Daily delight: White Christmas

[stgulik]

Not here--we don't get snow in Central California. I mean the movie. My daily delight was, I yelled at one of my least-favorite films.



This is kind of a holiday tradition, in the spirit of my larger sense of ambiguity over the entire Christmas season.

It's one of those movies I love to hate, I guess. In case you happen to like it, I won't list the reasons I do not, because they will only bring you down. Suffice to say, it is a lengthy list.

I only agree to watch with my husband (who loves it) on the firm understanding that at the part where Betty hears a rumor that Bob is going to go behind the back of his beloved general and make a big TV show that exploits the poor man's hardships, my husband will indulge me as I yell at the television screen.

"Jesus Christ, Betty! Tell Bob why you're mad at him! Don't just run off to New York, you passive-aggressive chowderhead!"

Nobody should watch "White Christmas" with me. Too noisy.

Comments

[bonsaibetz.livejournal.com]

Heaven forbid a woman verbally express displeasure over a man making a really callous mistake that might embarrass the hell out of his former commanding officer. Bing Crosby we can forgive, but if a woman speaks back to a man, she's a shrewish bitch - am I right?

I don't care for that movie either and wondered what in the hell that allure of it was. Normally I'd watch anything with Danny Kaye, but this movie I'm willing to make an exception for.

I much prefer something where the women have snappy patter and speak back to the men with the same snark as the men dish out, like The Man Who Came To Dinner.

But as for White Christmas, what do you expect at a time where men came back from war and wanted nothing but passive, soft female to tend to them in a fashion befitting the dream sequence in "Somewhere That's Green" from Little Shop of Horrors.

[stgulik.livejournal.com]

Yes! I'm with you completely.

[iqeret.livejournal.com]

Interesting… I actually have trouble watching The Man Who Came to Dinner, because I hate the type of comedy where people who are generally innocent end up getting dumped on. I can only watch bits of it at any given time, though I love most of the actors.

At the very least, I dream of a version where Mary Wickes ends up beating Jimmy Durante off with a broom. Or something harder.

[iqeret.livejournal.com]

lol. I do happen to like Wh.Chr. (though I find the Choreography number tiresome). It's part of my personal Chr. tradition in that it must be watched once a year, and if at all possible, on broadcast tv rather than my backup dvd.

[stgulik.livejournal.com]

Now that's interesting. I like to watch movies on broadcast TV instead of DVD sometimes, too. Example: Harry Potter Weekend on ABC Family. What's your reason? We should do a blog post and really explore this.

[iqeret.livejournal.com]

On the surface, since I first saw WhChr on TV, it's been a sort of personal challenge to catch it; initially, there weren't all of the internet tv guides and I didn't have cable (or the DVD) at the time.

I hadn't really analysed before, but as a spur of the moment guess, I'd say that watching it on TV makes it, in a way, a shared Christmas experience. Whoever else may or may not be around me (and it's been anywhere from solo at home to a few dozen others at the public library), I know that there are hundreds (thousands?) who are also enjoying a little slice of nostalgic Christmas spirit.

[mimimanderly.livejournal.com]

LOL! I never saw the movie, but would undoubtedly like watching it with you; I'd find the commentary more entertaining than the actual movie!

[stgulik.livejournal.com]

PROMISE me that if you ever see it, you tell me what you thought of it!

[mimimanderly.livejournal.com]

It's not likely that I'll ever see it, since I'm not into Christmas. I've heard the song, of course, and it always makes me wonder: wHY are people so into snow on Christmas Day? A major day for driving to relative's houses -- which is sometimes done grudgingly, anyway -- and they want driving in hazardous conditions on top of that? Some people just must be stress junkies....

[iqeret.livejournal.com]

As I recall, he wrote the song as someone living in LA wishing for the nostalgic Christmases of his childhood in northern climes. But the pov in the movie is of soldiers who are at the front and dreaming of home.

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

"What Do You Do with a General Who's Retired" is without question Irving Berlin's Worst. Song. Ever.

I have many other complaints about this film (like, zero chemistry between the stars), but I do enjoy that "Mandy" production number. Hilarious, in its own way, but polished and fun. Apparently Vera-Ellen suffered from anorexia, poor thing, but she's a pleasure to watch.

[stgulik.livejournal.com]

I just looked up Vera Ellen, and I didn't know she really had anorexia until now. Poor kid.

[lemonade8.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha. I'm ambivalent about it, but I don't begrudge you the hate. I have to hear this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH2KGboA35c every day until Christmas at my work. Three times a day. I feel for the people who haven't developed a musical callus yet.