By Carmen Fowler LaBerge with Scott Lamb
Which Christmas movie do you like better?
It’s a Wonderful Life…or A Christmas Story ?
Bedford Falls, New York…or Hammond, Indiana?
George Bailey…or Ralphie Parker?
James Emery White writes a wonderful piece of reflection on what these movies reveal about our culture’s view of community, individualism, and the theological grounding (or lack thereof) of Christmas.
Though White admits to enjoying A Christmas Story on many levels, he concludes:
The great divide between It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story is more than just the radical individualism that marks our day, but what has spawned such individualism. The real divide between the two films is that one retains the idea that Christmas is about the birth of the Christ child, and one does not.
Unless I have missed it, A Christmas Story does not have a single reference, symbol, picture or event that would suggest Christmas is about the birth of Christ, or has religious significance of any kind. A brief snippet of “Go Tell It on the Mountain” is revealed in a downtown scene, but that’s about it. No nativity scenes, no church services, no Christian music – even the department store, Higbees, honors the season not with shepherds or wise men, but with characters from The Wizard of Oz.
It’s a Wonderful Life, on the other hand, was rich in Christian idea and ethos, from traditional Christmas songs celebrating the birth of Christ (the climax of the movie is marked by the spontaneous outburst of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”) to the central character of an angel.
What do you think. Are either of these your favorite Christmas movies? If not, what is? When a movie “gets it right” about Christmas, what made it work?