National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation's Tale of Holiday Anxiety Remains Timeless

Clark Griswold's attempt to live-up to past holidays is still very relatable.

By Marc Deschamps - December 21, 2023 02:31 pm EST

The Christmas season is a special time of year for many people, but it's also one filled with stress. Every person that has special holiday memories from their childhood also has a desire to give their loved ones and children a similar, or better, experience. This can cause a lot of anxiety for adults, as it adds a pressure to compete with a vision of the past that's often remembered through the lens of nostalgia. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation perfectly captures the stresses of the holiday season, as we see Clark Griswold desperately trying to live up to a reality that exists mostly in his mind.

The setup for Christmas Vacation seems absurd by modern standards: Clark (Chevy Chase) and his wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) have agreed to host all of their parents for several days around Christmas. While Ellen immediately voices her reservations, Clark is quick to dismiss them. Even when Ellen's cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and his family show up planning to stay for several days, Clark refuses to admit that it's all a bit much. Initially, we don't get a clear idea why Clark is allowing this chaos in his house (though his missing Christmas bonus is definitely a factor). However, we get a crystal clear picture in the most important scene in the movie; when Clark finds himself locked in the attic, he passes the time by watching old home movies from the holidays.

As Clark watches the old film, there's no dialogue, only music. Most of the memories seem happy, but they've also been cut up, bouncing back and forth between moments of cheer, never lingering for long. We even get a couple of small hints that not everything was all that great. It's here that we learn that Clark is trying to live up not to the actual holidays of his youth, but to his memories of them. The thing about film and photographs is that they tend to capture the happier moments while filtering out those that are less pleasant; no one is taking pictures of mom stressing about the ham not reaching temperature in time for dinner, or dad wrapping gifts until three in the morning. And so those times end up on the cutting room floor, and they become excised from our memories.

In Christmas Vacation, Clark Griswold is far from perfect. He's a bad neighbor, and an unrepentant flirt. By the end of the movie, he's barely keeping it together, and scaring everyone in the house. Despite these flaws, his story remains one of the most relatable out of all the classic holiday films. The one thing he wants is to deliver a perfect holiday for his family, not realizing that his own actions are making everyone just as miserable as he is. Clark finally gets the message when his father confides that those Christmases his son cherishes weren't perfect; he had a lot of help from Jack Daniel's.

For many people, memories of the holiday season are a far greater treasure than any of the gifts we receive. As we get older, it's natural to want to replicate the emotions we felt on those days, at least in the best way we can. However, it's important to remember how often we selectively cut out the bad memories. We remember playing Sega Genesis on Christmas Eve with now-estranged cousins, or the laugh of a long-passed grandparent. But we also forget about the tears that resulted from a cruel comment from an insensitive uncle, or the hurt feelings when someone didn't make time to stop by grandma's house.

More than 30 years after the film's release, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation manages to feel more relatable than most other holiday movies. When we strip away implausibilities like the electrocuted cat, the singing of the Pledge of Allegiance, and a millionaire who actually learns his lesson, we're left with a tale about a man trying desperately to live up to a standard that even his parents know isn't realistic. It's an important message to remember during the holiday season; we can cherish the times that we hold special in our hearts without holding ourselves to impossible standards.

Are you a fan of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

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