A Last Holiday Note
The first time I watched It’s a Wonderful Life, I’ll confess that I didn’t get into it. I fixated on the fact that George Bailey had this great dream to be an architect and travel, and the Building & Loan board guilted him into staying without ever creating an offramp for him to live the life he wanted to, after he sacrificed college for Bedford Falls. Sure, it was nice the town helped him out of debt in the end, but that’s the minimum they owed George. The board should have created an interim period for George to lead the company to keep it out of Henry Potter’s control, then allow George to train his replacement. And then, on top of all that, every Building & Loan client completely wipes George out of all his money, including his and Mary’s honeymoon money, out of fear? After all George did for all of you, you’re going to ignore his good judgement and risk the Building & Loan declaring bankruptcy because you know better than him? Ignorant, ungrateful denizens as I ever saw ;)
But this watch, I thought about George Bailey and the Building & Loan in the context of the Depression and World War II. I read Capra’s message as, in those times of national pain and uncertainty and hardship, for people to embody George Bailey’s values: put the welfare of others and the wellbeing of the majority before your own needs and preferences. Empathy and grace created good. Greed and selfishness sow misery. Empathy and generosity towards others are how American survived the Depression, recessions, and wars with dignity. Not by becoming insular and acting avariciously. If that sounds like something schmaltzy Aaron Sorkin would have one of his presidents plead with the American people from a podium . . . where do you he got it from?
That’s what fear does. Fear inspires rashness, and fear of bankruptcy prompted the Building & Loan clients to withdraw their funds out of fear they wouldn’t be able to afford their basic needs. It creates a dog-eat-dog environment where people can’t escape survival mode. George and Mary Bailey are the needed counterweight to that. George always puts others first—Harry, Mr. Gower, his Building & Loan clients—and as we are prone to do to the humblest amongst us, we take them for grant. Everyone takes George Bailey’s generosity and selflessness for granted because he never draws attention to himself, or asked for anything in exchange such as a successor at the Building & Loan.
It’s not until Mary leads s search effort for George and draws Bedford Fall’s attention to the Building & Loan’s financial precarity—because George never did and never would say anyting—that everyone realizes the effort George had on their life. Any they express that buy helping George clear is debt with the bank examiner. Clarence helped George realize the ripple effect and interconnectedness of his life with Harry, Mr. Gower, Mary, and Harry’s unit, but without Mary, he’d return to his house only to leave out the front door again in handcuffs. It’s Mary, after being berated, who rallies the town for George and helps them have the same moment of recognition about all the good George and the Building & Loan has meant to their lives. Mary is just as much George’s Guardian angel as Clarence Oddbody.
For all the love It’s a Wonderful Life generates, imagine watching the movie then voting for henry Potter for President. I can’t fathom how one could watch Potter’s greed towards Beford Falls, the fact he’d rename the town with his namesake and fill it with nightclubs and casinos and bars and not see a connection.
