Glenn Gives Thanks

Australia's only knowledge of Thanksgiving is, essentially, what we see from TV and the movies. I feel then that it is only fitting that I "give thanks" for a certain woman who has shaped by idea of Thanksgiving more than any other: Christina Ricci.

Bless her lil cotton socks, but Christina Ricci had already solidified herself in the annals of cinema history by the age of 17 with her performance in Ang Lee's The Ice Storm. The gifts of that film are many, but the bit that I always remember first and foremost is the toast that Ricci's Wendy gives. Let us relive it:

Dear Lord, thank you for this Thanksgiving holiday. And for all the material possessions that we have and enjoy. And for letting us white people kill all the Indians and steal their tribal lands. And stuff ourselves like pigs, even though children in Asia are being napalmed.

Literally very amazing. And if it weren't just The Ice Storm keeping the Ricci Thanksgiving alive it would be Addams Family Values, a movie in which Ricci gives one of the best supporting actress performances of the decade (the Oscar, however, went to the New Zealand child, Anna Paquin). That Thanksgiving pageant is delightfully insane, and Ricci's speech is something to behold. The best moment in the film is Wednesday's smile. The faint crack of a smile that she emits to shocked onlookers. "I'm not perky."

Thank you Christina Ricci for services towards making Thanksgiving somewhat relevant to people outside of America. You'll always have a place in my heart!