Another Happy Holiday Film? I Think Not:
By Caitlyn Hallman
It’s a Wonderful Life is, of course, a classic piece of cinema, and a necessary part of any decent holiday celebration. However, the film has been horribly misconstrued since it was released. Many consider it to a pretty piece of holiday cheer and fine example of family values, but, in truth, It’s a Wonderful Life is a critical examination of the American way of life. Behind its Norman Rockwell exterior and its tear-jerkingly happy ending, is a structure of regret, frustration and desperation.
George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) is a thwarted man; thwarted in his ambitions, his self-respect and his sexual desires. As his life story unfolds, we quickly see that he has been thwarted in everything he has ever tried to do. All he ever really wanted out of life was a bit of excitement, a little adventure, and to get the hell out of Bedford Falls. Alas, the world had very different plans. It seems that every time George sees his chance to kick the dust of the small town off his heels, something steps in to prevent it. At first, George takes these set backs well. After his father’s death, he delays his entrance to university to take care of the family business, the savings and loan. But it’s okay, he reasons. He’ll go in a few years time. However, as the years add up it becomes clearer and clearer that George’s chance is not going to come. He will be stuck in Bedford Falls.
George Bailey in the days before he was broken
The crucial moment occurs when his brother, Harry returns from university. This was his final opportunity break away, and it is denied. Harry’s married and has got a new job as well. He can’t be bothered with Bedford Falls. In complete silence we see all of George’s dreams crumble. He doesn’t rail. He doesn’t cry. He doesn’t even say, as I would have, ‘You fucking bastard! You’re supposed to take over the savings and loan, so I can go out and get a life. I gave up the ability to hear out of one ear for you. What more do you want from me!’. No, instead George congratulates him and turns quietly away.
Even in marriage, George finds himself trapped in. George goes to visit, his long time possible love interest, Mary (Donna Reed) after she returns to Bedford Falls out of college. He knows that it is every else’s expectation that he will ask Mary to be his wife, but he tries to avoid doing so. He makes a charge for freedom and asks Violet to go walking through the grass barefoot. (I’m certain that he has more planned for once he gets her on the grass.) But not being a wild, bohemian girl she flatly refuses, and George is left with no other option than to head to Mary’s and once more face the expected. Still, even after he is at her house he tries to stop himself from saying the words, from asking her what everyone knows he must ask her. The sexual tension builds until in a sudden burst of desire and passion it all comes out (for once in the film). George grabs Mary roughly and cries: ‘Mary, I don’t want to get married.’ He wants her, and he knows there’s only one way he can ever have a nice girl like Mary. He wants her so much, he’ll sacrifice his plans and give in once more to the community’s wishes. He resigns, collapsing into her arms.
I wouldn’t mind being in this position.
I could go on, but the catalogue is really too sad. Over and over again, George pushes his dreams onto the back burner in order to help the good people of Bedford Falls. He is constantly saving someone from his arch-nemesis, Mr. Potter. One is tempted to ask whether anyone else in the town ever does anything. It doesn’t seem so. They tend to wander around wringing their hands, cursing Potter’s cleverness. No, they leave everything to George, the Bedford Falls answer to Batman.
The common reading of George Bailey’s suicide attempt is one of self-sacrifice. He is driven to death because he feels that it is the only way to preserve the comfortable, community existence of Bedford Falls. No! For once he isn’t concerned with anyone else. Committing suicide holds for George his last opportunity to be his own man. He could not live his life on his own terms, but George hopes that at least his death can be done his way. Yet he is not allowed even this.
In terms of the Pottersville sequence, most people clock George’s distress to the horrible, seedy state everything has fallen into without him there to save it. Actually, I would suggest, he’s much more upset that no one recognizes him. Let’s face it; if George had one thing going for him in Bedford Falls it is that he is a big fish in a little pond. Everyone knows George and everyone loves George. Far more frightening for him than seeing the main street succumb to the sex industry is seeing Bert and Ernie’s blank faces when he cries: ‘It’s me, George!’
So, is George really happy at the end of the movie? Yes, he is happy with the relief someone feels after a traumatic experience. After having the shock of no one recognizing him, it is reassuring to find out how very popular he is. However, none of the original conflicts are ever really resolved. George’s situation doesn’t improve any. Bedford Falls is saved for another day from the clutches of Potter, but I have no doubt that Potter was back to his schemes the next day.
Stewart’s George Bailey is the precursor to the breed of anti-heroes which would gain enormous popularity in the 1950’s. George Bailey is one of the first characters to question the legitimacy of American small town values. He might not have known where his something better was, but he knew that it could never be found in Bedford Falls. While George is always brought back from the edge of his rebellion, the characters which, just a few years later, would be portrayed by Marlon Brando and James Dean would know no such limits. They will openly become the judgmental outsiders in a clearly corrupt society, but it is Capra’s film that first announces America’s loss of innocence.
And remember, Potter’s plot is never uncovered. Just Capra’s final reminder that things would never fully right again.
George shocked to realize how much Bedford Falls has screwed him.
