Our last blog post for the calendar year. I thought today we’d just have some fun together. Sound okay to you? Let’s have a relaxed romp through my favorite Christmas movie, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It was originally released in the US in December 1989 by Warner Bros. when I was a sophomore in college. As I watched it for the umpteenth time this year, I saw a parallel I never had before. Because 2020 has been a year unlike any other. So, put on your Santa slippers, grab a piece of left-over pie and let’s explore how my favorite Christmas movie mirrors 2020.
I know some of you may be shaking your heads at me right now because my favorite holiday flick isn’t something more wholesome like It’s A Wonderful Life or Miracle On 34th Street. Don’t get me wrong – I like those, too. Yet, somehow, Christmas Vacation steals my heart every single December. Maybe it’s the goofy slapstick humor? Maybe it’s the relatability to members of my own family (mostly my in-laws)? Perhaps the soundtrack? Or quotable lines like this gem from Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase)? “Where do you think you’re going? Nobody’s leaving. Nobody’s walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We’re all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We’re gonna press on, and we’re gonna have the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny-f***ing-Kaye.”
Regardless of the reasons, I love this movie. And viewing the characters as fractured pieces of 2020 helps me structure a mental framework around the chaos of the past year.
Cousin Eddie
On the lighter side of this year, my favorite Christmas movie mirrors 2020 through the character of Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid). You know the guy. He is a mess of a man, a burning dumpster meme in the flesh. Eddie shows up uninvited, roots through our garbage and breaks our fragile stuff. Eddie is unintentionally obtrusive and crude – the cringe-worthy opposite of Clark’s dreams for a perfect old-fashioned family holiday. And he parks his dilapidated RV (“rolling tenement on wheels”) in our driveway with no plans to leave anytime soon.
Once I got this mental image of 2020 stuck in my head, I couldn’t unsee it. Painfully awkward 2020 gleefully standing outside my window, drinking a beer at 8:00am and emptying the RV’s septic tank into my storm sewer next to a pile of charred trash. “Merry Christmas! Shitter was full!”
Mr. Shirley
On the more serious side of things, my favorite Christmas movie also mirrors 2020 through the character of Frank Shirley (Brian Doyle-Murray). He is the no-nonsense CEO of the food additive company where Clark works. Mr. Shirley doesn’t view any of the employees as individuals, but as numbers on a spread sheet that all impact the bottom line. In fact, one of the movie’s running gags is that Mr. Shirley never gets Clark’s name right. (Carl instead of Clark. Greaseball instead of Griswold. And so on.) For most of the movie he is cold, joyless and impersonal. And he financially sucker punches Clark right in his bank account. Jelly of the Month Club, anyone?
How many of us have wanted to explode in an emotional tirade at some aspect (or aspects) of 2020? We feel angry at the injustices, the burdens and the losses. And justifiably so. I took the liberty of tweaking Clark’s rant about Mr. Shirley for 2020. Read it out loud to yourself and let some of that anger go. No reason to carry that into 2021. Seriously, go ahead. I’ll wait…
Feel a little better? At least a little amused, even temporarily? Good! Remember, laughter is therapeutic and it’s free.
Spoiler alert
At the end of the movie, the entire extended family goes outside to the front lawn when Eddie’s two young children believe they see Santa Claus in the distance. Clark tells them it is actually the Christmas Star and that he finally realizes what the holiday means to him. Of course, Uncle Lewis (William Hickey) corrects him that the light is actually coming from the local sewage treatment plant. This reminds Clark that Eddie had been dumping his RV sewage into the nearby storm drain. Unfortunately, before Clark can stop him, Uncle Lewis tosses a cigar match into the drain which ignites a small explosion.
The blast sends the family’s Santa and reindeer yard decorations soaring into the night sky. Aunt Bethany (Mae Questel) starts singing the US National Anthem and everyone joins in as the flaming decorations fly off into the distance. The entire family (including a repentant Mr. Shirley, his wife and the SWAT team) then celebrates inside what’s left of the Griswold’s house.
The End.
What I want to carry into 2021
Ah, Christmas movie magic. I wish 2020 could wrap up as sweetly as my movie. Oh, I know that isn’t the case. I understand that folks are grieving very real losses and that doesn’t magically end when the credits roll for this year. There is plenty of work yet to be done. I get it.
Still, I want to carry part of Christmas Vacation with me into 2021. Clark’s optimism. (“A lot of sap in here! Looks great. A little full. A lot of sap.”) Mr. Shirley’s repentance and humility. Aunt Bethany’s pure (albeit confused) sweetness. (“Grace??? She died thirty years ago!”) And Cousin Eddie’s… um… well… let’s say his authenticity.
But mostly, I want to carry laughter with me into next year. A whole rusted out RV full of laughter. Because I have no doubt that at multiple points in 2021, I will find myself facing very real struggles. And I will need my sense of (slapstick) humor.
So, here’s to YOU in 2021. May your lime jello never come topped with cat food. May your house never have a wild squirrel inside. And may your shitter never get too full.
Stay encouraged.
Love, Melissa
