A Christmas Story: One Of The Five

I love the movie "A Christmas Story".  I know many people love it and many people hate it.  I know it is not the greatest Christmas movie ever, but in my mind it is in the top five.

The top five Christmas movies ever?  If I get to rate them,

• then number five would be the short animation of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas",
• followed by "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacatioin",
• followed by "A Christmas Story" in position number three,
• with "Miracle on 34th Street"
• with "It's a Wonderful Life" taking the top spot.

I love the movie "A Christmas Story" for millions of reason, one of which is that the movie starts with beautiful snowy Christmas scenery of a middle American town in Indiana with a street side chorus belting out "Go Tell It on the Mountain" and ends with a father and mother sitting together looking out at God's wonderful creation while their children are "nestled all snug in their beds" to the music of "Silent Night'.  The beauty, tranquility, and peacefulness of these moments remind me of how Christmas always was for me, at least all the good memories I have.

I also love this movie because it is the tale of a little boy going through his rite of passage from being a little boy to growing into a man who gets his first gun.  Yes, I know, half the parents reading this just fainted!! But, I truly love this story for the male passage that occurs, whether folks love it or hate it, how many movies today tackle the subject of a male growing from a boy to a man anymore?  Hardly any.....and the ones that do, leave plenty to be desired.

I mean I can remember being "double dog dared" and even "tripled dog dared, don't you?  Remember when life was simple, and the only thing you had to worry about was whether your tongue would get stuck to a pole in winter?  Remember when the toughest questioned you faced was, "really could it happen"?  I long for those simple times.  I dream about them.  Now, don't get me wrong I love my life now, but it is so much fun to remember when times were so much easier and the hardest thing you had to do was figure out what to ask Santa for went you went to see him before Christmas.

I long for the days when you would get so geeked up about that one big thing you would hope, dream and even beg Santa for, and sometimes if you were really lucky, you GOT IT!!!

I love the fact that this movie features a dad who goes to work, plays crazy trivia in the newspaper, and is obviously the leader of the pack.  I love that this movie features a mother who cooks, cleans, cover your butt when you have a fight, and adores her family.  Now, I know these people only exist in like maybe two percent of families, but darn it, I love that I can slip into this movie and dream!  Who wouldn't love a momma that would give you milk when you're hiding in the cabinet 'cause you are afraid your dad is gonna kill our brother 'cause he finally couldn't take getting assaulted by the bully on the block, and finally gives him a "what for", and beats the living "you know what" out of him.

I love that the little boy dreams and dreams and dreams about that Red Rider BB gun.  There are so many fun things about this movie that I just finding endearing.