There’s no better way to start off the Christmas season than this holiday classic, now celebrating its 25th anniversary and so popular that Turner Classic Movies runs it for 24 hours each year. Millions of fans can recite its lines from memory and some are so passionate they visit the Christmas Story house and attend the Christmas Story conference. Some even buy leg lamps or the action figures.
I think there are two reasons for the movie’s enduring appeal. First, it perfectly evokes the experience of childhood. Today’s kids may not drink Ovaltine or wait for their decoder rings, but they still have to deal with bullies and they still wish for gifts their parents think are too dangerous. But more than that, this is the perfect antidote to all those stories of Christmas perfection on one hand and dysfunction on the other. I love the way this family responds when everything goes wrong. They laugh. And you know that in the future, this Christmas is the one they will always remember.
Parents should know that this movie includes some mild sexual references. A character offers money to a girl to do some non-specific things for him and looks at pictures of women in lingerie. There are also humorous references to bad language including a child having his mouth washed out with soap for swearing.
posted January 1, 2009 at 11:03 pm
I think it’s interesting that you did not mention certain things in your review. For instance, Anthony (Lewis McGibbon) offers a girl money to perform services for him. Although we are unsure at this point what he may be paying her for, our notions are confirmed when he states, “I have a nice body.” Another example is the scene where he visits the La Senza website, in which he stares at women in lingerie.
I believe that many parents would like to know this information, which was excluded from your review, prior to watching this movie with their children.
posted January 1, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Thank you very much — you are right and I will amend the review. I appreciate your help!
posted December 13, 2010 at 9:08 am
I believe that the potentially inappropriate content that D. Baker specifies is in fact in the film “Millions,” not “A Christmas Story.” Lewis McGibbon was born in 1991, years after “A Christmas Story” was released, and “A Christmas Story” takes place before the dawn of the internet, so there couldn’t be a part where a character looks at women in lingerie on the La Senza website.