A Christmas Story may not be dark in terms of really horrible things happening during the holidays, but it's certainly a very unsentimental look at how one family in the 1940s celebrates Christmas. Compared to the nauseatingly manufactured cheer of most holiday movies. A Christmas Story may as well be stripped down documentary footage. The reason why it is such an endearingly popular film at Christmastime is because everything about it feels like real life, warts and all. Little Ralphie uses a bad word and ends up getting his mouth washed out with soap. His father develops a worrying attachment to a lamp designed to resemble a shapely female leg. A little boy licks a freezing metal post and accidentally gets his tongue stuck to it. These slice of life moments strike a chord with audiences, because even if those specific experiences never happened to us, they remind us of the crazy childhood memories that we all have of our family and friends.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
