Times change, and while some iconic images last forever, others fade away. I’m becoming acutely aware that there are some things in my childhood media that my kids will never really understand. These tropes only really made sense in a certain time period, and that time has passed.
This change in popular consciousness is one reason why I’m not enamored with A Christmas Story. It just doesn’t represent my childhood the way it did for my parents. The movie relies on its audience sharing certain experiences, and I never listened to Little Orphan Annie or drank my Ovaltine.
So what will be our kids’ A Christmas Story? It’s hard to say what might find a niche in the public consciousness and stick around, but I’m pretty sure kids will never quite understand these things when they pop up in old media…
Charlie Brooks 