Bad Dads In Christmas Movies: A Brief Retrospective
A Christmas Story
Much like Clark Griswold, The Old Man in A Christmas Story really does want the holiday to be a good one—he surprises Ralphie with the probably unsafe Red Ryder BB Gun, after all, and orchestrates their Christmas dinner at a Chinese restaurant—but also spends a lot of the movie flying off the handle at relatively minor provocations. The leg lamp is also sort of a weird, lewd example to set for young boys. Alright in the end, but not ideal.