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Jim!

Jim.

Jim!

last edited at Feb 7, 2022 1:32AM

Parody of what, exactly?

Parody of what, exactly?

Gift of the Magi, a short story where a woman sells her hair to buy a watch chain for her watch-loving husband - but the husband sold his watches to buy combs for the woman's hair. I only know about this from an Archie comic.

I am not sure how this one is supposed to work? O. Henry's original short story works because both people sacrifice their most valuable possession to buy a gift for the other, and both gifts turn out to be (immediately) useless because they are supposed to complement said sold possessions. In this case, only Rose is concerned with making a good gift, and instead of sacrificing her possessions, she instead plucks some other flowers. She then gifts the resulting flower crown to Birdie, who can just accept it since she didn't even think of giving Rose a gift, let alone sacrifice her head/hair/wings/whatever for it.

So what is even the point of quoting "The Gift of the Magi", other than to sound Deep As Fuck™?

I am not sure how this one is supposed to work? O. Henry's original short story works because both people sacrifice their most valuable possession to buy a gift for the other, and both gifts turn out to be (immediately) useless because they are supposed to complement said sold possessions. In this case, only Rose is concerned with making a good gift, and instead of sacrificing her possessions, she instead plucks some other flowers. She then gifts the resulting flower crown to Birdie, who can just accept it since she didn't even think of giving Rose a gift, let alone sacrifice her head/hair/wings/whatever for it.

So what is even the point of quoting "The Gift of the Magi", other than to sound Deep As Fuck™?

"The Gift of the Magi" isn't centered around sacrifice but on the gesture to a heartfelt gift to their loved one. This story as the tag says is a parody, both the bird and the rose just want to give the other something heartfelt. Only Rosie has read the book and she understands that Christmas is an occasion to give a gift to their loved ones and she uses her own Roses to make a coronet. Birdie on the other hand just wanted to show Rosie a glimpse of world she is able to see.

The two stories aren't based on mutual sacrifice, but the feelings one has on the other.

"The Gift of the Magi" isn't centered around sacrifice but on the gesture to a heartfelt gift to their loved one. This story as the tag says is a parody, both the bird and the rose just want to give the other something heartfelt. Only Rosie has read the book and she understands that Christmas is an occasion to give a gift to their loved ones and she uses her own Roses to make a coronet. Birdie on the other hand just wanted to show Rosie a glimpse of world she is able to see.

The two stories aren't based on mutual sacrifice, but the feelings one has on the other.

While I disagree with your interpretation of O. Henry's themes, I haven't really noticed Birdie's "gift" in the first reading of the story. After rereading it, I realized that the gifts were indeed, mutual, though I still think that quoting O. Henry was a tad gratuitous...

Gift of the Magi, a short story where a woman sells her hair to buy a watch chain for her watch-loving husband - but the husband sold his watches to buy combs for the woman's hair. I only know about this from an Archie comic.

O. Henry's original short story works because both people sacrifice their most valuable possession to buy a gift for the other, and both gifts turn out to be (immediately) useless because they are supposed to complement said sold possessions.

So that's where the idea for that one Xmas episode of Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures came from! : D
I don't remember very clearly the gifts Barbie and Ken gave each other, and what they sold to be able to afford them, but it was exactly the same scenario. I think there was something like surfing lessons ticket involved(B to K), while he has already sold his surfboard to give her something?

last edited at Feb 9, 2022 2:12PM