With the Christmas season now beyond us, we're sure many of you have new memories of watching some of your favorite Christmas films with your loved ones. However, if you love Christmas there's never a bad time to explore the season's best movies.
If you're as obsessed with them as we are, you've definitely seen 1983's A Christmas Story, which has consistently been rated one of the best Christmas movies of all time. To help you reflect on this timeless classic, we've compiled a list of a few reasons why it's the perfect Christmas movie, along with a few as to why it isn't.
Perfect: It follows the Adventures of a Young Boy, His Friends, and His Family
A Christmas Story is told in a series of vignettes following the young Ralphie Parker and his adventures in school, at home, and even at the mall as Christmas approaches.
Like every good Christmas movie, the film is centered around the close bonds he shares with his family and friends. Christmas is all about being together with those you love, and A Christmas Story goes to great lengths to make us feel as if we too are a part of the Parkers and all their absurdity.
Not So Perfect: The Narration and Dialogue May Sometimes Fly Over Younger (And Even Older) Audiences' Heads
Although A Christmas Story follows Ralphie as an elementary schooler, an older, more mature version of Ralphie narrates the entire film. He siphons the younger Ralphie's thoughts to us with language that makes us assume Ralphie later went on to pursue an English PhD.
Instead of a more straightforward approach to storytelling, adult Ralphie often chooses to dazzle the viewer with unique adjectives and verbs to accompany what's shown. He describes his dad as being able to "replace fuses quicker than a jackrabbit on a date." While we don't exactly know what a jackrabbit on a date looks like, Ralphie could've just said his father could replace fuses "in no time at all", but instead opts for a metaphor that flies over our heads.
A good narrator, especially one for a Christmas movie, must always remain relatable and clear. Unfortunately, adult Ralphie has a hard time with both.
Perfect: All Of the Important Christmas Nuances Are There
Christmas tree? Check. Snow? Check. Presents? Check. Christmas carols? Check. A Christmas Story has it all. You don't have to be told that this movie takes place during the Christmas season. In the first ten minutes (or even two), you'll already know.
That can't be said about other so-called Christmas movies where Christmas often takes a backseat to everything else that's going on. Looking at you, Die Hard...
Not So Perfect: Santa Claus Is a Real Jerk
Whether it's the real Old Saint Nick himself or a Santa Claus impersonator at the local mall, every Christmas movie should feature a rotund man in red suit at some point.
In the latter half of the film, Ralphie goes to the mall and encounters one of those fake Santas. When Ralphie tells him that he wants a BB gun for Christmas, how does Santa respond? After telling him that he'll shoot his eye out, Santa puts his boot on Ralphie's face and kicks him down a slide. The fact that it becomes so easy to detest the face of Christmas makes it difficult to see this film as the perfect Christmas movie.
Perfect: It's a Lighthearted Film
Although A Christmas Story does get pretty real at times, it never strays too far from the absurd, and it never feels like the story is getting to a point where long-time consequences will exist for Ralphie and those around him. Even after he pummels his bully to the point of a bloody nose, his adlib cussing diminishes the severity of the incident. Likewise, when Flick gets his tongue stuck on the flagpole and Ralphie beaks his own glasses, we're tempted to feel like these events are more like comedic skits than traumatic occurrences.
In neither instance are the kids rushed to the hospital as they probably would be in real life. From the first time we saw The Old Man's lamp, we knew this film wasn't one that we were supposed to take too seriously, which is what every great Christmas film should strive to do in the first place.
Not So Perfect: It's A Comedy That's Not Safe for the Whole Family
Sure, 1983 was a different time, but if A Christmas Story is to be considered the perfect Christmas film, it needs to remain just as suitable for the entire family now as it did back then. Unfortunately, many modern viewers would find an issue with some of the comedy present in the film.
For one thing, the cussing that these children do would be frowned upon by many parents, and the actual beating that Schwartz endures for the sake of a joke wouldn't fly well with Child Protective Services nowadays. We also feel like many viewers wouldn't take kindly to The Old Man's sexist frame of thought in how much he adored that leg-shaped lamp when his wife was standing right there.
To top it all off, towards the end of the film, when the pack of dogs ransacks the kitchen, there's a brief shot of two of them actually attacking one another.
Perfect: What Ralphie Wants for Christmas Drives the Main Plot
In a perfect Christmas movie, Christmas should have a profound impact on the plot, as well as the main character's desire. In A Christmas Story, Ralphie is driven by his goal of acquiring a Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-Shot Range Model air rifle (a glorified BB gun) as the ultimate gift.
Many of his fantasies relate to the gun in some way, and no matter what else happens to Ralphie, his thoughts always drift back to it.
Not So Perfect: The Turbulent Ending
Most Christmas movies have a neat ending where the main plot, and subplots, are all wrapped up with a shiny red bow. In A Christmas Story, the last few minutes of the film are among its most tumultuous.
Mrs. Parker's Christmas dinner is ruined, forcing the family to eat at a Chinese restaurant where the main course spooks her. Although he overcomes the local bully, Scut Farkus, we never do see the potential change Scut could've undergone after getting a taste of his own medicine. And after finally getting his BB gun, Ralphie actually does shoot his eye out, making the gun less of an ideal present.
Perfect: It Has Been A Part of A 24-Hour Marathon Since 1997
For over 20 years now, TNT and TBS have shown reruns of A Christmas Story for 24 hours, starting on Christmas Eve.
It's been reported that along with ESPN's broadcast of the Boston versus Toronto NBA game, this marathon dominated 2019's Christmas week's television ratings, proving that millions of other people out there also agree that A Christmas Story is the best movie to watch around the holidays.
Not So Perfect: It adds a Dash of Racism
A Christmas Story's depiction of the Parkers' Christmas dinner features an infamous scene in which a group of Chinese men are berated f0r their inability to properly sing Christmas carols due to their accents. While this joke may have flown at the time, we could imagine the outrage if this movie were produced now.
The joke comes across as culturally insensitive, mocking differences in culture and language that should be respected. Despite A Christmas Story's accolades, the perfect Christmas movie would steer clear of doing anything like this.