George Bailey: Saint or subversive? (Or both?)
I may sound cliché by saying this, but “It’s A Wonderful Life” is my favorite Christmas movie. I know I’m probably in company with a lot of people because of that, but that just means that in this case a lot of people have really good taste. The movie is all about the great difference that one person can make in the lives of so many, often without even realizing it. It’s also about the importance of selflessness, of family, of solidarity, of community. There is enough that is good about that movie to fill up more than one of these columns for sure.
I also think that’s “It’s A Wonderful Life” is a little bit subversive, and that’s part of what makes it so good. You might be looking at me askance right now, Faithful Reader, and I don’t blame you. What on earth could be subversive about a classic holiday film by a conservative filmmaker like Frank Capra? Well, I’m not the only one who feels that way. None other than J. Edgar Hoover did too, and he believed that the film was communist propaganda. I’m not joking, and it’s not fake news. Look it up!
The idea that “It’s A Wonderful Life” is a red flick is pretty dumb, especially given the fact
Local Columnist that the film was banned in the USSR for its failure to conform to Soviet ideals. But little things like that never stopped J. Edgar Hoover, nor do they stop those who think like him.
But I think that the FBI’s head man saw the same thing in the film that I see, though his reaction to it was quite different. And that’s this:
Through the Bailey Building and Loan, George Bailey, hero of the film, continues his father’s noble work of making sure that the ordinary working folk of Bedford Falls, the “garlic eaters” contemptuously dismissed by the film’s wealthy villain, Mr. Potter, can own their homes and not have to live in Mr. Potter’s slums. This allows them to build their own wealth and, more importantly gives them dignity and some degree of self-determination. George Bailey strives to help distribute the private property of Bedford Falls as widely as possible. He helps others rise from poverty while he lives comfortably but modestly with a happy and loving family, while the miserly Mr. Potter sits alone atop a mountain of cash, enriched by the poverty of his neighbors.
As long as George Bailey does what he does, Bedford Falls is not completely in the sway of aspirant monopolist Mr. Potter, who owns everything else in town. Its people still have some measure of hope and freedom. It also keeps at bay the wretched hive of scum and villainy known as Pottersville, where Mr. Potter’s effective use of the Shock Doctrine (an idea discussed at length in a book of that name by Naomi Klein, which you should definitely read) has given him mastery of the town and its people.
If I had to guess, I’d say that J. Edgar Hoover’s problem with “It’s A Wonderful Life” is that it casts the richest man in town as the villain of the story, insinuating that greed is evil, that the acquisition of wealth is not a sufficient justification for any and all actions one may take in order to achieve it, that
Mr. Potter’s actions harm the people of Bedford Falls rather than help them, and that Mr. Potter is both rich and, well, a rotten person.
Dear Reader, can you hear the defenders of Mr. Potter, benevolent job creator and great American, unjustly maligned by socialist malcontents like Frank Capra and his fictional character, George Bailey? Because I can hear them loud and clear.
A lot of people these days think like J. Edgar Hoover did, and that change in our values makes us much poorer both as people and as a country.
But it’s Christmas Eve, Faithful Reader. I will trouble you no more with such thoughts. It is supposed to be a happy occasion, after all. Enjoy the company of your loved ones, sing some carols, drink some wassail or eggnog, and ring a few bells while you’re at it. Angels have to get their wings somehow. And if you’re the praying kind, say a prayer for more George Baileys in the world. We need all of them we can get.
Merry Christmas, Dear Reader.