Ralphie Parker gets his only Christmas wish in A Christmas Story even after hearing a resounding chorus of "you'll shoot your eye out"; so why did Ralphie's old man buckle and get him the Red Ryder BB gun? Director Bob Clark's 1983 classic is on most people's watchlists for the holiday season. The Christmas film is so popular that it's played for 24 hours on Christmas Eve on both TBS and TNT. A Christmas Story is based on a 1966 novel by Jean Shepherd, titled In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash with some elements being taken from his 1971 book Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters. Shepherd's work also inspired the 1994 comedy My Summer Story, directed by Bob Clark and considered a sequel to A Christmas Story. In 2017 Fox produced a live network version, starring Maya Rudolph, Matthew Broderick, Andy Walken, Chris Diamantopoulos, and Tyler Wladis.
A Christmas Story follows Ralphie Parker, a young boy who really wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. He asks everyone including his parents, his teacher, and even the mall Santa. The response he gets is always the same: "you'll shoot your eye out." On Christmas morning, Ralphie's dad Old Man Parker points to a package tucked away. Just when Ralphie gives up hope entirely, he opens the present to find that it's exactly what he asked for. While Ralphie's mom gives her husband some seriously dirty looks, the old man laughs it off and claims he had one at his age. The irony is that when Ralphie takes the gun out for the first time, he actually does injure his eye. So why does Ralphie's dad change his mind in this classic Christmas movie?
The real reason Ralphie's dad buys him the Red Ryder BB gun seems to be because he's proud that Ralphie stood up for himself against Scott Farkus. After Ralphie finally loses his patience and beats up his bully, he begs his mother not to tell his dad about the incident. While Mother Parker pretends to keep this secret to herself, it's more than likely that she tells her husband what happened to their son. While Old Man Parker is a tough individual - which is why his son is scared to tell him the truth in the first place - being the old school type of dad that he is, he's most likely pretty proud of his kid for giving his bully his just desserts, leading him to reward his son with the present he's been pining after. It's certainly not the nicest reason for a Christmas movie to promote, but given who the character is as a person, the reasoning tracks.
While it's not technically a coming-of-age tale, A Christmas Story does focus on the fact that Ralphie is growing up. Old Man Parker does notice this throughout the film and attempts to give his son more responsibility. For example, when the car breaks down and he makes Ralphie get out and fix it with him, coining the hilarious "oh fudge" moment. This could be another reason that his dad gets him the Red Ryder BB gun. He notices that Ralphie is growing up and wants to let his son have the same type of responsibility that was entrusted to him at that age.
A Christmas Story decks the halls of Christmas classics along with the likes of It's a Wonderful Life, Elf, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and A Christmas Carol. Bob Clark's staple film is chock full of laughs and holiday spirit. The movie has tons of memorable moments, such as Ralphie's hilarious imagination, the leg lamp, Randy's huge snowsuit, or Flick getting his tongue stuck to the pole. For those that haven't seen it, the movie should definitely be on the watchlist for 2021's holiday season.