26 December 2007

A Red Ryder BB Gun Was Once Considered A Most Wholesome Christmas Present

A piece from 2004, but still a well written look at how running around outside firmly clutching a Red Ryder has been supplanted by staying indoors, staring mindlessly with glazed eyes into a TV screen -- joystick in hand.

"Second only to 'It's A Wonderful Life' on TV Guide's list of the greatest holiday films of all time, 'A Christmas Story' (1983) is an amalgam of warm-heartedly cynical vignettes hung on the through line of 9-year-old Ralphie Parker's quest for a Red Ryder airgun . . ."

". . .Receiving an air rifle no longer represents a right of passage for a 10- or 11-year-old child," Ford explained. "Some of the antigun sentiment that comes and goes in this country has something to do with it. And then, of course, there are so many other things for kids to do these days. "When I was a kid, we all had our airguns that we carried around. They were a part of us most of the time, and we would never think to do anything with them that would hurt another person. It's a different story these days. "Now there's an awful lot of kids sitting in front of the television with a joystick in their hands," Ford continued.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I miss my Red Ryder. I think its sad how parents now think its okay for kids to play with violent computer games, since its just make believe, but don't let them touch a real gun or bb gun. Kids miss learning the responsibility that goes with the it.

Brent Greer said...

Amen!!! Our youth have less concept of responsibility for their actions, I believe, than 20 years ago. Parents shelter kids, sometimes rightfully so. But in their zeal to protect them from politically incorrect choices, they put then in danger by having them play soccer. Don't believe me? Google SOCCER INJURY NUMBERS and see what comes up. More than 1.3 million serious soccer injuries required visits to the hospital by kids over a 13 year period. Accidents with firearms among youth are a drop in the bucket. Jumping down from the soapbox now.