Picture licesnse from: calflier001, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
One thing I notice each year as I scour IMDB and JustWatch looking for holiday movies is that very few rates highly. Historically, my all-time favorite holiday film has been It's a Wonderful Life (1946). Christmas can never be officially over until I have watched it at least once. But, when the movie was released, it was considered a flop.
It's unclear if the negative portrayal of banks or the common man as the hero kept audiences away. Perhaps author Ayn Rand calling it "a pernicious threat to Americanism" helped to capsize it. Whatever it was, the movie ultimately lost nearly half a million dollars and sank the once-famous Director, Frank Capra.
Then something of a Christmas Miracle happened. In 1974 the film was up for copyright renewal. Due to its initial failure to capture the attention of audiences, no one rushed to renew it. Without royalties to pay, it was inexpensive for networks to broadcast. They began playing it nearly year-round. At Christmas, it could be found in rotation 24 hours a day. This bombardment turned the tides of the movie.
While Capra itself never saw it as a Christmas Movie, the film became synonymous with the holiday. In 1982 Capra himself received a Christmas present. After being laughed out of Hollywood, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.
The movie's redemption message is a reflection of the movie's own path towards acceptance and ultimately celebration. I have a strange love affair with this movie. On the one hand, it is about depression, regret, and suicide. On the other, it is beautiful to watch. It gives us all hope, it makes us question the little things, and of course, there is Donna Reed.
The movie found a new life years later in a season of hope. We put a lot of focus on the "New Year." As if the simple changing of the date will magically transform our lives. "If we can just make it to next year, everything will be better!" It simply isn't true. Life doesn't work that way. Life is about what you do now, the action you take, the people you help, and those that help you. It is impossible to live for tomorrow.
As a kid, I used to try and watch the movie when it came on late at night. There would always be a commercial break (this was way before streaming) right after George saves Clarence from the freezing cold river. While it's hard to imagine someone not knowing this movie, I feel I should summarize some of it.
George Bailey is a dreamer. A man who wants to "see the world." He has little material interests. He desires a life of experiences. He marries a woman that has loved him since they were children. Through a series of unfortunate or perhaps inevitable events, George's plans to get out of Bedford Falls, his hometown, and travel the world are never realized.
Eventually, he marries Mary. Mary buys the old house, and she and Geroge begin having children. The house is falling apart, and George's Uncle Billy loses a large sum of money associated with the family business. In a rage of despair, George crashes his car and contemplates jumping off a bridge to his death. He believes he is worth more dead than alive because of a small life insurance policy.
To prevent George from killing himself, an angel named Clarence jumps in first. George, being George, jumps in and saves him. By sacrificing himself, George's focus moves from his own death to helping Clarence. This is s theme throughout the movie, a man that puts others' needs before his own. Clarence, George's Guardian Angel, knew by putting himself in harm's way, George would snap out of his depression and return to his core of helping others.
George, still feeling despondent, expresses that he wishes he'd never been born. This gives Clarence an idea. He rewards George by letting him see what life would be like, had George never been born. George sees a town in disarray. Each story becomes more and more depressing. The town of Bedford Falls, which has trapped George and become his nemesis, has been renamed Pottersville. Named after a bully. The town's richest man Mr. Potter.
By the end of Geroge's time with Clarence, he realizes his life's impact was far more significant than he ever knew. He truly was living "a wonderful life." I always clap out loud when that line is delivered.
I realize as the world has become more jaded, the movie's premise may seem a bit old fashioned. Not for me. I've carried a piece of George Bailey in my heart my whole life. I've managed to travel and have great experiences. Still, I haven't fully let go of resentment and harsh self-judgment for not always accomplishing what I felt I could and should.
There is a scene in the movie where George and Mary are throwing rocks at an old house. They have very different purposes and feeling towards their vandalism.
Mary: What did you wish, George?
GEORGE: - Well, not just one wish. A whole hatful. Mary, I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow and the next day and the next year and the year after that.
( I get chills just typing that!)
I'm shaking the dust of this crummy little town off my feet, and I'm gonna see the world: Italy, Greece, the Parthenon...the Colosseum.
He continues listing all the things he is going to do before urging Mary to throw a rock and make a wish. ("Big mistake!" I always yell at the TV)
GEORGE: Well, are you gonna throw a rock?
(George is impressed by Mary's throwing skills)
Hey, that's pretty good.
What'd you wish, Mary?
(Mary doesn't answer. Instead, she begins singing and strolls away)
MARY: Buffalo Gals, Can't you come out tonight?
George wished for a thousand adventures. While we learn about Mary's wish. She dreamed of living in the old house and marrying George. The rock-throwing moment has always been bittersweet for me. For the longest time, I blamed Mary for stealing George's dreams.
It is only with a thousand viewings and my advancing age that I have grown to appreciate this moment. Mary wasn't stealing George's dreams. She knew he was dreaming too small. He was meant for so much more. She knew the work he would do in Bedford Falls would make a more significant impact than George scaling the pyramids of Egypt. He couldn't see it, but she could.
I've suffered from the same thing at times. Being so focused on more, I cannot appreciate the present. Searching for my next opportunity. I supposed this is rooted in childhood guilt. Being present, to me, has typically felt like resting. I grew up believing that resting equaled laziness. Historically, this has unfortunately shaped many of my relationships and my lack of self-worth.
I've learned that being present is anything but lazy. It takes an immense amount of energy. It also requires faith in the future, rather than constant planning for it. Balancing the two takes work. Not constantly worrying about tomorrow is difficult. But it can also be enriching to ourselves and more so for those around us.
In George Bailey's cases, he was always waiting for his tomorrow. He was missing being present. Mary had subtly been showing him all along through the people he helped, the children they were raising, the love between them. But it wasn't until George was on the verge of taking his own life that he was willing to stop and see all the good surrounding him.
Mary and George's children prayed for George when he stormed out of the house. I believe Clarence is a manifestation of their prayers. So while I have blamed Mary for throwing her rock and "ruining George's life," I now see that she saved him, over and over.
While I still yell at the screen when Mary throws her rock at the old house. It's not with the same youthful vigor. Now, it's with more of a wink. I am fortunate to have a wife that knew when to throw rocks at just the right time! She's still waiting for me to figure myself out. I'm sure, on occasions, she'd like to crack a few over my head when I miss her subtlety. I might be older but not necessarily wiser. Yes, even in 2020, It really is a Wonderful Life! #nbholidaycheer