Police in Shepherdsville, Kentucky received complaints of a man who was allegedly exposing himself outside of a home. However, come to find out, it was simply an outdoor display paying tribute to one of the best Christmas movies of all time.
Local news station WDRB-TV reported that when police arrived on the scene, they discovered that no crime had actually been committed. Rather, it was only a mannequin depicting a scene from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”
The mannequin depicted “Cousin Eddie” from the 1989 film. In the movie, Cousin Eddie is a foul- mouthed relative of the Griswold family. Eddie shows up to the Griswold home unannounced with his family in their dirty motorhome.
The scene demonstrated by the mannequin is when Cousin Eddie is disposing of his RV’s waste into the sewer only wearing a robe while enjoying a beer and cigar. In the iconic scene, Eddie proclaims, “Sh*tter’s full!”
According to Police Chief Rick McCubbin there was ,”Never a dull moment.”
Dispatchers told officers, “We have a male standing outside. He is naked. He has a robe covering part of his body. He is exposing himself, and he has a hose between his legs.” “Umm…it’s gonna be ‘Uncle Eddie,'” the responding officer told the dispatcher.
Officers on the scene did not make any arrest or citation. Instead, they “did get a laugh and took some photos of the display,” said WDRB-TV.
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The mannequin belonged to homeowner Joni Keeney, who said that “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” is her favorite Christmas movie, and that “everybody has a ‘Cousin Eddie’ in their family, everybody.”
Keeney and her husband do not drink, so they enlisted the help of a neighbor to make their display more movie-accurate, said WDRB.
Neighbor, Tamara Gould said,”She told me she was looking for a mannequin, and I’m like ‘Oh Lord, here we go’.”
The display also replicates various other scenes from the movie. Underneath a flipped-over armchair (which she said she bought on Facebook Marketplace), Keeney outlined a cat in what appears to be tinsel. This is in reference to the scene where the cat chews on Christmas lights and is electrocuted. They also show the aluminum sled from the famous scene where Clark Griswold sleds down the ski slopes at a ridiculous speed from greasing the bottom of it.
Next year, Keeney and her husband hope to expand their display even more. They plan to include a depiction of Clark Griswold hanging from their roof, replicating the famous scene where he loses his footing while stapling decorations to the roof of his house.
“I just want people to have a good Christmas and get a laugh,” Keeney said, “It’s been a hit with the neighborhood.”
The Keeney’s embody the long-held American tradition of decorating your home to celebrate the holiday. However, they definitely have taken things to another level with their hilarious depiction of Christmas Vacation. Let’s hope in future years, the police aren’t called for their realistic Cousin Eddie scenes and Clark hanging on for dear life from the roof.