Here in the States, the movie A Christmas Story gets pretty heavy rotation this time of year, whether on cable (TBS plays it for 24 hours on Christmas Day or thereabouts), or in family movie collections, or what have you.
I’m curious if this movie has any resonance outside the U.S. (in culturally Christian places, of course; obviously this movie isn’t going to work in Egypt or Thailand). On the one hand, this movie relies heavily on the Americana of its day for much of its settings, plot, characters, and jokes. On the other hand, the joy of the holiday, and the trials and tribulations of childhood, aren’t culturally specific, and I see no reason why it wouldn’t resonate with, say, Australians, even though Indiana winters and the American public school system (two things on which the movie’s narrative relies heavily) aren’t exactly cultural touchstones for Aussies.
So, foreign Dopers (in culturally Christian places, obviously): have you seen this movie? Did you like it? Does it get shown on your cable/satellite/whatever system?
I, too, am interested in responses to this question.
Judging by the customer reviews of the DVD at Amazon UK, it’s not as well known in the UK as in the US, but there are plenty of people who love it and relate to it.
I was foreign, growing up in the Caribbean, when I first saw it 30 years ago.
Had no idea what it was or of its cultural significance. It was just a random Sunday afternoon movie on my TV.
Instantly became a favorite. It definitely harkened to a certain brand of Americana that I had no relationship with. But I had enough secondhand exposure to ‘get it.’
Even after I moved here, I had no idea it was considered a classic for anyone else until the internet told me.
I don’t think I’ve seen it, but then, my family tends to keep the TV shut off during get-togethers and I’m pretty allergic to the Cute Kid Protagonist kind of movies. We definitely do get a lot of Christmas movies from the US, as well as all those Thanksgiving and Christmas-themed episodes which get aired at a completely different time of year.
And sadly we know more about the American public school system than we ever wanted to. American wedding customs, too. Assorted American etiquette as well, although a lot of that seems to trickle down from Corporate HR departments more than through media.
I don’t know the answer to the question, but we’ve all grown up with TV and film that does all that. Furthermore, they actually make British films more difficult to understand for British people in order not to confuse Americans. In the book Bridget Jones’ Diary she frequently records her weight in stones and pounds, as most British people still do. However for the film, they converted the weights into just pounds, for the American market. Apart from being totally unrealistic, that makes it meaningless for British people; to understand the weight while watching the film you’d have to divide it by 14 in your head, which is not the easiest thing to do.
Thanks: I’ve wondered if people who use stones used pounds afterward or just said they weighed “ten stone” for instance. How does the grammar work: do they say “twelve stone three”, “twelve stones and three pounds”, etc.?
A lot of the time you’d just give your weight in stone and ignore the pounds. But Bridget is watching her weight so records stones and pounds, I think she would say something like “eight stone eleven”.
I don’t recognize it. A lot of American Christmas movies are shown in Norway, so I’m sure it’s been shown at some point, but for instance unlike “Miracle on 34th street” I don’t think there are many Norwegians that consider it part of the canon.
Another “important” US Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, I only knew of from references in American entertainment before I moved to the US.
FWIW, the main character, Ralphie, is kind of a little shit in the movie. All of the kids in the movie are. I think that’s part of the overall joke of the movie: the subversion of your expectations of how kids in a Christmas movie would behave. They’re foul-mouthed, conniving, disobedient… you know, KIDS!
I’m a little resentful that so many Americans discovered the movie. I remember my dad listening to Jean Shepard on the radio. I remember that voice on the radio. When I discovered a movie that he narrated based on his stories it felt like finding a hidden gem. It wasn’t very popular when it came out. It came out a few years before my father died and I was able to share it with him. It was our thing. And then the popularity grew due to cable TV without anyone really knowing who Jean Shepard was.
Never seen it. Can’t remember ever seeing it listed as on TV or anybody ever mentioning it. And I would consider myself as pretty normal in terms of pop culture and what people might watch or not.
I thought I had heard the name/title before, but looking at the plot summary on wikipedia it doesn’t resonate at all so I may be mixing it up with something else.
“Its a Wonderful life” and “Miracle on 34th street” would be well known over here but not this film. If it was ever popular it was long before my time, and certainly not any more.
As the title strongly implies it is a story set at Christmas but it isn’t exactly a Christmas movie. The plot of a child scheming to get his dream present at Christmas is the plot thread that holds the movie together but it’s really a bunch of unrelated vignettes about growing up in America. The author grew up in the Great Depression but this seems to be set later than that. Because it’s not about a Christmas myth it is a good question if it translates to other countries. By the way it’s a comedy if that wasn’t clear.0
I don’t think I have heard of it in Canada. In fact, I have never seen the movie but I have seen it as a stage play because my grandson was acting in it. Honestly, I was not impressed.
Yeah, those were the ones I meant. I think I should have said “cute boy”. Not the Shirley Temples but the Macaulay Culkins. You’re supposed to cheer for the kid(s) because “awww kids” but they’re actually little shits (then again, in the Culkin movies the only ones who aren’t shits are the potted plants and I don’t know if there’s a lot of those).
Then again, when I got my hands on a pre-Disney copy of Peter Pan, I realized that Peter IS a damn little shit. As a 7yo I wanted to be Wendy so I could fly away, but flying away to a place where you go from feeling responsible for two little brothers who accept that you’re in charge to feeling responsible for a bunch of brats who don’t give a shit doesn’t count as an improvement. Neverland can go on without this Wendy.
I’m American and I’ve never seen it though I’m aware of it. It came out in 1983 when I was 21. That was a period in my life where I had no interest in that type of movie. I was honestly amazed when I heard people talking about the movie with nostalgia. Now Miracle on 34th St. or It’s a Wonderful Life sure, nostalgia. But 1983?
OK Boomer.
Honestly, the kids aren’t “cute boys” or “little shits”. They’re just. . . little boys. A real 1940’s(?) slice of Americana life. If you’re avoiding the movie because you’re expecting typical Hollywood style children-- then you’re missing out. If you just don’t like children in movies-- then stay away. This is a movie about actual children-type kids and there are a lot of them through out the whole thing.
[dateline Australia] I was unaware of it and had to look it up. That doesn’t mean its unknown to others, but the usual Christmas fare does include a lot of snowy / white christmas films on tv.
Its close enough to Christmas to see what’s on offer on TV, where traditionally many families lapse into a coma watching after the big Christmas lunch. Your Sydney Christmas viewing could be:
The Royal Variety Performance 2019
The Gavin and Stacy Christmas Special (which from memory is pretty good)
Some Wallace and Gromit (yaay)
movie - Passion of the Christ
movie - The King’s Speech (the current Queen of Australia’s speech still has to travel by royal ferret to be broadcast on Boxing Day)
movie - The Three Musketeers (not sure which version)
movie - Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (!!!)
Two whole hours of Horrible Histories episodes back to back (!!!)
Not bad at all. It’s like it was my birthday, not just Jesus’s.