A Christmas Story’ is a very popular American film which, as the name suggests, revolves around the festivities of Christmas. Even though it is a comedy movie, it also touches upon the very sensitive societal issue of bullying. The child star of the movie is shown longing for a Red Ryder Air Rifle as a Christmas present, but his requests keep getting refused, and his tricks of sneaking advertisements for the weapon – in his own house – in hopes that they will affect his parents’ decision do not turn out to be fruitful.
A Christmas Story’s remake has been on the cards for quite a while and today, we will be discussing it in detail.
Up till now, there has only been one remake of the original film. It was aired on television in December 2017. It was more of a musical play rather than a movie. It was titled, A Christmas Story: The Musical. The most interesting part is that it was a live show that featured the character of young Ralphie Parker.
However, what most people refer to like the remake of A Christmas Story is actually its sequel: A Christmas Story 2! This film was released in 2012 and portrays the main character who was a child in the original movie. Ralphie Parker is still as stubborn when it comes to what he wants, but obviously, his wants have changed over the course of six years.
In this sequel, the star of the movie wants a luxurious car, a used Mercury Eight model of 1939 that was launched by Ford Motors to be precise. Now that he is fifteen years old, Ralphie does not go around “begging” for the item he sees in a store. He sits inside the expensive convertible car when he sees it displayed at a used car lot. Not realizing that the car was placed on a sloped ramp, he causes it to slide down and hit a pole. Consequently, he needs to pay the owner of the car, a hefty amount, to avoid getting imprisoned for attempting to drive his car without permission and damaging it.
Along with his friends from A Christmas Story 1, Ralphie tries to find a job to earn the required money. They start working at the Higbee’s store (keeping in mind that the movie is depicting a time period of 1946 and not 2012 when Higbee’s stores were still a thing). However, all three of them get fired following a fight between themselves. The plot takes turn to finally conclude how the main character surprisingly ends up with the car and the girl of his dreams on Christmas after struggling to get his job back.
However, empathy is also shown by the character towards the end of the sequel where he decides to donate a certain amount of money to a needy family.
What makes A Christmas Story different from other occasion-specific movies?
Most festive plays and films revolve around happiness, celebrations and family time. Everyone aims to give the desired presents to their loved ones. However, A Christmas Story remake introduces us to the harsh realities of life. It makes us realize that sometimes there can be unmet expectations, refused requests and disappointments even on an occasion like Christmas. On the contrary, it also conveys the message that life is full of wonderful surprises.
Origin and ideation of the movie
Even though this movie is directed by Bob Clark, the plot is inspired from Jean Shepherd`s novel In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.
Jean Shepherd used to narrate stories from his childhood. The interesting part is that there was little truth in these stories and they were often made-up just for the sake of entertainment of his audience. One of his friends recorded these stories and later published them in the form of a book.
Shepherd also worked on radio and it was there that Bob first heard him narrating his story while returning from an unpleasant Christmas experience. He did not enjoy the festivities that year and even his girlfriend was unhappy. Listening to Shepherd`s narrative coupled with his circumstances, Bob got the idea for creating a Christmas-related movie that was not all about smiles and laughter.
Even though this new genre of festive movies was well-received by the masses, the hype was only short-lived and the movie was aired only for a few weeks. However, its popularity suddenly increased almost 14 years after its release, so much so that it was aired repeatedly during the Christmas period.
Next time you find A Christmas Story or its remake being aired on television, you will probably enjoy it more due to the background knowledge about its creation, musical and sequel. You will also be able to pinpoint the difference between the original and the sequel, but in order to do that, you`ll have to wait till Christmas!