MovieChat Forums > Jingle All the Way (1996) Discussion > Disturbing Aspect of this Movie

Disturbing Aspect of this Movie

posted 15 years ago by samsloan
23 replies | jump to latest

Since this is Christmas time and this is a Christmas movie, it will undoubtedly be shown again.

This movie really bothers me because the plot involves Arnold Schwarzenegger running around town trying to buy a last-minute special Christmas toy for his son.

Meanwhile, Arnold's wife is left home alone to make last-minute Christmas preparations.

The neighbor man invites himself over to help the wife. The wife needs help and does not refuse his offers. However, it soon becomes obvious that the neighbor only wants one thing, to sleep with Arnold's wife.

So, while Arnold is chasing around town to trying buy this toy, the movie keeps flashing back to the man seeming to get closer and closer to sleeping with the wife.

At one point in the dialog, she complains that she is tired, and the neighbor says to the wife, "Why don't you go upstairs and take a shower."

The scene immediately flashes back to Arnold, so we do not know whether the wife agrees to this obvious suggestion or not, but we half expect while watching this movie that the next scene will show the wife in bed with the neighbor.

Fortunately, that does not happen, but still in later scenes, while the wife never says "yes", she does not say "no" to the neighbor either.

Only near the end of the movie is it clearly established that the wife does not sleep with the neighbor, because she slaps him.

To this extent it is a happy ending, but I still found this disturbing.

Sam Sloan

[–] EnnJaySee 15 years ago

i think u r lookign way to deep into this.its simply a kids christmas movie, arnold is off searching for the present and his wife is home with the kid baking cookies, decorating the tree, the kids and people are always around.ted was a sleeze but she never flirted with him or shown any interest in him.when he puts his arm round her during the carol singers shes sways side to side to remove the arm

Please don't disturb my friend, he's dead tired!

[–] Briguy_17 15 years ago

Sam, you have WAY to dirty of a mind if you think that. The worst we are supposed to think (and most people think, BTW) is that Ted is looking for someone (specifically Liz) to be with, especially since it's the holiday season. I saw no sexual advances on Ted's part, just advances to wanting to be closer to Liz. And that's emotionally, not physically. Did he go up to the shower and proposition her? No. Sure, he tried kissing her, but that's not PG-13 or R material.

Official winner of the "You've Been Most Helpful and "The Krane" awards on the Friends board

[–] rooseveltfranklin1982 15 years ago

I'm watching this movie right now, and I have to say. Although Ted was wrong and may come off as a creep to some people watching the show. I think deep down he was just a lonely single dad. A really nice guy who always seems to finish last. It is unclear what happened in his first marriage. But i'm thinking that wasn't his fault either. Or he may have been widowed. I think it would have been a lot better if at the end Liz could have introduced Ted to a single friend of hers, and they fall head over heels for each other and walk away, both ignoring Liz. But unfortunatley Ted gets coffee from a Thermos thrown at him and ends up looking like the villian who "got what he deserved" sigh......

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Hungerhill 15 years ago

He was all of these things but he was trying to steal Howard's wife from him which is not on!

[–] dmfreck 13 years ago

eh...I think you're not giving Ted enough "credit" in his motivations.

[–] SubZeroMK 15 years ago

lol wow, you're really sensitive about sex, huh? nasty parents lock you in a cell for disobeying them? you one of those weirdos that gets off on some weird *beep* you're analysis of this article made me disturbed..

[–] SpiraMirabilis 15 years ago

In my opinion the disturbing aspect of this movie is the end. Arnold's desperate look and the feeling that after going through all that he's going to fight with his wife.

bunch of second hand electric donkey-bottom biters!

[–] Bilwick1 15 years ago

The most disturbing aspect of the movie is right after the final end-credits scene. Most people stop with Arnold's "OH NO!" close-up, but in the first "extended" edition of the video, there was another scene, presumably after the wife learns there'll be no Christmas present, in which we see both the wife and the kid in their underwear, gagged and tied to chairs with duct-tape, and Howard, smiling malignantly, holding a poker from the roaring fireplace in the flames. He removes the poker from the fire and turns around facing the camera and says, "I'm sorry to do this to on yet another Christmas, but you two have pushed me a little too far--again. It's poker time!" The screen fades out and the last thing we see is the glowing red hot tip of the poker. We hear some muffled screams and then the movie is finally over.

Numerous complaints caused the studio to remove this final scene, but if you can find a copy of the first edition video in a yard sale or something, it's well worth having.

[–] SpiraMirabilis 15 years ago

I actually believe you! Is there anywhere I could see that scene online?

bunch of second hand electric donkey-bottom biters!

[–] Bilwick1 15 years ago

No, just in the Theater of the Weird and Disturbing, that plays inside my head.

[–] SpiraMirabilis 15 years ago

Oh, I have that Theater too. In it the end is slightly different. It consists of Howard feeling so guilty over the presents thing that he auto-erotic-asphyxiates to death, Ted watches through the window and touches himself, Liz sets herself on fire, and Jamie cries blood and is then crucified by Ted's son Johnny. Then Jamie's face morphs into Jesus's face, Ted eats Liz's ashes and Howard's body is cut open by a clearly aroused Myron. Santa himself comes out of Howard's body, laughs "Ho Ho Ho" and then pukes compulsively for ten minutes straight. Arnold refused to film the scene so they used CGI. You can see it after half an hour of credits in the director's cut.

bunch of second hand electric donkey-bottom biters!

[–] johncheese2 15 years ago

Hawt

[–] SpiraMirabilis 15 years ago

OMFG John Cleese!!

You cheesy lot of second hand electric donkey-bottom biters!

[–] johncheese2 15 years ago

John Cheese

And it's not my real name...

[–] wingswontfly 14 years ago

Trying too hard mate.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] csimpkins53 14 years ago

As a single, never married (unfortunately) middle age male I can somewhat identify with Phil Hartman's portrayal of the lonely "Ted". However, Hartman plays the part as a "want-only-one-thing" sleazy creep. I hope that women don't think that this is an accurate portrayal of single men. I love and respect women and hope that one day I will find someone with whom to share a meaningful relationship. I beleive that nearly all single men fall into this category as opposed to the sleazy "Ted."

[–] Bobby9976 10 years ago

As a single, never married (unfortunately) middle age male I can somewhat identify with Phil Hartman's portrayal of the lonely "Ted".

Not ragging on you, but I was roped into seeing this at the cinema with my 2 nephews and niece - what did you get out of this movie? I didn't get much out of to be honest - I found some of the posts here to be more worthwhile than the movie.

[–] Harvestmoonman13 13 years ago

This movie is not a kids movie.

Ted is a hilarious slime ball.

The kid is a minor aspect of the story.

Santa is revealed to be fake.

That's why some people think this movie is hilariously bad...they think it's a kids movie that went wrong...when really it is an adult movie that is hilarious.

[–] dan-willi84 11 years ago

But why Liz? Why does Ted want Liz?

[–] sholomar 11 years ago

I didn't like the movie that much either because I just don't like how everything goes wrong for him the whole movie until the end... throw the viewer a bone once in a while and have something go right but no... everything that can go wrong, does go wrong, all the way down to his vehicle being stripped down and having to be towed away.. give me a break.... and then that guy who's clearly already sleeping with half the women in the neighborhood already is after his wife too. Yeah girl at work said if I liked Kindergarten cop I'd like this one but not so much.. plus the whole jetpack scene at the end didn't do a whole lot for me. :)

To those who say Ted was just looking for someone to be with, there are obvious references in the movie that he's just sleeping around with the neighborhood women and doesn't care about the kids. He tells the kids to "shut up" while he's in the kitchen baking cookies... the way he takes the cooking apron off the wife... the way all the other women ogle him as though they've already cheated with him.. it was pretty obvious to me at least. To me the guy looked like a perv who was just trying to get sex and didn't have any particular emotional attraction to any of the people. I guess if women are really that naive and can't see through Ted's actions and motivations it's no wonder so many relationships go sour these days.

Not one I will be seeing again mainly because of the torture Howard has to go through the whole movie.

[–] Prismark10 11 years ago

If Arnie bought the present when he was supposed to, he would not be in this predicament.

Its that man again!!