GRISWOLDS-GIVING: National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
We’re off on the holiday road with the Griswolds!
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CONTENT WARNING: Discussions of infidelity, womanizing, racism, death of an animal, anxiety, stress, threats of violence, family dysfunction, strong language.
We’ve gassed up the Wagon Queen and we’re headed across country with the Griswolds to kick off this holiday season. Diana hadn’t seen any of the Vacation series except for Christmas Vacation, so what better time to revisit these comedy classics? Although we might have spoke too soon - perhaps classic isn’t the right term. This original film requires a lot of suspension of disbelief, mostly on the terms that Clark Griswold is a likeable, goofy dad. Because he’s actually kind of a creep. It doesn’t help that Ellen has little to no agency, and Rusty and Audrey are…fine… There’s still a lot of funny here, but maybe not as much as there used to be. Strap yourself on the roof and get ready for a Griswolds-giving this month on Macintosh & Maud Haven’t Seen What?!
ALSO, after the break, we give a brief review of what may be our favorite movie of the year, Bong Joon-Hoo’s Parasite.
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Excerpt used from “Holiday Road,” written and performed by Lindsey Buckingham. Copyright 1983 Now Sounds Music (BMI). Phonographic copyright 1983 Warner Bros. Records.
Clips from the film National Lampoon’s Vacation are copyright 1983 Warner Bros Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.
Intro music taken from the Second Movement of Ludwig von Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Hong Kong (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 HK) license. To hear the full performance or get more information, visit the song page at the Internet Archive.
