It’s Christmas time, and what a lot of people are doing is spending time together with family, and possibly catching up on some Christmas classics. There is a variety of Christmas films out there, whose existence is to show the true spirit of Christmas and to spread holiday cheer. Gremlins came out in 1984, and it completely went against the typical formula for Christmas movies. It happens to be my favorite Christmas movie, and even if you believe it’s too over the top and crazy to be a Christmas movie, then I would understand. But Gremlins still makes a statement about Americans, especially during the holidays.
Take the character Randall Peltzer for example. He is the first character we see, and there is a little bit of narration on his part, as to why he is in Chinatown. One of his first utterances, is him making a pitch on one of his products to the owner of a antique store and his son. Randall is a struggling inventor. Every scene he has, when it’s not with his family, is him approaching strangers and enticing them to buy a product that he made himself. This man is a salesman, and a very convincing one at that. When he hears the sound of a Mogwai and then sees it, he is instantly attracted to it, so much to the point where he insists to the store owner that he’s gotta have it. There is a bit of back and forth between the store manager and Randall, where Randall offers him more, and the manger says Mogwai not for sale. Randall isn’t with his family a lot in Gremlins. He comes back to deliver the gift for his son Billy Peltzer, but later he leaves to go to this invention convention. I don’t believe there is anything inherently wrong with being an entrepreneur, or sharing your products. But this constant effort to make and sell these inventions is to no avail. The father doesn’t have a side job, and Billy works at the bank to help support his family. Also, when Billy inevitably breaks one of the rules and gets Gizmo wet, creating more Mogwai in the process, Randall doesn’t assess it as a problem. In fact he looks at it, as a sign of hope. He realizes that he can make more of these, and have them in every home in America. So instead of studying these creatures or being more careful with them, Randall thinks of how he can profit out of them, for his own personal gain.
The second character I want to examine is Kate Beringer. She works at the bank with Billy, and also serves as a bartender at the local bar. When Billy walks Kate home one night, the discuss for a little bit the Christmas season. Billy is happy and full of glee, while Kate doesn’t understand why everyone loves Christmas, or why people view the season as being so sacred. One might look at her character as being a Debby downer, but when you wait to hear what she went through, you’ll understand. In the conversation with her and Billy she said “You say you hate Washington’s Birthday or Thanksgiving and nobody cares, but you say you hate Christmas and people treat youlike you’re a leper.” Whether you are religious or not, there is this great expectation to being happy and full of joy during Christmas time, and if you are not, you apparently don’t have any Christmas spirit. Advertising, News, Social Media, shopping mall’s, and the world attempt to put an emphasis on unity, giving, and being grateful during the holidays. But the reality is, people only care about projecting the lies to their friends and peers. Christmas has turned into one giant pile of shiny, overly sappy, commercialized piece of garbage. Now obviously I’m over exaggerating a bit, but it is true to an extent that people care more about the image of Christmas than the true meaning of it.
Gremlins dares to push the boundaries for Christmas films, by being violent, nasty, and full of mischief. It may not be the quintessential Christmas movie in most people’s eyes, but it remains a staggering look at the American culture, especially during Christmas.
Cedric Cinema 