For the next installment of its Scene on the Screen film series, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center screens the 1983 cult-classic-turned-holiday-favorite, A Christmas Story. The narrative is presented from the perspective of Ralphie, a precocious 9-year-old who’s dealing with the daily anxieties of adolescence: overbearing peers ("In our world, you were either a bully, a toady, or one of the nameless rabble of victims"), a sibling who makes everything more difficult than it should be ("My little brother had not eaten voluntarily in over three years."), and an aunt who believes pink bunny pajamas are appropriate for a little boy ("Aunt Clara had for years labored under the delusion that I was not only perpetually 4 years old, but also a girl.") But his desperate obsession with owning a Red Ryder BB gun is what brings him the most grief as seemingly everyone – his mom, his schoolteacher, even a department store Santa Claus – is convinced he’ll shoot his eye out. A Christmas Story is projected onto a giant, 20’ x 11’ inflatable screen set up along the Riverwalk. Bring a blanket or stadium chair; movie concessions will be available on site (no coolers, please). Fri., Dec. 12, 8 p.m., TBPAC Riverwalk, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, downtown Tampa, free admission.
This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2008.