[daveT]

diebitter, you are making this personal.

This movie, called The Christmas Carol, was based in the Midwest. Several people will (incorrectly) tell you that this was shot in Cleveland, Ohio. This movie is watched, re-watched, owned, tivo-ed and re-vcr'ed in my hometown more than any other show you ever heard. While the rest of America is watching "It's a Wonderful Life" once a year, we are popping "The Christmas Carol" ad nauseum into the vcr, pressing pause restart over and over to skip all of the commercial breaks.

This movie has more meaning to Middle America than any other film. It is in color. It shows the simple life with no frills, an ugly, flawed family, and does so with the subtlety that does not insult the Midwest, but still makes us laugh at ourselves, even though we think we are laughing at someone else.

It is the Midwestern Dream in a nutshell. Ask for the attainable, and fall flat on your face trying to get it. Be rediculed because you dare step three inches off the center line. A gun in a Midwestern setting is beyond thinkable, yet someone dares to dream of it, and not because of a malicious lacking, but for an awe-inspiring innocence. This movie speaks because it goes so well with the Midwestern philosophy of just suck it up and be happy with what ya got, and if you don't like it, well that's tough. Only other, lesser, people are willing to sell their souls for more material, non-essential items.

And with that, you question ME?

I just looked it up on the imdb, and sure enough you are correct. After nearly memorizing the entire movie, I get it's most famous line wrong.

It is not "Don't shoot your eye out."

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