Young Apprentice; I just finished watching “It’s A Wonderful Life” on TV. What a heart-warming, uplifting and inspirational movie. Have you ever seen it?
Rich Old Bastard: Yes, several times.
Y.A.; Don’t you just LOVE it?
R.O.B.; It’s certainly an entertaining film. Well acted. A great cast. “Mary” and “Violet” were a couple of hot numbers. But I have a few problems with it.
Y.A.; What could you possibly object to!?! The movie is a timeless classic.
R.O.B.; Be that as it may, I disagree with the both premise and the message.
Y.A.; What are you talking about, you crazy old bastard? What’s wrong with the premise?
R.O.B.; Everything. According to the movie, if “George Baily” had never been born, there would have been a big hole where his life would have been. He wouldn’t have been there to stop “Mr. Gower” The pharmacist from accidentally poisoning some kid, so Gower winds up as an alcoholic ex-con who goes around getting sprayed in the face with seltzer. He wouldn’t have been there to save his brother “Harry” when he fell through the ice, therefore Harry wouldn’t have been there to save the transport ship from the kamikaze attack during the war. He wouldn’t have been there to marry his wife “Mary”, therefore she does not marry anyone. Give me a break.
Y.A.; That’s right! If he weren’t there, none of that stuff would have happened and his town would have been a hotbed of sin ruled by the rich, evil “Mr. Potter”.
R.O.B.; Rubbish. I propose that if George were not there to save Mr. Gower, some other kid would have been working as his delivery boy and he might have done it. Also, if he were not there his mother might not have let Harry go sleigh riding in the first place because he was too little, or if she did, one of the other kids would have saved him. Furthermore, if Harry did drown, don’t you think the air corps would have had some other pilot in his airplane, or would the empty “Harry Bailey” airplane have sat unused on the runway for the duration of the war?
Y.A.; I don’t know.
R.O.B.; Also, nobody takes into account the potential mistakes George Baily might have made. We are supposed to believe everything he did had a positive outcome.
Y.A.; I don’t follow.
R.O.B.; Well, maybe the kid George prevented from being poisoned grew up to be a serial killer, or Lee Harvey Oswald, Or Jim Jones. Maybe Gower was doing humanity a favor by “accidentally” poisoning him.
Y.A.; (reluctantly) I guess so, but why do you disagree with the message?
R.O.B.; For one thing, the rich guy is the villain, as they are almost every movie with a rich guy. This fosters the enduring myth that money is bad, and those who have a lot of money are greedy and evil and nobody likes them. I have written about this fallacy before.
Y.A.; Anything else?
R.O.B.; The hero of the movie operates under the premise that every other person’s needs and desires are more important than his own, so he basically gives up his entire life to satisfy the wants of everyone except himself, but it’s all worth it because some people “like” him. In other words, the most important thing in life is to liked by others and you must sacrifice yourself in the process to achieve this popularity. I strongly disagree with this notion.
Y.A.; Are you through?
R.O.B.; Just one more thing. At the end of the film, George is no better off than he was at the beginning, but he is happy because he thinks the people of Bedford Falls like him. He is still missing the $8,000 his senile uncle lost to Mr. Potter, his car is wrapped around a tree, he is still trapped in a job that he hates, only now he is indebted to all his friends and neighbors who know what a lousy businessman he is. George Baily sucks! He is a loser and no one should strive to follow his example.
Y.A.; Sometimes I get a headache talking to you.
R.O.B.; That’s just your brain expanding.