It's a Wonderful Life

I said my piece in the post, obviously, but I noted that Saturday Night Live parody for two reasons:

1. The very desire we have as humans for justice as revenge, given how George has been wronged, is itself desperately wrong. (I just wrote an anti-death penalty post on my blog last night -- no offense to those on BB who disagree, of course, but that's how I see it.)

Back to the movie -- we have to realize, as George finally does, that we have to take responsibility for our own lives, the good and the bad, and (as a psychologist might say) "integrate them into the whole."

2. "It's a Wonderful Life" could never be remade -- not only because it would be sacrilege ("colorizing" it was bad enough) but because Hollywood executives would insist on an ending JUST like that on Saturday Night Live.

I'm imagining Tom Hanks as George punching a wheelchair-bound Kirk Douglas as Potter in the face, with the last line, "BANK ON **THIS**, POTTER!!!!"

Ugh.

And wasn't the phone scene where the chemistry between Mary and George was heating up, the best? There is definitely something worthwhile to leaving things to our imagination, in my opinion.

Cleo:

"Water under the bridge" -- what an eerie, and I'm certain unconscious but nevertheless so prescient, metaphor when we discuss IAWL. Think how important water (including snow) is in so many parts of the story.

Frank:

You've figured out the bar scene better than I have (for your own life). But for my mind it really is the key scene in the movie, at least as far as a turning point.

To everyone:

Bnet's software ate it, but I also was going to blog on two other holiday movies that have become "insta-classics" -- "A Christmas Story" and "Love Actually." I can't recommend both of them more highly (though neither, of course, is IAWL).

Larry,
Boy oh Boy, talk about one of the most heart wrenching movies of all time. And yes, it does make you wake up and smell the coffee. This movie is one of my all time favorites too. I watch it every year. With all that we go thru in this life, we have to remember that if He (Father God) brings you to it, He will bring you thru it. Sometimes bad situations, can be turned into a good situation when dealing with our Father. Keep the faith and Hold on to His never Changing Hand. God Bless and Merry Christmas to everyone. Don't forget to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. Jesus is the reason for the season.
Sincerely, Sis Dona J.

IF I HAD TO LIVE THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH ONLY ONE MOVIE, IAWL WOULD BE IT. OFF COURSE IT WOULD HAVE TO BE IN BLACK AND WHITE. I WOULD NEVER WANT TO WATCH THE COLORED VERSION. IT JUST WOULDN'T BE THE SAME.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND LISTEN FOR THAT BELL...........

I most certainly must check out that movie...if not this year by the next for sure...but this year I intend to go one better...to be the embodiment of that angel, and bring an element of peace and joy to one close friend, and more than a friend this Christmas, if only for a few hours. He has found himself in a very difficult situation and is captive in self-made isolation. I cannot reconcile this to my spirit, even as I am a bit stressed about my own outcome of Christmas, but it is better to give than to receive, and hope to restore the blessed hope and joy of this season, if only to one person this year. It will certainly reaffirm my own. I may have seen that movie as a child, but cannot remember only one small detail in it....you have now resparked my interest in it and I hope to be able to enjoy the movie and its message soon. I am looking forward to a new holiday tradition in watching it....thank you, Therese, for reminding us that even in times of stress or discouragement, it truly is a wonderful life!

Larry, yes, water is very symbolic, isn't it? water is life, the river of life. That's what George contemplates while pondering suicide, water keeps on running under the bridge, it's life renewing itself, it's the eternal flow.

My favorite movie. In fact I am watching it right now. Sometimes we do not realize how our lives impact upon others.

Theresa -

Tonight I am feeling more than just a little like George, having just come back home from a Christmas Eve service at the church I attend, with a fellowship time following the service. During that time, a very dear lady from the congregation came up to me and slid an envelope into my coat pocket, and with a heartfelt hug, said, "Merry Christmas, honey! Don't you worry about a thing, God is taking care of you for awhile now!" (the newspaper which employed me as a freelance news reporter for the past 14 months recently ceased publication as of Dec. 10th, leaving me with NO job at the present time)
When I got home, I took out the envelope and opened it -- inside was a beautiful snowy Christmas scene on the front of a card that said beneath it, very simply, "Happy Holidays." When I opened the card, I realized it was one of those cards in which people can slip money into an inside pocket, which said on it, "Wishing you all the beauty and wonder that this holiday season can bring" In the pocket was a $100 bill.
I am crying as I write this to you, filled with such gratitude to God for speaking to one of His people who found it in her heart (and her wallet)to help me, and wondering what I have done to deserve such special treatment. Teresa, two weeks ago, I was nearly to the point of complete dispair, ready to just give up, lay down and go to sleep, preparing to pray that I would not wake up the next morning. But instead, I knelt next to my bed, and cried out to God, "Oh, Lord, please help me!! I am so lost!" Within several minutes, an enveloping sense of peace and calm came over me, and I slept like a baby that night, for the first time in many months. Since that night, I have felt an overwhelming sense of anticipation, as though something wonderful was about to happen to me -- well, tonite, it happened.
I have struggled with severe depression for the last three years, taken several different antidepressants that seem to help for awhile and then lose their effectiveness, and gone on probably 200 walks when the frustration and pain became more than I could bear. I stumbled onto your Beyond Blue blog about eight months ago, and have avidly devoured every post since. I truly believe that the God of my understanding has brought you into my life with "encouragement, strength and hope" that has kept me going on more than one bad day. In February of 2008, I will mark three years since I attempted suicide with alcohol and, thankfully, failed -- I have been sober since September, 2005, and since completing inpatient dual-diagnosis treatment for depression and chemical dependency, I have become very conscious of how much my emotional state fuels and triggers my desire to get roaring drunk and forget everything that makes my heart ache.
Thank you for everything you write, my GOD, you have no idea how very similar we are!! I pray for you every single night, that God will keep you safe and hold you close in His arms when the world just gets to be too much to bear. It sounds so noble of me, until you realize how dependent I am on reading your blog, how much you help me get through this crummy, rotten life, one day at a time, one step at a time, somedays, one minute at a time!!
But tonight, it truly IS a wonderful life . . . .!

I have seen the movie several times. Every time I notice something in the background, the plot, or the credits that I hadn't seen before. Like the bit part by Sheldon Leonard (later the executive producer of the Andy Griffith Show). Or the amounts of money involved - the $2000 honeymoon money and the $8000 George's uncle misplaced. You can't help but think what $8000 in 1946 would be in today's money? Or the downtown with all the Mom & Pop stores, locally owned and operated businesses. What happened to all those downtowns, indeed, what has happened to America the last 61 years when the last domestic maker of Santa suits has even gone out of business?
People have loved and adopted this movie because it is history, a reminder of the beloved past, of past Christmases. One of our ministers (Donny is only in his 30's) said that people love to remember and return to the past, it gives them comfort. In downtown Fort Wayne we have a Santa and reindeer display sign and a wreath sign that once were on the outside of what was one of our most beloved department stores. Every night before Thanksgiving thousands of residents and visitors flock to our downtown to see these signs lit up by the local dignitaries and Santa and local celebrities. They are 67 years old. The store, Wolf and Dessauer, went out of business 38 years ago. The store building people loved and revered burned down in a fire in 1962. The signs spent 21 years in storage then were resurrected 28 years ago and returned to downtown for Christmas in 1980.
I say all this because people long for a return to those values that Frank Capra wove into the movie. And they miss an America that most Americans living have never experienced.....
We need to get in the car and drive to South Bend to my family's so I will just say, "remember no man is a failure who has friends, thanks for the wings" (Clarence). And Merry Christmas, to all those who remember, and all those who only know through what has been passed down through the generations!

Thank you, Therese, for the reminder. Thank you, Larry, for your wonderful post.

I think many of us have felt like George at one time or another. Movie is wonderful and inspirational because it gives alot of heart and hope.