Elaine and her husband were the real sympathetic characters.
Because it’s a 1980s movie the fact they were a childless couple with a more modern home decor taste they were considered acceptable targets for comeuppance, despite having done nothing to anyone.
Clark is a self centered jerk. All of his action for the family were really more about keeping up appearances or being personally validated. He’s awful.
They kidnap an exec though. At least a few bonus points for that.
Cousin Eddy did that all on his own. Clark was too busy screaming at his family about not being able to pay for a pool.
Am I supposed to recognised the movies from just a random image? Sorry, but I still lack cinema litteracy. I don’t even know who’s that actor.
That’s Chevy Chase, starring in National Lampoons: Christmas Vacation. It’s older but it’s one of the most famous Christmas movies ever. It’s a great comedy
For anyone curious, Chevy Chase was apparently awful to his coworkers, which caught up with him and squeezed him out of his career. This culminated during a roast to his name that celebrities actively skipped. What made him rethink his behavior was Steven Colbert’s scathing but accurate remarks on the podium that haunted him, although his effort to change was too little too late.
Okay, but I still don’t understand what this post is about.
The movie juxtaposes the ideal against the dysfunctional and highlights pressures of playing a social and familial role through comedy.
The main character is inherently flawed and is trying to give his family an ideal Christmas. He’s caught up in petty neighborly disputes, things go awry, and he’s an asshole. He wants to provide and be a good father and husband but his expectations are set too high and naturally he fails. He is morally weak and is easily distracted by lust or rivalry.
He just wants things to go as planned for once and not to be burdened by unwanted and embarrassing family members. He just wants things to be “normal” and for people to recognize his hard work and dedication.
People in this thread have pointed out that it’s difficult to empathize with the character because of his perceived wealth and the plot point of needing the Christmas bonus to cover money he over spent on a down payment for a pool.
However, for all of his toxic behaviors, his disproportionate reactions, his un-relatable lifestyle, his pettiness, his stress, his inability to let things go, he is familiar; he’s us. He wants to be happy but has no idea how to make that happen for himself. His heart is in the right place but that’s not enough.
There’s catharsis in watching him experience exaggerated depictions of what a lot of people experience around the holidays: you can’t choose your family and the world is typically against you. His final stress-fueled blowup and monologue at the end is a summary of the dumb shit the audience has always wanted to say but never been able to.
At least, that’s what I think the post is about.
Damn making me feel old over here with you not knowing Christmas Vacation. Great holiday movie. Worth a watch, a lot of people watch it as a tradition around Xmas time.
Many, many of us do recognize it. And I don’t even watch a lot of movies. Also not your fault if you haven’t seen it though.
It’s Chevy chase. A drunk racist. If you’ve not heard of him consider yourself for the better. There are far better movies that celebrate the season without having to employ and hold up a piece of shit as a hero.
This man owns a two story home in the Chicago suburbs with an attic and a basement. The conflict of the story is how he won’t be able to add a pool to this palace. He lusts after some random girl at the mall when Beverly DiAngelo is right there.
I will never relate to this man.
The story is about how his capitalist boss cut his wages so he couldn’t afford to give his family a Christmas gift. Now can you relate?
He’s an upper middle senior lower upper management type who is looking for a bonus payment (just for himself, not for his team) so he can improve his already outlandish standard of personal living.
What’s not to empathize with? I mean, we’ve all been there.
He has a great job, but still overspends because he wants to be seen as someone more than he is, and the only way he knows to prove his worth is by purchasing things. He can’t afford what he already has, and is relying on an uncertain bonus just to cover what he already spent.
The only time he really gets mad, is when his stuff gets broken or laughed at.
Oh, thought I heard that he did. Well, I stand by the rest of my point either way, thanks for letting me know.
He invited everyone and left his wife to do all the work while he toiled away on his vanity projects! I really sympathized with her.
He was chasing status no matter what, something that is a common thread throughout most of the Vacation movies. Him hosting for Christmas is part of that status chasing.
also in that movie, the joke is that his neighbors are yuppies or something. So they aren’t bothering him or do anything that warrants revving a chainsaw threateningly at them :)
At face value, no. But we’ve all had those asshole neighbors who can never mind their own business.
They basically mind their own business the whole movie until Clark busts up their dining room!
They are a bit snobby, but really…
I’m actually rewatching it now, and Clark was minding his own business after getting the tree and Todd makes a snide comment about the size of the tree unprovoked, and Clark just bounced back at em. Then their next scene when Clark is putting up lights they kinda low-key hope he hurts himself.
No idea who exactly started the illwill between the neighbors but the yuppie couple certainly aren’t played as the innocent victims
I love the national lampoon’s movies!
Van Wilder?
Oh man, one of Ryan Reynolds best roles. Also starring a very young Aaron Paul aka Jesse Pinkman.
I didn’t know that! I guess now I have to watch the movie again. What a shame.
That movie is also how I discovered Jimmy Eat World, Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Reynolds’ ass, and - as I was just entering manhood at the time - quite a lot of other things.
I miss the casual nudity in movies. Not that I want to movies to be overloaded with but when it’s appropriate. Just have it because it’s just part of normal life and often funny.
Blood and gore is okay but the world ends when you show a tit on screen.
but the world ends when you show a tit on screen
Speaking of, I think my world started with seeing a casual Beverly D’Angelo tiddie in one of the National Lampoon vacation movies.
Back in the day before the internet, it was a nice gentle way to discover as a young person the other sex and get curious about more.
Now you open your phone and get dragged in to a cesspool that your young mind isn’t ready for.
I liked the grandma in this movie
Fun fact: the grandma in “Christmas Vacation” is none other than Mae Questel, the voice actor of Betty Boop.
Lol fucking weirdo
Chevy chase as a human is a drunk racist. If you start relating to this man you need to take a hard look at your life.
Do you know what acting is
Do you? Him being fired from community for going on a racist diatribe off camera isn’t acting. Neither are his divorces over his drinking.
Bro, the point being made isn’t about Chevy Chase, it’s about his character in the movie Christmas Vacation. Yes, Chevy is a piece of shit, but literally nobody is trying to relate with him.
Not my point at all but I don’t care enough about a dead man to argue over whether someone can like a character in a 40 year old movie or not because the actor was a bit of a cunt. I’m sorry you’re incapable of enjoying things.
Just chiming in (on your side, btw) but Chevy isn’t dead yet.
Oh, could’ve sworn I heard he died earlier this year. Oh well, thanks for the correction.
Cry harder in defense of bigots you bigot snowflake.
I’m genuinely sorry you’re this stupid. I hope things improve for you.
