A fascinating article from Salon:
http://www.salon.com/2016/11/26/sympathy-for-todd-and-margo-clark-griswolds-childless-yuppie-scum-neighbors-are-holiday-heroes/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
It gives a new appreciation for Todd and Margo, as well as some other great insights into this movie.
I do not think the issue of Todd and Margo really needed a book report to be written about it. I do agree that the abuse of Todd and Margo far exceeds their sin of being a couple of yuppie snobs. I started to feel sorry for them too. In the movies, being stuck-up is a crime so horrible that it warrants constant abuse until you are brought down to size.
I wonder if there was some scene that did not make the final edit where Todd somehow caused Clark to not get a promotion or a bonus, or maybe Margo sued the Griswalds for some frivolous violation of a neighborhood ordinance. That would have made their abuse more satisfying.
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A dope trailer is no place for a kitty.
But they weren't deliberately abused; it wasn't intentional. There doesn't seem to be any neighborly relationship, but that was mostly because Todd and Margo, the snobbish yuppies lived in their own world and seem to have considered the Griswolds beneath their notice.
It was Clark's clumsiness that caused all of the damage. Naturally because most viewers identify with Clark, Todd and Margo's snobbishness makes their discomfiture and the unwitting damage to their perfect home, taking them down a notch, funny.
I could be a morning person if morning happened at noon.
These past few years, I haven't found the Todd/Margo scenes as funny as I used to. Dealing with difficult neighbors isn't exactly pleasant, as I found out the hard way about 10 years ago (those people have either moved or quieted down, thankfully).
Yes, Todd and Margo were yuppies, but why should that annoy the neighbors? They weren't bothering anyone.
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Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen =
"Yes, Todd and Margo were yuppies, but why should that annoy the neighbors? They weren't bothering anyone."
They were when they were being snobby asses. It's not just that they were yuppies but that they were stuck-up douches who looked down on people like the Griswolds as beneath them.
That being said, I've never felt any real antipathy toward them. Clark gives as good as he gets, even if unwittingly most of the time. They were pretty well even. Clark was crude and annoying, Todd and Margo were sneering snobs. But they weren't all bad. Todd for instance refused to just go and punch Clark when Margo demanded it.
Thanks for posting that link. I got a good laugh out of that!
shareI guess that this will sound harsh, but I have no sympathy at all for Todd and Margo.
They seem to be self-righteous jerks, who seem to think that somehow they are superior to their neighbors.
I mean, they even joked about that Clark would break his neck from falling down a ladder.
As if that would be a good thing for anybody except maybe themselves!
Sure, maybe I get that Clark would be an annoying neighbor to some people.
But who says that Clark and Ellen liked to live next door to those snobbish cranky sourpusses?
They seem to have only looked down on Clark in particular from the beginning.
And as for most of the things, which kept happening to them because of Clark's clumsiness?
They were a series of freak accidents, which was beyond his control.
So I guess that I can feel sympathy for a bumbling dad, who will do his best to give family a perfect Christmas.
However, it is hard for me to stand these annoying yuppies.
And I hated them even for small things like that they didn't get a Christmas tree because "it's cliché".
They irk me to a such a degree that I hope that they moved away very soon after the movie ended.
Well written and funny, but nothing more than an overthought writing exercise. I can write a tome about Adoph Hitler that would make anyone cry tears of pity.. (well, almost anyone).
Todd and Margo are simply what they were written to be: annoying yuppies.
For years I've found myself tolerating Todd but really disliked Margo, I've thought she was easily the worst of the two, while I'm not totally fond of Todd but I wouldn't have too much of a problem having him as my neighbor, Margo on the other hand I wouldn't bear to have her as my neighbor because she is so snobby and obnoxious.
shareIN this day and age, all neighbours are Todds and Margos.
shareThe dog parts
shareSorry. I don't have any sympathy for those two. They were selfish, shallow, snotty, and could care less about anything but themselves and their money. Nothing pleased me more than for Clark's antics to make their lives hell, whether he knew it or not.
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