about some potential list of Christmas movies or something holiday-oriented to be written, and I pondered the thought. I perused my film diary and really few things stood out, and nothing utterly notable. I was thinking about the most common of the “Christmas movies” and thought mainly about Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story (1983), the late 20th Century entry into the modern American culture. And I may still do something with that, though it will require seeing It’s a Wonderful Life again before I can do it.
It’s not like there is any end to Christmas movies. There are probably almost a dozen or more produced each year or others that perhaps are set near Christmas. But I was thinking about this because a friend of mine who was raised in England pointed said that The Great Escape (1963) was the film that she remembered watching with her family every holiday, and really some of it is programming, some of it is pandering, how much of it is genuine? Is any of it genuine?
Well, I’ve found that A Christmas Story has been a pretty satisfying experience, and I’ve even appreciated its having moved into the canon of American cultural icons. It’s a funny film, a sweet, truly American story, while constantly self-depricating and ironic, about chaos and semi-dysfunction, but ultimately about the “best Christmas present ever”, the Red Ryder BB gun.
The cast is terrific, particularly Darren McGavin and Peter Billingsley as the father and son in this flashback to a kinder, gentler America, though not something overly idealized. Something that is much more about the laughs than the moistening of the eyes. And it holds up.
We’d watched it a couple years back and when it was my only night this year for Christmas with the kids, them heading to England for the holiday the next day, and no Christmas tree and presents already distributed, we just huddled around the television and the warmth of the DVD player to watch what many have seen many times, including myself. It was the kids’ second run through it, though the last time was a couple years back.
Felix thought it was very funny, though Clara was a bit disappointed. She didn’t like the way that Santa pushes Ralphie down the slide with a boot to the face saying, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.” And it’s meant to be disturbing. Felix found the werido boy in the flying gear who stands in line and says, “I like Santa.” “I like The Wizard of Oz.” “I like the Tin Man.” to be bizarre.
I realize that some of the most delectible jokes are voiced by Jean Shepherd himself, in his wry and low-key voice-over narration of the story adapted from his writings. Still, there is enough to make them laugh, though a little frightened.
I think that A Christmas Story probably not only opened the door for The Wonder Years but also shows like The Simpsons and such, this idea of Christmas as not some magical time, though not unmagical, some wrecking reality, charming mishaps, that make it a bit of a debunk of Capraesque models of American wholesomeness. And yet, not wholly debunking it.
This time around, I wasn’t as overly charmed, but how many times can you watch it? It’s a challenge to the American public. But it’s still a far better thing that 99.9% of other holiday films, those hatefully market-driven products that come out every year and are meant to draw us in simply because it is “that time of year”.
Well, don’t know if I’ll write what I was thinking of, but who knows. Christmas is still a week away.
