“A Christmas Story Live!” changed the infamous racist Chinese restaurant scene, and Twitter is cheering
In some awesome Monday-morning-news, A Christmas Story Live! changed the infamous Chinese restaurant scene — and fans are impressed with Fox’s decision to update the controversial moment. In the original 1983 movie, as well as in the Broadway musical, a group of Chinese waiters sing “Deck the Halls” for Ralphie and the Parker family on Christmas day, but the “joke” is that they mispronounce “Fa la la la la” as “Fa ra ra ra ra.” By today’s standards, the scene is both wildly racist and insensitive.
Luckily, last night’s live musical opted to turn the scene — and the punchline — on its head. The updated scene entailed a group of Asian waiters (the a cappella group The Filharmonic) sing an absolutely perfect rendition of the song, ending with a simple, yet poignant, “What were you expecting?”
Here’s the original, super offensive version of the song for comparison:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTq20prt0K8?feature=oembed
And fans are raving about the 2017 update.
#AChristmasStoryLive LOVE that the Chinese restaurant scene was evolved to better represent us
— NoRmiΞ5 (@NoRmiE55) December 18, 2017
And again, i am so very happy at how #AChristmasStoryLive handled the Chinese Restaurant scene. thank you, thank you, thank you.
— Kristin (@itskristind) December 18, 2017
#AChristmasStoryLive amazing way to handle the offensive version of Deck the Halls from the movie by addressing and expertly avoiding it while still making a hilarious scene! Bravo! (Also, @kenjeong is amazing)
— CJ (@ceej_roche) December 18, 2017
Props to the live production of "Christmas Story" for letting the Chinese restaurant employees sing 'Deck the Halls' and subvert the enunciation trope with a 'what were you expecting?'
— Matt Kuchta (@kuchtam) December 18, 2017
Fans of the original film will also notice that the production included a diverse cast of star-studded actors, including Maya Rudolph as Mrs. Parker and David Alan Grier as the department store Santa Claus. There were many happy Tweets about the inclusive casting, proving that viewers are paying attention, and that these choices make an impact and mean a lot to general audiences.
It’s safe to say the modern spin on the classic Christmas movie was a huge success, and we’re personally so glad the producers and creative team decided to implement these changes.
