Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Best Christmas ever? The year I got a box of about hundred off-brand Barbie outfits from Sears. There have been several contenders for worst Christmas ever, but if pressed, I’d say the holiday pretty much lost its magic for me after I didn’t get a Millennium Falcon. And, as much as I would like to say that having a little kid restored my sense of wonder… Well, it turns out that Christmas isn’t exactly stress-free for parents, either. This is all to say that I am in no way the ideal audience for Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmas, the latest American Girl Story on Amazon Prime. I found the titular heroine’s relentless perkiness instantly irritating. I felt like a plotline that revolves around children with polio was jerking a little too hard on the heartstrings. And when the neighborhood kids decide to put on a talent show, my eyes almost rolled out of my head.
But, at ten-years-old, my daughter lacks my aversion to cliché. Her enjoyment helped me to keep watching long enough to discover that the story takes some unexpected turns, and to be grateful that I would not actually have to endure a children’s talent show. (Parents who have spent much of December going to choir concerts and dance recitals and church pageants will know the full depth of my gratitude.) And, really, I should have known from the excellent Melody 1963: Love Has to Win —which I reviewed earlier this year— that I should give this movie a chance.
One of the middle kids in a big family, Maryellen wants nothing more than to be extraordinary. Her mom decides to give her the gift of spending Christmas with her grandparents. Maryellen is excited about being the only child for a little while, and eager to have a white Christmas—something she’s never experienced, growing up in Florida. But, when a friend needs help, Maryellen ends up trading in her train ticket for cash, which she gives to his family. And she also uses her talent as an artist to make the holidays a little happier for a lot of sick kids.
Like Melody’s story, which took on fight for Civil Rights, this film doesn’t shy away from exploring issues of social justice. Maryellen doesn’t just want to stand out from her brothers and sisters; she also wants to experience the kind of freedom and opportunity that her mother knew during World War II, and had to forego when the men returned. This was handled subtly—Maryellen’s mom is wistful, not bitter—but my daughter certainly caught it. When I asked her what she liked about this movie, my kid said, “I liked it because it built suspense about Maryellen getting away from social norms, and at the end she gets to wear pants and she has the chance to be an active helper in her community in a way that wasn’t usual for that time.” You can tell that my kid’s dad teaches feminist political theory—those “social norms”—and that her school puts a pretty big emphasis on service. But, really, isn’t this what we all want? To be active helpers in our community. And to wear pants.
Jessica Jernigan is a writer, editor, and mom-about-town in a mid-sized Midwestern city. You can find her professional website here, but Instagram is where the cat photos are.
Watch 'An American Girl Story - Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmas' on Amazon Prime Video
