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I think it works because it's jammed packed with funny scenes. You can start watching it at any time and immediately get into it. People who were kids in the 80's when it came out probably appreciated it the most. It was well made and original for it's time when it came out.
BUT... that said, I was a little sad when they started doing the marathons. Not because I didn't like it. But it just didn't have the same holiday spirit as "It's a Wonderful Life". Before about 1993 that was the movie that used to be shown all over the channel spectrum during Christmas. You could find it showing just about every day somewhere in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
I think It's a Wonderful Life is more timeless. It has become a trope for many a Christmas special or move similar to A Christmas Carol. I don't see that in the dated and rooted nature of A Christmas Story. A Christmas Story is anchored in nostalgia of a Norman Rockwell image. They are beautiful but not my cup of tea. Now National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, that is a much better Christmas comedy...
I love it because it takes me back to my childhood. I was born in 1953, and although the story takes place over a decade earlier than that, I can relate to many of the elements of everyday life back then. Pure nostalgia.
I love A CHRISTMAS STORY. One of my all-time favorite movies.
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE is meh. I don't hate it. But I honestly don't see the appeal. It has a few good scenes. But not enough to warrant a full movie. It should have been a 20 minute short.
Pretty much, ditto this also. I love A Christmas Story. Never could make it past the first 30 minutes of Napoleon Dynamite. Maybe it got better after 30 mins, dunno and I don't reckon I'll ever know.
A Christmas Story to me is just a nostalgia fest with urban legends related to Christmas time and life in general. Like I mean did people actually have people eat soap for cursing? I only heard it happen once but that didn't work for the kid I know that had it happen.
Urban legends?? No... the writer exaggerated some of the things but those things did happen pretty regularly way back. That's one of the reasons it is nostalgic too.
Every kid in my neighborhood (including my brother MANY times!) had soap shoved in their mouth for cussing or backtalking an adult.
Many of us know the feeling of being a kid in a snowsuit or so many layers we could barely get back up if we fell down.
Getting a bb gun was a right of passage for every young boy (and some of us girls).
My brother lost a good bit of flesh off of his tongue getting it stuck to a street sign once.
Every neighborhood had that one bully that had it coming.
I think It's a Wonderful Life A Christmas Story is anchored in nostalgia of a Norman Rockwell image. They are beautiful but not my cup of tea.
It's nowhere near Norman Rockwell! Seriously, a brash, cursing dad; a big bully; mean Santa;Christmas ruined by neighbors' annoying dogs and the severed head of a peking duck? Nostalgia, yes. NR, he!! to the no.
Quote:
Originally Posted by writerwife
Urban legends?? No... the writer exaggerated some of the things but those things did happen pretty regularly way back. That's one of the reasons it is nostalgic too.
Every kid in my neighborhood (including my brother MANY times!) had soap shoved in their mouth for cussing or backtalking an adult.
Many of us know the feeling of being a kid in a snowsuit or so many layers we could barely get back up if we fell down.
Getting a bb gun was a right of passage for every young boy (and some of us girls).
My brother lost a good bit of flesh off of his tongue getting it stuck to a street sign once.
Every neighborhood had that one bully that had it coming.
Probably a lot more but.... you get the point.
this. It's more about the dad reading the sports section, mom encouraging you to eat your dinner, little brothers being annoying, young boys daring each other to do dumb things, Christmas gifts that sometimes fall flat, etc. That's more universal, I think.
It's nowhere near Norman Rockwell! Seriously, a brash, cursing dad; a big bully; mean Santa;Christmas ruined by neighbors' annoying dogs and the severed head of a peking duck? Nostalgia, yes. NR, he!! to the no.
True. But I think that's part of the appeal. Norman Rockwell is a VERY idealized vision of America that never really existed. It's a fantasy. One I love, to be sure, but a fantasy nonetheless.
A CHRISTMAS STORY is a very realistic portrayal of childhood back when kids still had childhoods apart from social media, smartphones, 300 TV channels, the Internet. Back when kids actually went outside and talked to each other. But we weren't little angels. We cussed and fought and broke things and used our imaginations, but the "real" life of a kid was very different from the life we showed our parents.
Urban legends?? No... the writer exaggerated some of the things but those things did happen pretty regularly way back. That's one of the reasons it is nostalgic too.
Every kid in my neighborhood (including my brother MANY times!) had soap shoved in their mouth for cussing or backtalking an adult.
Many of us know the feeling of being a kid in a snowsuit or so many layers we could barely get back up if we fell down.
Getting a bb gun was a right of passage for every young boy (and some of us girls).
My brother lost a good bit of flesh off of his tongue getting it stuck to a street sign once.
Every neighborhood had that one bully that had it coming.
Probably a lot more but.... you get the point.
I know some kids got their mouths washed out with soap but I mostly heard about in print media. Never heard it from my boomer parents and trust me, my father did do things that got him in trouble. He was beaten as the oldest and the "example" of his family when he did something. He even got Hell for defending himself.
However as millennial kid mkpunk I defended myself once and got in trouble by my father for it only because the punk kid did what happened to my father and tell the parent. Instead of walking to the house, somehow the mom trailed my dad and me while walking home... The kid kept kicking me while using the bathroom so I pushed him to the ground versus some dufus neighbor that worked with my grandfather son spiking a ball at my dad trying to hit him. Now you get it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by gus2
It's nowhere near Norman Rockwell! Seriously, a brash, cursing dad; a big bully; mean Santa;Christmas ruined by neighbors' annoying dogs and the severed head of a peking duck? Nostalgia, yes. NR, he!! to the no.
this. It's more about the dad reading the sports section, mom encouraging you to eat your dinner, little brothers being annoying, young boys daring each other to do dumb things, Christmas gifts that sometimes fall flat, etc. That's more universal, I think.
You know, that actually does sounds pretty Norman Rockwell to me... Now perhaps it is a more realistic type but still fits the idealized view of the past with a few more years and mileage on the car...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark S.
True. But I think that's part of the appeal. Norman Rockwell is a VERY idealized vision of America that never really existed. It's a fantasy. One I love, to be sure, but a fantasy nonetheless.
A CHRISTMAS STORY is a very realistic portrayal of childhood back when kids still had childhoods apart from social media, smartphones, 300 TV channels, the Internet. Back when kids actually went outside and talked to each other. But we weren't little angels. We cussed and fought and broke things and used our imaginations, but the "real" life of a kid was very different from the life we showed our parents.
Yeah I blame later millennials for that. When we were upstate, I played a lot during the summer but when I was in Long Island during the fall, winter and spring, besides say boy scouts my brother, a neighbor girl and cousins of ours the youngest being ten years old were really the only kids on the block. I say later millennials like millennials born 90 and later, because by that point most people had cable and NES. As an '87 millennial I remember maybe 30 channels of cable. I don't remember much channels back in the day higher than 30, VH1.
Ironically imagination is still big. I cannot tell you how many tag games I have to stop at school with the students I work with that go by far different names. One is Baldi's Basics (a game that makes Castle Wolfenstein 3-D look modern), Granny, Cops and Robbers (but now they taze rather than shoot...) and ironically enough I'm always told "But it's not tag..." I really think the younger generations always get a bad rap because things change. Change ironically is the only constant in our lives.
Oh and don't even get me started with the sailor mouth syndrome of today. And it is not even from students I work with on behavior plans...
It's relatable (bunny suit, the Ovaltine disappointment, bullies) and funny, with unique jokes that became quotable (leg lamp, you'll shoot your eye out, etc).
The actors did an amazing job elevating Shepherd's reminiscences. There was a "sequel" with Charles Grodin and Kieran Culkin that only proves how great the originals were.
It's realistic and nostalgic at the same time.
I wish Napoleon Dynamite hadn't been brought into it because they really aren't that similar.
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this. It's more about the dad reading the sports section, mom encouraging you to eat your dinner, little brothers being annoying, young boys daring each other to do dumb things, Christmas gifts that sometimes fall flat, etc. That's more universal, I think.
Now perhaps it is a more realistic type but still fits the idealized view of the past with a few more years and mileage on the car... 
