Christmas crackers are a popular tradition around British dinner tables during the festive season, but a scene from one American movie proves the same cannot be said for our friends across the pond.
As someone with a few Americans in my family, I know how this goes. Everyone's positioned around the table for Christmas dinner, and someone calls out 'everyone grab their crackers!'
Cue the American asking: "We're having crackers as part of the meal?" This scene really says it all:
The confusion never fails to amuse and surprise me, because crackers are a staple part of Christmas. From the colourful paper hats to the terrible jokes, they've just got to be done.
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Years of Christmases spent pulling apart the cardboard tubes mean that most Brits are well versed in how to pull a Christmas cracker, which makes this clip from A Kindhearted Christmas all the more disturbing.
The TV movie focuses on Jamie (Jennie Garth), the owner of a small-town sightseeing company who finds herself struggling over Christmas following the death of her husband.
Inspired by her husband's love of giving, Jamie decides to donate to a local fundraiser and sparks a gift-giving chain throughout the town, prompting newscaster Scott (Cameron Mathison) to try and uncover the identity of the secret Santa.
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In one scene, shared on TikTok by a horrified viewer, Scott can be seen introducing Jamie to 'Christmas crackers from England'. The newscaster starts off on the right track as he explains that they're typically opened 'before the meal', but things quickly go downhill when he demonstrates how they work.
Usually, crackers are a two-person event, with participants each grabbing an end and pulling to see who gets the bigger half - sometimes with your arms crossed over your body, if you're really in the spirit of things.
However, Scott claims the opening of the Christmas cracker involves grabbing each end before pulling it apart yourself. He tells Jamie that 'everybody pulls at the same time', though that just sounds like a recipe for an elbow in the face, if you ask me.
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Scott's method ensures that everybody wins their own Christmas cracker prizes, but it really just takes all of the competition out of the experience.
Naturally, then, Brits are outraged at the scene.
TikTok user Rachael, who shared the video, wrote: "Can someone please teach the Americans how to pull a Christmas cracker or to just leave it to us."
Another viewer questioned: "How did they get them and get it so wrong?"
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I will be fair and say that crackers aren't exactly self explanatory, but if you do need an explainer, make sure you come to an actual Brit, and not Scott.
Topics: Christmas, TV And Film, TikTok
Emily Brown