This is my third attempt at writing a post for
Featured Grownups. In the first two attempts I came to a realization: Our traditions, while fun family bonding for us, are pretty uninteresting for others. Nearly every holiday tradition we have seems to revolve around food and movies.
- Groundhog Day on Groundhog Day.
- Waking Ned Devine on St. Patrick’s Day.
- A heart-shaped cake and a romantic comedy for Valentine’s Day.
- A cookout for Independence Day.
- Chili and Young Frankenstein on Halloween.
- Traditional turkey dinner and out to a movie on Thanksgiving.
- Almond braid and The Lord of the Rings at Christmas.
Food has always provided a time of bonding. Allowing others to see how you eat when you’re comfortable, dribbling soup, scattering crumbs and talking while strings of melted cheese hang off the corner of your mouth, is a level of intimacy reserved for those whose love for us is unquestioned.
It’s only been in the past twenty years that movies have become part of our family holiday traditions. The VCR created a culture change that seems to go largely unrecognized. It allowed normal working class people to build their own movie libraries. We have wrested control of our holiday movie traditions away from television networks which once insisted that
The Wizard of Oz must be watched on Thanksgiving (and only on Thanksgiving). It’s a heady feeling to have the power to watch
A Christmas Story on a night other than Christmas Eve, and only once. Why, we can even watch
A Charlie Brown Christmas in June if we want to!
With such power, a change came in how movies are marketed. A bad movie no longer stays in the theater long enough for a chance to “find its audience.” Now it’s rushed off to video where bored people browse the shelves looking for a movie they haven’t seen and decide to give it a shot. Video stores and discount bins have become the 21st century equivalent to the Island of Misfit Toys. The lucky movies, the Harry Potters and Star Treks and anything from Pixar are like the perfect, snotty toys in Santa’s bag while the misfit movies wait in their discount bin for those misfits of society who can appreciate something odd and different like
Rustler’s Rhapsody,
Strictly Ballroom,
The Hudsucker Proxy.
We should make it our mission to welcome such misfits into our homes. Over time, we may very well find that they aren’t such misfits after all. A gun that shoots grape jelly isn’t so very different from a paint gun; an airplane that doesn’t leave the tarmac is now the norm; the caboose with square wheels may have survived the Great Caboose Purges of the late 20th century precisely because it was different.
Save the Misfit Movies! Make this your new holiday tradition. Dive into the clearance bin at Walmart and fight over
Clue,
A Mighty Wind and
50 First Dates. Grab one of the 500 overstocked copies of
Spiderman 2 or
X-Men III. Give them a chance to grow on you, or at least palm them off at the office gift exchange. This is the true spirit of the season. At least while we’re in a recession.
Comments (27)
Spider Man 2 maybe, but Spider Man 3 can rot in an alley and die for all I care! I hate that movie with such a violent hate.
This is what happens when I start a post, then come back to it three days later. Yes, we own all the movies mentioned. And many, many more.
@vanedave - I haven't seen Spiderman 3, but I'll take your word for it.
@vanedave - @saintvi - I fell asleep about thirty minutes in both times I tried to watch Spiderman 3.
I like the misfit idea! To the $5 bin I go!
I love The Hudsucker Proxy, Waking Ned Devine, and a Mighty Wind. Did you ever see On a Clear Day (no, not the Streisand movie)? I know no one who has seen it, but it's sweet little film. Plus it has Pippin in it. SAVE THE MISFITS!
Waking Ned Devine is one of my favorites as well as Saving Grace. I think I'll hit the discount bin for our condo clubhouse. We just got a dvd player.
Some of the $5 movies are the best.
Next time you're digging thru the $5 bin, see if you can find a copy of "Winchester 73", the movie that changed the way Hollywood does business forever. You can read the reviews here.
Released in 1950, it revived the Western era for Hollywood and made a leading man, and a rich man, out of Jimmy Stewart. Instead of a $200,000 salary he took a percentage of the profits, unheard of at that time. Smart move, he made over $600,000 on this movie alone, the first of 5 in the deal.
The movie itself, visually, it is spectacular, one of the most beautiful Black and White films ever made, with deep-focus photography highlighting rugged Arizona settings that literally leap from the screen; and, most of all, it is a terrific variation of 'Cain and Abel', told through the premise of the search for a 'one-of-a-kind' rifle Stewart wins in a competition, then loses through treachery. It's the kind of film that offers new insights each time you view it, as the actions and motivations of 'good' brother Stewart and 'bad' brother McNally become better understood.
And, it's the only movie my dad ever took me to by myself, just me and him. So it's kinda special to me!
Thanks for participating. You are linked.
I love Strictly Ballroom!
Yeah. Sometimes it really is hard to get started writing, especially when you think that your traditions won't interest anyone else. But I think you might be surprized how many people would still be interested, because every family does things in a slightly different way.
You need "Alice's Restaurant" for Thanksgiving.
I love movies! good ,bad or retarded..
I was trying to explain to my children about the wonder of watching whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. When I was a child, it was a choice between the wide world of sports or the family film festival on weekends (there were 6 other channels but they showed news or other boring things). We like the fact that the mis-fits make it to the cheap bin (which is about the only place we buy movies)...even if they are really bad, they provide entertainment -- we've had a lot of fun mocking bad movies.
I can't believe you listed 50 First Dates as a misfit movie! LOL! I may just have to buy everyone movies for Christmas this year and attach a printed copy of this post!
Clue is a fantastic movie! Tim Curry = win.
A Charlie Brown Christmas in June?????
Geeez ya think ya know someone!!
Look for Still Crazy with Billy Connelly and Stephen Rea. An under appreciated classic.
i can't watch holiday movies except on holidays... or at least during the holiday season. It's A Wonderful Life must only be watched WHILE SNOWING. although, i'd like to think i can watch either of the first two Home Alone movies any time i want. not.
Movies generally haven't been part of our holidays. Food - yes. oh yes. My husband's family was big into Michigan Rummy after every meal. My family played other, obscure card games... We have some quirky movies from the $5 bin too.
I will be looking for anything that has a sale price this Christmas, I hope my boy finds a treasure in this too!!!
This makes me want to find some good movies to watch! We didn't watch many movies when I was young, played Monopoly or dominoes, mostly...
awwwwww.....i love your traditions!!!
I thought I absolutely hated adam sandler till one of the punks pawned off 50 first dates on me. I LOVE that movie!
Movies are big on our holidays too. maybe even more so than food!@pink_hebe - I loaned my VHS copy to someone who asked and now I don't remember who...I need to just buy it on DVD. That and Best in Show.
And you are right SaintVi, most people's family traditions don't make interesting reading. I do love movies though.
@wildflowersp - are you in the UK? I may have a spare on DVD from a free givaway (but then again I do need to look!)
You've probably inspired a new movie idea: "Bin of the Misfit Movies."
Waking Ned Divine has been in my Netflix cue forever...it keeps getting pushed back by other movies that come out...maybe I should make an effort to watch it on St. Patty's Day--that would be appropriate. :)