“A Christmas Story”
Prompt: “Write a four- or five- paragraph essay that explains what you liked about the
movie ‘A Christmas Story’ and why.”
“A Christmas Story” is an all-time classic movie that is loved by kids and adults the world
over! It is a movie that was first released in 1983 when I was just a kid myself. I loved it
then, and I love it even more today. As a language arts teacher now, I thoroughly and
wholeheartedly enjoy the descriptive language told by the narrator; it really makes me
appreciate this movie that much more than when I was a kid. Besides the descriptive
language, this movie is loaded with humorous scene after humorous scene – side-splitting
laugh-filled scenes! Laughter is huge in this movie, but there are also many moments from
the film where a person can relate to his own everyday life (situations with family, at
school, with friends, and more). This classic movie is one that a person can watch over and
over for all the above reasons (and probably more), and it is easy to understand why so
many people love it!
One aspect of “A Christmas Story” that I love the most is the use of descriptive language,
told by the narrator, as he relived one Christmas season from his past. It was a time when
he was nine (9) years old when he wanted a Red Rider B-B Gun. The story is told in 1stperson point of view (perspective), and the detail and use of vivid, colorful
wording/language ALWAYS makes me smile! There are plenty of “five-dollar” words in
the film (“annihilation”, “cornucopia”, “skunked”, “feverish”, and more), but what makes
me appreciate the language even more (especially as a language arts teacher) is the use of
figurative language (figures of speech, similes, and metaphors). This kind of language
simply helps make the movie that much more enjoyable as told by the narrator, rather
than just simply viewing a film with no narration. This description enhances the storyline
and makes it even more entertaining. Similes are used extensively to help describe scenes
and include “Randy lay there like a slug” (the scene where the main character Ralphie’s
kid brother flopped onto the ground in his winter clothing and couldn’t get up easily).
Another scene finds Randy (the kid brother) getting help from his mother in putting on his
winter clothing, and it contains the classic simile “Preparing to go to school was like getting
ready for extended deep-sea diving.” After he has this clothing on, Ralphie says, “My kid
brother looked like a tick about to pop.” This line was great because it further entertained
the viewer about what Ralphie’s kid brother looked like with all his clothing. Besides the
similes from this scene, the classic back-to-back similes that make audiences roar are when
Ralphie dresses up in his pink bunny gift from his aunt. After coming down the stairs to
show off the gift to his family, his dad says, “You look like a deranged Easter Bunny,” and
“You look like a pink nightmare.” One can’t help but be more entertained with these lines.
These were just some of the similes used, and along with other descriptive, vivid words;
figurative language; and metaphors, this movie is that much more enjoyable to hear rather
than just watching narrator-less scenes. The wording and language used by the narrator
gives viewers that much more detail about the movie!
Words and language are not the only things that make “A Christmas Story” an incredible
viewing experience; this movie is loaded with side-splitting, humorous scene after scene!
There are humorous scenes near the beginning, and they continue clear to the end. You
will roar with laughter with any of the following: Randy (the kid brother) getting dressed
into his winter clothing; Randy falling over in an alley just after getting dressed up in his
winter gear; Flick (one of Ralphie’s friends) getting his tongue stuck to a flagpole in the
winter cold; Randy eating like a piggy; Ralphie’s dad receiving his “major award” (leg
lamp); the entire scene where Ralphie’s family encounters a flat tire on the way home from
buying a Christmas tree and Ralphie’s “fudge” comment; Ralphie eating soap and his
mom calling his friend’s mom about bad language; Ralphie’s fight with a bully; Ralphie
wearing a pink bunny costume; Ralphie “shooting his eye out”; and the family having
“Chinese turkey” (duck) for Christmas dinner. Each of the above scenes makes me (and
many others) laugh hysterically, but the one that really sends me over the edge is when
Ralphie wears his pink bunny costume he received as a gift from his aunt. He was asked by
his mom try it on, but Ralphie didn’t want to. After much harsh wording from his mom,
he tries it on upstairs and comes to the top of the stairs to show it off. From the look on his
face, you can see he is humiliated, and what makes this scene that much funnier is the fact
that his brother (Randy) starts to laugh uncontrollably while his mom gushes over how
cute and adorable it looks. At the same time, Ralphie’s dad can see that he is
uncomfortable with the get-up and asks Ralphie if he’d like to take it off. His dad even
matter-of-factly states that Ralphie looks “like a deranged Easter Bunny” and “like a pink
nightmare”. All of this makes Ralphie that much more disturbed and uncomfortable.
Plus, he was already disturbed with the gift because he thought his aunt still treated him
like a kid, but a girl! This pink bunny outfit didn’t help matters to him, and with all of his
brother’s laughter, his mom gushing with cutsie love for the outfit, his dad expressing his
concern for how uncomfortable and hideous Ralphie looks, and the fact that Ralphie’s
facial expressions show just how silly the costume is, this scene is THE MOST hilarious
part of the movie.
The side-splitting, humorous scenes (including the classic “pink bunny costume”) along
with the great use of words, language, and description make “A Christmas Story” a superb
movie, and it is quite easy to understand and see why millions of kids and adults the world
over loved this movie the first time they saw it and continue to love it – no matter how
many times they have seen it since!