The Holidays in Mass Media, w/guest Robert Thompson

Has A Christmas Story supplanted It’s a Wonderful Life as the country’s most beloved holiday film? Why do we see oodles of films about Christmas… and comparatively few dealing with what might be considered more universally-American holidays like Thanksgiving? And what has been the public reaction to some of the more notable anti-Christmas pictures — like Gremlins, Bad Santa, and Black Christmas — to hit the theaters in recent years? Returning as my guest is professor Robert Thompson, director of the Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. [Originally broadcast on WLUW’s Under Surveillance in December 2008.]

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