Post

Abigail Larson
@abigaillarson.com

This is what happens when a director conflates a parable with real-world nuance. No, we don't need to "both sides" this tale because Dickens wrote the story as it was meant to be understood. Scrooge made mistakes and needed a wakeup call. That's it.

The A.V. Club@avclub.com

The film, which stars Johnny Depp, will try to find the "gray area" in A Christmas Carol. www.avclub.com/scrooge-gray...

avclub.comTi West's Ebenezer will ponder whether Scrooge had a point, actuallyTi West's Ebenezer will ponder whether Scrooge had a point, actually
Abigail Larson
@abigaillarson.com

"Maybe Scrooge was right-" he was not. He was a miserly asshole facing the same demise as his former business partners if he didn't make some serious changes with how he treats the people around him. That's the point.

108 reposts1.2K likes

Peeping Tim
@tluz.bsky.social

My favorite version, the Alastair Sim one, explicitly makes the point that Scrooge takes the wrong lessons from his life: seeing the world as a cruel place for the poor, he becomes cruel and rich himself rather than trying to change the situation and help others, still a relevant message for today.

Hugh C. McBride
@hugh-c-mcbride.bsky.social

"We are proud to announce that we are finally going to explore the nuance and background hinted at in the classic story, 'There's Really No Nuance Here, Nor Is His Backstory Necessary, This Guy Is Just a Piece of Shit.'"

Liz (short for Rebecca)
@dr-liz.bsky.social

Scrooge's backstory is meant to recontextualise him as a tragic figure, not a wise one. His is a story of Christian grace - by a miracle, the tragedy of a hard and bitter life making a hard, bitter, sad and lonely man is averted and his kindness brings life and joy to his community.

Abigail Larson
@abigaillarson.com

The story endures because we can see Scrooge's faults and reflect on mistakes we've made ourselves, and know that we can learn from them and grow into better people for it. Regardless, no one will make a better adaptation than the Muppet version, so just watch that instead.

Zach G
@meatwharf15.bsky.social

I think the MLP episode did a really good job of it too. The future part of that wasn’t simply, “You will die lonely and unloved”, but also, “Everyone else will fall into ruin and die because your framework is fundamentally wrong.” Goes pretty hard for a kids show.

Spooky specimen
@droboform.bsky.social

I’ve seen adaptations that are very fair to Scrooge and explore the tragic ways he became the way he did. These adaptations still understood that the core of the work is the part where the ghosts show up and go “YOU GET WITH THE PROGRAM RIGHT THE FUCK NOW OR YOU’RE ON THE EXPRESS FERRY TO HELL”

R. Eerie VanBoo-kirk
@sotsogm.bsky.social

That's my go-to favorite, with the George C. Scott version as a second. I guess there's so many good versions, they decided there needed to be a version that's stupid and misses the entire point of the story. 🤷

Deadling
@deadling.bsky.social

One of my faves was always the older version of A Mickey's Christmas Carol, because it was usually played alongside Mickey and the Giant Beanstalk.