Jingle All the Way made its way to theaters in 1996, and has since developed a cult following. It’s not a staple Christmas movie like Miracle on 34th Street, The Santa Clause, or Love, Actually, but it is definitely memorable to fans of ’90s Christmas movies. But Jingle All the Way holds some very important messages that convey a deeper sense of family to audiences. Here’s why the action-comedy Jingle All the Way is still a classic Christmas movie.
Realistic Portrayal of Parental Expectations
20th Century Studios
Arnold Schwarzenegger started his Hollywood career with action flicks such as The Terminator, Predator, and Conan The Barbarian; nevertheless, Schwarzenegger exhibits an impressive comedic flair time after time while delivering touching performances. Combine these three acting nuances and audiences get Howard, nine-year-old Jamie’s workaholic father, who tries his best to make it to Jamie’s engagements, but falls short more often than not. Though Howard tries his hardest to be there for his son, Jamie still reacts like any other six-year-old boy would by his father’s absence; vulnerable and disappointed, especially when Howard promises to do better after every missed event.
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Howard’s wife, Liz, while understanding, holds him in contempt on occasion, and entrusts him with a very specific task as a way of redeeming himself: early purchasing Turbo Man for Jamie’s Christmas gift. While the toy is simply the catalyst for the movie’s plot, Turbo Man represents the countless expectations children hold over their parents, and spouses towards each other. Turbo man is a coveted, nearly unattainable toy during the holiday season, and Howard feels obligated to go above and beyond to prove his love for Jamie by purchasing it as a gift—an applicable scenario to child-parent relationships over the holidays.
Social Class Disparity
Howard’s only impediment towards buying Turbo Man is accessibility to Turbo Man itself; he is financially capable of making the purchase. Nevertheless, Myron isn’t. Myron is presented as the film’s antagonist and goes to rather villainous extremes (including dressing up as Turbo Man’s nemesis to steal the toy) to get his hands on a Turbo Man figure. In reality, though, Myron is just a victim of circumstances, notably social class disparity. Howard and his family live in an upper-middle class suburb with no apparent worries aside from getting their hands on Turbo Man and making community gatherings; Myron lives in an impoverished part of the city, works tirelessly for a mailing delivery service, and needs the Turbo Man figure to bring some semblance of joy into his son’s life. Myron is driven to criminal activity, but he himself is the byproduct of social class disparity and its economic shortcomings on working blue-collared parents.
Sinbad Steals the Show
Arnold Schwarzenegger has a comedic sensibility that makes him both hilarious and engaging to watch; but Sinbad has been doing comedy for a living his entire adult life. Sinbad takes his stage comedy skills and molds one of the funniest Christmas characters ever. Myron may be down on his luck in just about every imaginable way, but that’s not stopping him from saying snide and cynical commentary towards Howard and every other upper-middle class person he crosses. It’s rare that a Christmas movie incorporates such a funny and emotionally nuanced villain into its narrative; Sinbad delivers exceptionally and as a result, steals the show.
Suburban Life Expectations
Myron may be expected to deliver what is seen as the bare minimum to his son for Christmas, but Howard has his own status quo to meet. A member of a highly communicative, vigilant, and borderline judgmental suburb, Howard is constantly being criticized for his absent role in Jamie’s extracurricular activities. To add to Howard’s pressure, he has to deal with his recently divorced neighbor, Ted, vying for Liz’s affection. From critical assumptions to hypocritical stances, Howard is subjected to a consuming community.
Turbo Man is what drives the toy market in Jingle All The Way, and the script has no qualms in blatantly showing this. From department stores being raided by awaiting, hostile parents, radio contests raffling the toy, to the climatic Christmas Parade where an exclusive Turbo Man will be the prize to one lucky child; Turbo Man embodies consumerism during the holiday season. An underlying consumerist message is the perceived worth of each parent in Jingle All the Way. Ted buys his son a Turbo Man figure and has it neatly wrapped under their Christmas tree; he is illustrated as a chipper, brightly-dressed man full of Christmas spirit.
Howard can afford the toy, but he simply cannot obtain it; Howard is well-dressed, but his neutral-palette clothing and his increasingly desperate demeanor reflect his standstill place in consumerism. Lastly, Myron can neither afford nor get his hands on Turbo Man; he is sloppily dressed, and exhibits a gruffness that matches his decline as both a consumer and a parental figure. The three fathers encompass the parental spectrum of worth in American consumerism.
A Valuable Family Viewing Experience
Jingle All the Way is one of the most powerful Christmas movies ever. It educates audiences on the meaning of family, Christmas, and notably, society’s unbending expectations of consumers all across the board. Families can give and take from its narrative, but this Christmas movie is sure to make audiences reevaluate what they find most important during the holiday season.
