It’s the time of year when TV stations start cranking out Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life” over and over and over. This is possible due to a screwup in renewing copyright… it ran out in 1975. As a result, anybody can play it for free without having to get permission or pay royalties. So, there ya go.
“Wonderful Life” is one of those Classic Movies You Are Supposed To See Many Times that I had somehow failed to see until a few years ago. It’s also one of those Feel Good Warm And Fuzzy Movies. But… it’s not. It’s really not. My first thought on watchign the movie was something akin to “yikes.”
Not long after seeing the flick, I heard an interview on the radio with the author of THIS PIECE. He summed it up far better than I could. At the time, the movie had just given me a sense of general, vague disquiet; the author here nailed *why* it’s a disturbing flick:
“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a terrifying, asphyxiating story about growing up and relinquishing your dreams, of seeing your father driven to the grave before his time, of living among bitter, small-minded people. It is a story of being trapped, of compromising, of watching others move ahead and away, of becoming so filled with rage that you verbally abuse your children, their teacher and your oppressively perfect wife. It is also a nightmare account of an endless home renovation.
Nailed it.
I think at least part of the reason why my discomfort with the movie remained vague was because my over-riding thoughts revolved around it having been an alternate history story, and thus in the realm of science fiction… yet it’s never really described as such.
In the end, the character of George Bailey is still an angry jerk whose life had passed him by. In the end, he’s still on the hook for stolen money… he’s still staring down the barrel of serious jail time. In the end, things are so bad that the only thing that has kept him from suicide *isn’t* things actually getting better, it’s divine intervention from God Fricken’ Almighty… who hasn’t actually made the real problems of Bailey’s life go away. He’s still screwed.
A proper sequel likely would have had Bailey spending the next few days in a fevered, desperate attempt to be happy, followed by an arrest, trial and jail time. His life collapses, his family falls apart, the bank fails. Bedford Falls goes down in economic ruin. At the end, Bailey does finally die, a broken old man living in a homeless shelter sometime in the 1980’s. Upon death, that bastard angel Clarence shows him what Pottersville would have looked like… a thriving metropolis like Las Vegas. Troubled, to be sure, but at least still kicking, and a hell of a lot more fun than Bedford Falls.
At which point Clarence happily kicks Bailey out of Heaven straight into eternal damnation. Because that’s what his kind does.
10 Responses to “It’s a Pitiful, Dreadful Life”
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Scott, you need to watch the Lost Ending to It’s a Wonderful Life …
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7msas_saturday-night-live-its-a-wonderful_fun
I had the same reaction when I saw it, Scott. Exactly.
I also totally agree with you about the tone of the movie (although I don’t think that the dreary future you postulate for George Bailey is all that certain). But I love “It’s a Wonderful Life” for that hot searing needle of realism.
It reminds me of two more movies that self-consciously examine the possibilities of a character’s life: “Citizen Kane” and “Groundhog Day”. All three are equally good.
> I don’t think that the dreary future you postulate for George Bailey is all that certain
Certain? No. Likely? Yeah, I’d say so. Regardless of the counter-factual experience/vision/delusion he had, he has led an unhappy life to this point. And at the point where the movie ends, he is in serious legal and financial trouble, due for an arrest and trial in the near future. He’s a bitter guy and a real jerk; when things get much worse for him very soon (remember: Potter is still there, unchanged and unrepentant, ready to take advantage and cause harm just for the nasty thrill of it), he is unlikely to become a “better” man more at peace with his failed life.
As you say, the movie has a spike of nasty reality. The alternate reality shows that all the “decent” people in his life can become morally questionable with only a relatively minor change in circumstances; you can thus expect that all the warm fuzzy friends Bailey thinks he has will evaporate when things get really, really bad for him. People you’ve thought of as your friend for years will stab you in the back in a heartbeat if they see an opportunity to benefit from your troubles.
Wouldn’t Uncle Billy be a more likely person to take the fall for the loss of the money? And if he ever remembered what happened to it … well, you might not get the SNL ending, but at least Potter could be prosecuted for grand theft.
The alternate reality shows that all the “decent” people in his life can become morally questionable with only a relatively minor change in circumstances …
Possibly true in our reality as well. Did you ever read Norman Spinrad’s novel The Iron Dream? It’s a story-within-a-story; the inner layer is Lord of the Swastika, a post-apocalyptic heroic fantasy written by a German fellow who emigrated to America after the Great War, became an illustrator for pulp SF magazines, and branched out into writing SF. Some of his other works included The Thousand Year Rule, Tomorrow the World, and Triumph of the Will …
> at least Potter could be prosecuted for grand theft.
Go ahead and try to prove that Potter stole a penny. IIRC, the money fell into his lap with no effort or intent on his part. All he’d need to do is *burn* it and he’d get what he wants. $3K wouldn’t mean much to his bank account, but as a way to destroy Bailey, it’s a simple an obvious weapon.
> Possibly true in our reality as well.
Pretty obviously true. It does not take a whole lot to make some normal people into vicious assholes.
There’s L. Neil Smith’s “Roswell, Texas,” where some Austrian Corporal leaves the German Army, emigrates to Texas, marries a Mexican woman and becomes, IIRC, a comic book artist.
Honestly, I think it’s taking things a step too far.
First, it’s not like George is Al Gore sitting in a mansion and preaching austerity for other people. Yes, George sacrificed many of the things he wanted, but he chose to do it. And the city knows it and they admire him for it. It’s as though he threw himself on a grenade: yes, he’s lost things that were important to him, but he accomplished good, and the people he’s helped admire him, are grateful, and help him out the moment they can.
Yes, but:
1) At the end, when the community pulls together for him, he’s no better off than he was before… in fact, due to legal concerns, he’s still worse off.
2) While the people may like him, he has kinda shot his bolt. Another thing goes wrong, his credibility is already hurt… and the community is already down the $3000 they already shelled out to him.
3) Potter is *still* *there,* ready to screw him again.
Bailey is, at best, in a seriously weakened position at the end of the flick. Potter knows this, and he’s a smart enough guy to know that this was attained with minimal effort on his part. All he’d need to do is a minor little bit of sabotage, and Bailey’d be destroyed.
As for the self-sacrifice: I know from personal experience that giving up on a goal because it’s the “right thing to do” may seem the moral thing to do, but you’ve still end up the loser out of the deal.
Sure, George is in a worse position at the end of the film, but I don’t think the film is about that: it’s about whether or not his sacrifices are appreciated by the people who benefited from them. And in this case, at least, the answer’s yes.
And I’m sure you’ve given things up because it was the right thing to do and *not* regretted it in the long run; I know I have and I think most people have.
He’s not facing jail time. Maybe you didn’t notice the part where the bank examiner tears up the warrant and puts it in the pot?
Yeah, it’s a shame George didn’t get to live the life he wanted to, and he repeatedly allows himself to be used as a doormat. And, yes, Potter is actually probably the guy who held the entire town together even while being a total bastard. But, it’s still a good flick.