It is a warm nostalgic remembrance of the way things used to be – of a childhood full of parental love and the things that at that age seemed life and death.

“BB guns are dangerous – I don’t want anyone shooting their eye out,” she says. He describes Ralphie’s obsession thus: “As cool and deadly a piece of weaponry as I had ever laid eyes on.” To poor Ralphie’s disappointment, his mother is adamantly opposed to that present. It is the author’s warm and passionate voice you hear as the narrator – and older version of the young boy. The film unfolds episodically following the shape of Jean Shepherd’s semi-biographical work “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash” – which was itself a collection of anecdotes. It’s the late 30s in Hohman, Indiana – and the Parkers are middle class – mother stays at home looking after her two boys while dad goes to work. To make the best of what we have and most importantly to laugh even at our most adverse moments.Īll nine-year old Ralphie Parker wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. “That Christmas would live in our memories as the year we were introduced to Chinese turkey.” There’s such a lesson to be learned in there. Parker and the kids burst out loud – tears mixed with cackles. Without missing a beat the Chinese server grabs a meat cleaver chops it off. The Father says, “It’s a beautiful duck, it really is, but you see…it’s smiling at me,” showing the beak to the waiter.

Parker is at first horrified but then cannot contain her laughter. The server brings out their meal, and the duck still has the head. The waiters aren’t familiar with Christmas carols – but their attempt at “Deck the Halls” draws big laughs from the family. The family’s forced to go a Chinese restaurant instead – and they order Peking duck. One of my favorite scenes in this now Christmas classic comes towards the end of the movie, when the Parkers’ holiday turkey is devoured by the next-door neighbor’s army of dogs. I promise you one thing, there will be other Christmases, and they will be very special because we will remember what we didn’t have this year. I know we all long to be closer to loved ones – and gather with friends to celebrate. There’s too much expectation built around it. What this movie captures are the different levels of disappointments that we undergo leading up to the morning of the 25th. A couple days ago I spoke to my mom on the phone, and she confessed she wishes things could go back the way they were. As we were getting ready to celebrate the holidays a year ago, none of us could have suspected what was going to happen in 2020. Think for a second about that sentiment expressed in “A Christmas Story” (1983). Sometimes, at the height of our revelries, when our joy is at its zenith, when all is most right with the world, the most unthinkable disasters descend upon us.”

A christmas story book jean shepherd