"A Christmas Story", I don't get it, Explain why this is a "Classic"?

As a child. I could relate to the BB gun... as an adult now... I can relate to the Leg light. Except...a bright LED light in it...

Seriously..

I must say the 3PO/R2 leg lamp was genius.

It's because some people like some movies and other people like other movies.

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Megamicrofish said:

OK, I still didn't get it

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Its a fun silly movie that some can relate to in one way or another.

I love the part where the turkey is eaten by the dogs, so they go to a Chinese place and the guys cannot sing worth anything. Then then bring out a duck....which is smiling at them.
Guess I just love silly cheesy humor the most. Home Alone and Christmas Vacation are my favorite Christmas films however.

I guess what people like is relative. I love A Christmas Story but I absolutely hate National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I have had to sit through that pile of crap more times than I care to count. I don't think I have ever even once cracked a smile during it. The jokes and gags are so lame, over the top and predictable it's sad. Never liked it.

I laugh when I see people from the 'UK' (anywhere outside of the US).. say they dont like the movie.

I'm not surprised when many of the 'inside jokes' and stereotypes are from the US!..

The 'leg lamp' was 'tacky decoration'..... YES!.. That was the point!!!!!

It was made to expose/laugh at the customs and traditions and the overall 'American family' dynamic.

If your note from here... it may be easily missed. (or wont make sense to you)

dascoyne said:

That’s awesome. I appreciate any excuse to watch that film.

I feel the US culturally seems to have lost an appreciation of classic films - films that deserve reverence. The majority of folks in their 20’s and 30’s have no interest in older films at all. As a result many seem too easily impressed by modern films that, no doubt, will be forgotten next year. A film like The Great Escape (or Lawrence of Arabia, or The Good The Bad and the Ugly, or Casablanca etc.) is loved by scattered individuals in the US but is not celebrated as part of our existing cultural landscape. When I lived in the UK in the 1990’s it struck me that, say, 2001: A Space Odyssey would be broadcast in letterbox uncut in prime time and was a television event. I don’t know if that’s still the case ... is it? That’s how things used to be in the US in the 1970’s but now, in order to watch the classics, you’d pretty much have to take the initiative to look for these movies or discover them on “classic channels” which carry the stigma of being “old.” Classics aren’t just any “old” movies - they are key films that’s really eternally relevant.

But back to the subject - Christmas Story isn’t a classic.

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Birdie said:

Not so much, sadly. We still have channels that have film seasons of classic movies and genres (BBC2, Film 4 etc) but I think the onset of Netflix and other streaming services has made it difficult to promote anything as 'special'. The focus on availability over presentation and quality seems to makes it hard for terrestrial TV to compete and appear relevant. I've noticed an increasing intolerance for anything without ADD pacing over character development and story telling wherever you go. Mention it anywhere the young people congregate and you just get called grandad :lol

Perhaps we are becoming our parents....

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I know this thread isn't about the state of films but having come from the large chain theater near me that didn't carry a film I've been meaning to see all year (where I would've been able to, if it were 5 years ago) has me thinking a lot about the state of films.

I don't think that we've completely lost our appreciation of the greats, but I do agree we've come at a place where we've lost touch with what made them great. I think it's due in part to the change of how we consume them. As a matter of fact, I bet it is. Films are seen as commodities, now, and as such, people don't care about films as they once used to, or think of it as something special to the greater culture.

I think most of the general audience can appreciate something genuinely good when they see it, on the rare occasion a genuinely good film is made, but because of the glut of mediocrity that's shoveled out there, anything that isn't out-rightly insulting gets a pass, which prompts the continuation of more dull films. I think many are left unaffected after a while because there's an understanding that there's just gonna be another one after it, and that too will come and go. I see it as a numbing; a slight, and subtle conditioning of society that has now taken root. And, unfortunately, I think that mindset has carried over to the good, as well, including our classics. People recognize the language of film but maybe not appreciate its grammar, if that makes sense. I know there are a few things I've seen in recent years where I've thought, had this been released 20-30 years ago, would've been considered a classic today... but they go completely unnoticed by everyone else.

It's terribly sad for me, leaving the cinema after a movie and trying to start a conversation with someone after it's finished, many conversations ultimately go, "I just don't care," and that is something I just can't abide by. It's utterly infuriating and equally depressing, to me.

Movies and cinemas just aren't places like they were once before, a communal center where people came together and experienced something together. There are too many factors that changed it, and the people with it. When I left my cinema after talking to the ticket lady about the movie we won't be getting (because of god damned Star Wars), she remarked, "At least we can see it on our small screens when it's released," to which I said, "It's not the same," and to which she sadly replied, "I know."

I can't relate to one single solitary thing in A Christmas Story, but I love that movie. I laugh hysterically at many parts. I know when TBS does its annual 24 hour marathon I will watch it all the way through at least twice.

Favorite Christmas movie.

And I had the privilege of living in Northern Indiana (where the movie is set) for two years, and got to see that not much has changed in 60 years. We lived across the street from the Chinese Restaurant which Jean Sheppard's family went to on Christmas (and yes, we ate there on Christmas Day, because why not!!!)

Fun fact: the DVD has an automatic repeat function so it will play endlessly if you want.

Some people are Waaaaaay over thinking this. If you can't relate to as a kid wanting - so bad it hurt - some item, (in my case it was an Atari 2600), and the triumph if you got it, or the disappointment if you didn't (I got a Radio Shack Pong game system....6 kinds of Pong in glorious black and white) then what can you "relate" to? Talking to my Father who grew up exactly in that era, they nailed a lot of things right on the money but anybody born past say 1980 would have a hard time "relating". I love how people here love to pile on the "I'm going to be counter to everybody else, therefore I am superior" band wagon. Give me a movie you adore and I might think it's utter crap, does that make you stupid for liking it? No, it just means that hey, our tastes differ. C'est la vie.

Megamicrofish said:

OK, I watched this a couple of years ago, Didn't enjoy it but it was on again this morning and nope, I still didn't get it, I tried!

I love a classic Christmas film, "It's a wonderful Life", "Miracle on 34th Street", "Die Hard" but to me, This seems like one of those terrible "Hallmark" TV movies

Perhaps it's because I'm British?

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I can't explain it to you because I don't get it either. I saw A Christmas Story when it was released in 1983 and thought it was one of the worst movies I'd ever seen. Several years later, I was astonished to discover it was the subject of 24-hour marathons during the Christmas season and had somehow become a "beloved classic". :confused So I thought I'd give it another try, and watched it again; it only confirmed my original opinion.

As many have stated here, some people like it because they can relate to the story, or other elements in the movie. I thought that was the reason I didn't like it--there's nothing in the movie I can relate to. I wasn't alive in the 1940s, I grew up in the Los Angeles area of southern California and never had to deal with snow, my father wasn't an overbearing imbecile, I've never had my mouth washed out with soap, and I can't recall ever wanting a BB gun or any other item so desperately. But I've spoken with a number of people who were approximately my age who also grew up in southern California who loved the movie, so I can only assume it's simply not a movie for me. Also, I've seen a number of director Bob Clark's movies and didn't like any of them, so that's as good a reason as any other.

I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania during the mid 60's and even though this movie was set in the 40's it nailed a lot of things that I knew while growing up. For me the thing a lusted after one year was the GI Joe Space Capsule. I also get that there are some films that are not for everyone as I absolutely hate "It's a Wonderful Life" though I love the original "Miracle on 34th Street".

For me it is all about the nostalgia. I was born in the 70's but everything about this movie reminds me of Christmas when I was a kid. I assume the people that love this movie relate to it the same way I do. If you can't relate to it I can understand not liking it.

I like the movie because I was familiar with the characters, having listened to "Inside Jean Shepard" in the early 1970's on PBS. They ran an hour a day weekdays. I love the 1940's toys in the department store windows and the older kitchen equipment etc, etc, etc. Many of the personal dynamics are familiar to me too. I got back at a bully when I was in 7th grade.

I've never seen the film from start to finish in one go, but I think I've seen the entire film in pieces, just from walking past TVs that had it on.

Here's what I think is at play here. The film itself is ultimately incidental. People don't love the film, they love the experience that surrounds the film.

For many folks, this film has been a staple of the Christmas season. TNT runs it non-stop for, like, a week. So it's now inextricably linked to everything you love about the holidays. That creates a halo effect for the film itself, which makes it impossible to judge it on its merits. So, basically, it's a "classic by association" and that association is with stuff that has nothing to do with the film itself as a film.

I loved it as a film even before it started playing non stop at Christmas time.

0neiros said:

Some people are Waaaaaay over thinking this. If you can't relate to as a kid wanting - so bad it hurt - some item, (in my case it was an Atari 2600), and the triumph if you got it, or the disappointment if you didn't (I got a Radio Shack Pong game system....6 kinds of Pong in glorious black and white) then what can you "relate" to? Talking to my Father who grew up exactly in that era, they nailed a lot of things right on the money but anybody born past say 1980 would have a hard time "relating". I love how people here love to pile on the "I'm going to be counter to everybody else, therefore I am superior" band wagon. Give me a movie you adore and I might think it's utter crap, does that make you stupid for liking it? No, it just means that hey, our tastes differ. C'est la vie.

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For me it was the Six Million Dollar man! #1 Christmas gift that year and impossible to find. I got a Big Jim instead! "No, mom, it's NOT the same thing!"

Funky said:

For me it was the Six Million Dollar man! #1 Christmas gift that year and impossible to find. I got a Big Jim instead! "No, mom, it's NOT the same thing!"

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The 'biggest' present I remember getting as a kid was the Six Million Dollar Man Rocket/Operation Center. I was SO excited. When I got it it I played with it for about an hour, the didn't know what to do with it :lol

Laspector said:

I loved it as a film even before it started playing non stop at Christmas time.

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I disliked the movie when I first saw it.
Detested it when others tired to make me like it.
Absolutely HATE, when it is played 24 hours straight.

Like Solo said it is the association with the movie because the movie itself is neither here nor there.