In this special episode of The Pop Culture Lens podcast for the 2018 holiday season, Christopher Olson and I discuss the nostalgic appeal of A Christmas Story (1983) by Bob Clark and Jean Shepherd.

In this episode, the co-hosts address the question of how the movie mixes nostalgia with anti-sentimentalism to create a realistic portrayal of Christmas — or is it a utopic portrayal of what Christmas means to us? Along with tackling those questions, they also discuss the materialism at the center of the movie’s story, and whether or not that’s a bad thing. 

Overall, A Christmas Story helps us think through what Christmas has meant to us as a child, and what it can mean to us as an adult — for Christians and non-Christians alike.

As always, you are encouraged to become a part of this conversation by visiting any of the podcast’s social media sites. You can also talk with Christopher Olson on Twitter (@chrstphrolson) and at his academic blog seemsobvioustome.wordpress.com. And you can talk to me on Twitter (@mediaoracle).