From the Comment Section:
5 Reasons Why Gwynne Watkins Is A Terrible Journalist
1. She thinks that dumping on beloved classics somehow makes her relevant or insightful. The short definition of a “classic” is some kind of work that has withstood the test of time. This is obviously different than trends or kitsch. A Christmas Story, going on 35 years old, can certainly qualify as a classic movie, so all of the sudden attempting to raise your hand after three decades and say “I don’t like it, and everyone else is wrong” doesn’t hold water.
2. She doesn’t really understand the movie at all. The whole point of the movie, aside from the tongue-in-cheek side stories, is the pure joy one felt on that one special Christmas of your youth, when Santa brought that one absolute favorite gift. Most of us can relate. I know I do. But this writer seems to watch a movie like this, and come away thinking it’s centered on the way the little brother Randy wears his winter clothing. A single part does not define a whole.
3. She doesn’t relate to the characters in the movie. Perhaps I can give a pass on this one, considering that a person who grew up in a perfect household, or one that had no family at all, can’t possibly relate to this. I can, and can even go so far as to say that the older I get, the more I identify with the Dad. Look at the scene when they’re driving home from getting a Christmas tree. The rest of the family is singing, and look at the expression on the dads face. If that’s not the average modern father, I don’t know what is. Whenever I try to fix something in the house, my wife claims I’m the dad from this movie fixing the furnace! I could go on, but this writer obviously came from a youth that had none of this, and I pity her. Did she come from a childhood of loneliness and pain? Maybe privilege and neglect? I won’t dare to say. But they say a writer should write what they know, and this woman doesn’t know these people.
4. You cannot accurately judge the past through a “millennial lens.” Or maybe it’s just a “politically correct lens.” Whichever, modern sensibilities and finding offense with everything around you makes you a horrible judge of just about everything. People, food, art, history, even benign language like pronouns are a source of irritation and injustice to you. It seems enough to get people enraged enough to take to the streets holding signs and becoming violent. I think this writer has that “It has to be my way or it’s all wrong” sort of attitude. Ask yourself what qualifies you to make that kind of judgement. What in your life gives you the credentials to be an authority on anything? Thinking you know better doesn’t mean you actually do.
5. She needs to learn to get over herself and enjoy the things that want to make you happy. A Christmas Story ABOUNDS in Christmas spirit. No, not the average Hallmark movie or Hollywood kind, but the REAL kind we all have in our lives. I personally have never ever had a Christmas where an angel showed me what life would be life had I never been born, or where I had a life changing event that made me a different person, or where through shenanigans me and my misfit friends saved the town Christmas parade. What I have had, multiple times, are the precious childhood memories of the anticipation of Christmas, and the real believing that Santa Claus was going to bring me presents for being a good kid, that no matter how crummy life may have been, it would all be vindicated on Christmas Morning! Ah, who doesn’t recall how they felt waking up and going downstairs to see what awaited us? Maybe the disappointment, or the absolute surprise at getting something we never thought we’d get? If that isn’t Christmas spirit, then nothing else is.
You wrote an excellent critique of a terrible critique of a fun movie.
Nicely done.
You are a very gifted writer. I, like, you can relate to the characters in the movie and as I grow older I also find my self like the dad in the film. God bless you and have a Merry Christmas.
[[The whole point of the movie, aside from the tongue-in-cheek side stories, is the pure joy one felt on that one special Christmas of your youth,]]
I’m not sure liberals, many anyways, are capable of experiencing joy
Well said.
Well said. Bravo
I once heard or read art described as transforming the personal into the universal, and you could probably describe a classic the same way. Gwynne appears to have no understanding of the wide appeal of a movie like “A Christmas Story” and what makes it a classic.
We should make her write a theme on the subject. If she does well, her major award will be a beautiful leg lamp.
Bookmark
You make excellent points. I get the impression her main gripe with the movie is that it doesn’t live up to PC expectations. To me, she makes two salient cynical points: 1) Consumerism = her anti capitalism stance 2) “Let’s look at what Reagan-era Ralphie is actually nostalgic for: A long-suffering mom who can’t have anything for herself. A dad who’s angry all the time. A childhood in which his biggest accomplishments were beating up a bully and getting a gun. A world where boys make the rules, and anyone who’s not like them — girls, people of color — doesn’t factor in. Worst of all: Ralphie looks back with fondness on a time when his family could openly laugh at Asian people” = her seeing everything in terms of the PC culture of toxic masculinity, racism, sexism, bullying that defines the typical American family.
Basically, she is a cultural Marxist and this 1) allows her to dump on the classics; 2) not understand the movie; 3) not relate to the characters; 4) not get over herself. It is sad. But Marxism can twist you up like a dry pretzel in this festive holiday season.