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'Bad Santa' - The Quest to Purify My Pop Culture Soul, vol. 12
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by RFP
The Quest to Purify My Pop Culture Soul, vol. 12:
'Bad Santa'
starring Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Bernie Mac, John Ritter
Whenever you think of Santa Claus, invariably you think of a fat caucasian man with a large white beard. The question that is most relevant is: why is he portrayed as a wealthy, old man, who apparently lives a comfortable, privileged life.
As I get older, it just bothers me that this icon of rampant consumerism is ostensibly depicted as one of those corporate CEOs that give themselves multimillion dollar bonuses, just because they can. The whole concept has really started to bother me. I mean, Santa Claus has basically enslaved an entire race (the elves) to build his toys, so he can profit from endorsement deals with every major company in the world. Santa Claus is a symbol of greed, consumption, and corporate profiteering through the use of sweat shops run by elves.
The traditional image of Santa was made popular by a political cartoonist named Thomas Nast in 1863, a characterization which was drawn from various bits and pieces of folklore and mythology from all over the world.
This image was furthered bolstered by the popularity of Coca Cola's use of the character in its advertisements in the 1930s. This cemented the image of Santa throughout the years from a Miracle on 34th Street in 1947 to all those Rankin Bass stop motion animation classics in the '60s to Tim Allen's version in the frightfully popular The Santa Clause movies.
If you're going to believe my take on the Santa Claus character as a greedy, materialistic schmuck, then Billy Bob Thorton's character in Bad Santa is spot on, at least as far as personality goes.
As you know, Billy Bob plays a perpetually drunk con man, Willie Stokes, who shuffles around during the day as an ineffective mall Santa and at night as an ineffective human being.
On the surface, you see this human wreck of a man, a completely miserable person who dons the disguise of Santa Claus to help his only friend, Marcus, gain access to the mall's security systems in order to rob them blind.
But, since I tend to think about such things way too much, I see things a bit differently.
This was the second time I had seen Bad Santa, the first was a few years ago when I rented it on a whim. Watching this time, however, I was struck by the fact that the Bad Santa seems like an adult version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. No, the Jim Carrey, live action version of Dr. Seuss' classic does not count, in my mind, as the adult version. For one thing, the Grinch doesn't spit out 54 "fucks", which is the amount of times I counted Billy Bob's character saying it.
The Grinch = Willie Stokes. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton) hates Christmas. It's the only time during the year that he actually works, but he hates all the children he has to endure. He essentially "steals" Christmas by adopting the holiday's favorite mascot as a disguise to rob money and other items from the malls he works at.
Max, the dog = Marcus. Marcus (Tony Cox) is Willie's partner in crime. He dresses as an elf to appear alongside Stokes' Santa. Marcus is Willie's only friend and the one responsible for keeping Willie from being passed out in some alley all day. The same is true of Max the dog. He is the Grinch's only friend. Without him, the Grinch would not be able to live his miserable life.
Cindy Lou Who = Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly). Thurman is an innocent, harmless boy, who believes in Santa because, really, he has nothing left to believe in. His father is in jail, his mother is dead, and his grandmother is losing her mind. Cindy Lou Who has a full family, but has precious little money. However, her Christmas spirit more than makes up for her families' lack of cash. Also, like Cindy, Thurman believes that the man in the Santa suit is the real Santa Claus, despite the fact that he obviously isn't.
Thurman is responsible for Willie's change of heart about life. I'm not sure Thurman caused Willie's heart to grow three sizes that day because an enlarged heart usually results in cardiac arrest, but he does affect a change in Stokes' personality.
Willie is struck by Thurman's kindness. The first time is when Thurman gives Willie a Christmas gift. Sure, it was a wooden pickle, but the boy badly cut himself carving it. The second time was when Thurman asks if Santa Willie is going to reciprocate in giving a gift for Christmas. Willie lashes out causing Thurman to admit: "I know there's no Santa. I just thought maybe you wanted to give me a present cuz we're friends."
Willie delivers Thurman's gift, outrunning the police after Marcus turns on him during a botched mall robbery, even though it results in an extended stay in the hospital after being shot eight times.
Willie even finds acceptance in the end by developing a surrogate family. Willie's unofficial girlfriend, Sue, was awarded legal guardianship of Thurman. There's a definite sense that Willie plans on joining them and live in Granny's (Cloris Leachman) house with them.
I guess we shall find out, as there are rumors that a sequel will be released at the end of 2011. It's kind of a shame, considering there seems to be a certain amount of closure to this film, but Hollywood greed conquers all. I just hope it's as enjoyable as this one.
Has Some Part of My Pop Cultural Soul Been Saved? Yes. Despite the fact that Willie Stokes is a foul mouthed, drunken misanthrope, there is a sympathetic character somewhere at the core. It's just hidden beneath a layer of filth and whiskey vapors.
Saved or Failed? SAVED
FILM COUNT: 2010 after last Friday
+ Over the Top, + The Town, + Every Which Way But Lose = 2,013 movies seen in my lifetime.
The next attempt to redeem my pop culture soul happens next Friday. See the movie and be redeemed along with me. Next Friday: Lethal Weapon
I was going to do it this week, but with the holidays and whatnot, I didn't have much time. SO....next Friday, I'll finally reveal the Film Geek chart, so you can see how much of a film lover you really are. Tally up those points.
If you have seen Bad Santa your achievement badge is below. Create a folder on your facebook page titled "Film Geek" and save the image to that folder. You'll be able to track you progress and show the world how geeky you really are.
'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' - The Quest To Purify My Pop Culture Soul
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by RFP
"I don't know what to say except it's Christmas and we're all in misery."
The Quest to Purify My Pop Culture Soul, Vol. 10:
'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'
starring Chevy Chase, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, and Randy Quaid
Written by John Hughes
There are some movies that people watch every year as part of some holiday tradition. When I was a kid, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and When The Grinch Stole Christmas were all required viewing. At some point, Home Alone was added to that list. From 4th to 7th grade, I probably saw Home Alone 35 times. It was standard operating procedure at my school that every teacher show Home Alone after the class Christmas party before winter break.
While I knew some families that considered National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation a vital part of their holiday viewing tradition, I had never seen the entire movie and, in fact, did not know how the scenes I had seen related to raising one's holiday spirit. Specifically, I remember the scene where the cat fries itself chewing on a strand of Christmas lights.
However, after seeing Christmas Vacation in its entirety, I completely get it.
Christmas Vacation is about one man's quest to have the best Christmas imaginable for his family, only to have everything fall apart around him, thanks in part to dumb luck, a thankless job, and the general stupidity of his extended family. Sounds familiar. As they say, it's only funny because it's true.
As evident by the two previous "Vacation" movies, all Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants is to make his family happy. His big Christmas surprise for his family is the announcement that he plans on using his Christmas bonus to have an in-ground swimming pool built.
I really have some sympathy for Clark. He's a faceless nobody at work, at least to his boss, despite the fact that he seems to be reasonable successful. He tries to please his kids and they just act indifferent (Juliette Lewis, in particular turns the dismissive eye roll into an art form in this flick. And Johnny Galecki of Roseanne and The Big Bang Theory fame...man, he looks the same now as he did when he was 10. Same hairstyle and everything). Plus he lives next door to a couple of young hipsters, one of which is the future Elaine Benes, Julia Louis Dreyfus, who completely hate his guts.
For Christmas, Clark invites his extended over to stay at his house for the holidays because he has always wanted a "big Christmas."
In order to win over his guests, Clark tries to put together the largest Christmas display that they have ever seen. Redemption through Christmas lights. The approval of his family as Clark stands in the glare of the power sucking glow of 25,000 lights ("250 strands of light, 100 individual bulbs per strand...for a grand total of 25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights) is enough to bring him to tears. This is the love, the acceptance he was seeking.
But his joy is short-lived as his white trash cousin, Eddie, shows up uninvited in his nasty RV. When Eddie asks if his arrival was a surprise, Clark responds, "If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be as surprised as I am now."
Cousin Eddie had been living out of his RV because his family lost their house. Eddie had been unemployed for 7 years because he was holding out for a management job. It's also revealed he has a plastic plate in his head. Originally, it was a metal plate, but it had to be replaced with plastic because every time his wife used the microwave, Eddie would "piss his pants and forget who he was for half an hour."
Eddie is the beginning of a non-stop barrage of disasters that eventually culminates in Clark discovering that he isn't going to receive a Christmas bonus that year, but a year long membership to the Jelly of the Month Club.
The stress of the consistent failure of a holiday that he wanted to be the best ever finally causes Clark to crack resulting in one memorable breakdown.
"If any of you are looking for any last minute gift ideas for me, I have one: I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here, tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber from over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought here. With a big ribbon on his head. And I wanna look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no good rotten, floor flushing, low life, snake licking, dirt eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood sucking, dog kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spineless, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is. Hallulejah. Holy shit...where's the Tylenol?"
After an unfortunate incident with a squirrel, Clark's extended family threatens to leave, causing the broken Griswold to break even further.
"We're gonna have the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny fucking Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down the chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse."
It also causes Cousin Eddie to take action and become an unlikely hero. In the end, there is a happy ending, albeit a happy ending with a police standoff and SWAT team crashing through the windows, but what are you gonna do? It's Christmas. It happens.
Has Some Part of My Pop Cultural Soul Been Saved? Yes. Some of it is a bit too slapsticky for me, but other parts of it made me LOL, Smiley Face.
Part of the humor came from the ridiculous situations, but mostly it was Chevy Chase's reactions to those situations that really brought the comedy home.
I've not well versed in the filmography of Chevy Chase, but in the movies I have seen him, Caddyshack and Fletch, he's played the cool straight man. In this movie, he is more like his character from his current role as Pierce on Community. He uses a more physical style of comedy. He's the punchline of the joke and not the setup.
Who hasn't tried to make everyone around them happy at some point, only to see it all fall apart? Like said before, some of the situations in Christmas Vacation are funny because people can relate. They are sympathetic towards Clark Griswold's pain.
Saved or Failed? SAVED
FILM COUNT: 2007 after last Friday
+ National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation = 2,008 movies seen in my lifetime.
The next attempt to redeem my pop culture soul happens next Friday. See the movie and be redeemed along with me. Next week is the release of Tron: Legacy. It's only appropriate we celebrate by watching the original. From 1982, it's Tron. Hopefully, you can find a copy...but that's a story for next week.
Don't forget...if you missed it earlier this week, make sure you check out our feature with the constantly changing title...the one were we look at the worst movies possible. This week it was The Last Action Hero. There's an achievement badge there for you, if you've endured it.
If you have seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation your achievement badge is below. Create a folder on your facebook page titled "Film Geek" and save the image to that folder. You'll be able to track you progress and show the world how geeky you really are.
Next Friday: Tron
-RFP
Alternative Christmas Songs. Day 1
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by RFP
The day after Thanksgiving...it begins. A 25 day onslaught of Christmas songs, many of which you've heard hundreds of times and many of which you'll hear a hundred more times in that unforgiving 25 day span.
We are not immune to the Christmas spirit, so instead of ignoring the holidays, we are going to embrace them. Somewhat. For the next 25 days, give or take a few, we are going to spotlight some Christmas songs.
The only catch is these are songs you wouldn't normally hear on the radio. So Merry Christmas, happy Kwanza, Put on your yamulke, let's celebrate hannukah, and hail to Emperor Xenu.
First up, Santa celebrates 4/20 on 12/25: "Santa Claus is Smoking Reefer" by Squirrel Nut Zippers
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