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Christmas Vacation Is About A Middle-Class Homeowner Pissed That He's Not Getting A Huge Christmas Bonus To Cover A Pool
The holiday classic National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation remains a staple of the December basic cable movie rotation. Its most famous scene is a holiday-pressured Clark Griswold finally blowing a gasket in front of his family after he opens his highly anticipated Christmas bonus, only to find it's a subscription to the Jelly of the Month club.
That's not one irrelevant scene from a simpler time; the whole plot revolves around that moment. Clark is counting on this bonus so he can cover the payment for an in-ground pool, which he's already purchased in advance to surprise his family. To anyone under the age of 50 reading this, imagine a friend of yours complaining about this today. How much sympathy could you muster?
Warner Bros. Studios"Sorry about your pool. I guess you'll have to just use the community pool, which I also can't afford."
Clark is not drowning in homeowner or student loan debt, or the costs of sending two kids to college. He's drowning in a debt of his making, trying to prematurely add a pool onto the beautiful house he already owns. He has a house in suburban Chicago, his wife doesn't work, and he presumably has health insurance and a 401k. All those sweet "employment" perks sound like some lost fantasy city of Atlantis to Millennials entering the workforce today. And we're supposed to share his rage at not getting a good Christmas bonus? It might have been a relatable problem to a lot of people back in the day, but explain that scene to your average "middle-class" worker now, and prepare for some rolled eyes, accompanied by the most thorough and exhaustive jerk-off motion you have ever seen.
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One Hour Photo Is About A Creepy Guy Who ... Looks At All Your Pictures
One Hour Photo stars Robin Williams as Sy, a professional photo developer at a local supermarket ... and we've already confused our younger readers in several different ways. Sy befriends a family of regular customers, but his cheery professional demeanor turns sinister when we see him at home, exhaustively perusing every picture the family has ever brought him.
Fox Searchlight Pictures"Developed? Like, he added some filters?"
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