The raunchy Christmas story is worth watching any time of the year.
Spring Semester is upon us, which typically means that the last snow has fallen, and the flowers are getting ready to bloom. But we are in Ohio, and that's certainly not the case. Instead, make sure you have a nice pair of boots handy for the inevitable, poorly timed snow storms, and make sure to take a jacket to class.
Typically, I can’t even stand to hear Christmas music before Dec. 1, but this year I was a touch more optimistic about the holiday season. But now that Christmas has long past, and the snow is just beginning to fall, I feel like more of a Grinch than ever, and I'm sure I'm not alone.
One of the reasons I've never been a huge fan of the holidays is because I'm not a particularly huge fan of the chintzy, overplayed movies that run year after year on TV. You can only watch reruns of Elf so many times. And although movies such as A Christmas Story, It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street will always have a special place in people’s hearts, I was really interested in seeing what other holiday-themed movies — the ones that don’t get played on television — have to offer.
This week, I watched Bad Santa, a surprisingly dark comedy about two con men who make their living by stealing from malls that hire them to dress up like Santa and an elf. The main protagonist, Willie, is an expert safecracker and a raging alcoholic. Marcus, the brains of the operation, works beside him and orchestrates their yearly heist. It was the exact kind of cynicism I was looking for to even out the sugary sweetness of the holidays.
I jumped into the movie without really having any kind of serious expectations. Bad Santa didn't look like a film I would typically turn on, considering the premise and most of the humor comes from the fact that the main character is a raging alcoholic. But the movie received somewhat decent reviews, and I figured it could be worth watching at least once. Also, Bernie Mac is in the movie.
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The protagonist narrates the story, and he explains his disposition immediately. He came from an apathetic household, and he sees his life as result of his deadbeat father's neglect, and, recognizing that it’s too late to turn his own life around, he accepts his position in life begrudgingly. Willie dreams of taking the stolen money and moving out to Miami so he could have an honest life and stop drinking. Interesting goals.
Already, the movie has way more depth than I ever anticipated. The added dimension given to the character gave me hope and, suddenly, I thought that maybe this won’t just be some raunchy, throwaway film about a guy in a Santa suit. And then he pees himself. Maybe this movie isn’t so deep. (Just kidding. It was kind of funny.)
The humor in it is actually well thought-out and very dynamic. It's sometimes very slapstick-y and other times very subtle, such as when the woman driving the getaway van filled with cash gets upset that her husband, Willie’s partner in crime, didn't grab an inexpensive loofa sponge.
I would recommend the movie to anyone who can appreciate the snarky and raunchy cynicism view this movie offers. Nothing about this movie is PC. There's a lot of swearing and a lot of lewdness going on, so don’t show it to your grandma or anything, but Bad Santa definitely deserves to be appreciated. Plans have been made to release a sequel to the movie later this year, and I honestly can’t wait to see it.
Kaitlyn McGarvey is a freshman studying journalism. Have you seen 'Bad Santa'? Email her at km451814@ohio.edu or tweet @McGarveyKaitlyn.
