Every year, The Christmas Story is a holiday feature. I enjoy it a lot!
The Chinese restaurant ending is great! Everything about this movie is so politically incorrect, from the old man to Mrs. Parker, to just about everything else. Remember the line about the old man being as good as an “Arab trader” when they are looking for Christmas trees? What about the lamp?
The late Roger Ebert reviewed this movie in 2000. I’m not sure why he waited so long but he nailed it. This is Mr. Ebert’s review:
One of the details that ‘A Christmas Story’ gets right is the threat of having your mouth washed out with Lifebouy [sic] soap. Not any soap. Lifebouy [sic]. Never Ivory or Palmolive. Lifebouy [sic], which apparently contained an ingredient able to nullify bad language. The only other soap ever mentioned for this task was Lava, but that was the nuclear weapon of mouth-washing soaps, so powerful it was used for words we still didn’t even know.
There are many small but perfect moments in ‘A Christmas Story," and one of the best comes after the Lifebouy [sic] is finally removed from Ralphie’s mouth and he is sent off to bed. His mother studies the bar, thinks for a moment, and then sticks it in her own mouth, just to see what it tastes like. Moments like that are why some people watch ‘A Christmas Story’ every holiday season. There is a real knowledge of human nature beneath the comedy.
Yes. This is a movie that touches every nerve of growing up. As for me, Mrs. Parker sticking that soap in Ralphie’s mouth brought back some memories of my mom freaking out over certain Spanish words that we weren’t supposed to say. The other scene when she breaks up a couple of boys fighting reminded me of a few times in my life when stuff like that used to happen.
As Mr. Ebert points out, this movie is about Christmas, BB guns, and childhood—to that last element I would add “before computer games killed it.”
Merry Christmas and enjoy this classic. I believe that it was released 40 years ago and will be enjoyed for a lot longer.
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‘The Christmas Story’ is great because it is politically incorrect all the way! - American Thinker https://t.co/xotrbKsgkC
— Silvio Canto. Jr. (@silvio_canto) December 20, 2023