| Image via imdb.com |
I’m not usually one for politics or social issues, but during my annual viewing of “It’s a Wonderful Life” this year, I couldn’t help but think about the Occupy Movement. Mind you, this was a subject about which I grew weary of hearing roughly five minutes after it began, and here it was occupying 130 of the most wonderful minutes of my year. (Note: if you haven’t seen “It’s a Wonderful Life,” go make a decent human being out of yourself by doing so immediately; this column can wait.) The movie spans some hard times, including the Great Depression, for the fictional Bedford Falls citizenry. One Henry F. Potter, a grouchy old gazillionaire (adjusted for inflation), pretty much has a choke-hold on everything in town, squeezing every last penny out of his debtors. Our protagonist, George Bailey, portrayed by the incomparable Jimmy Stewart, lays it all out thusly: “Just remember this, Mr. Potter, that this rabble you're talking about — they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath? Anyway, my father didn't think so. People were human beings to him. But to you, a warped, frustrated old man, they're cattle.” Sound familiar? Sound like something that could be shouted through a megaphone at Zucotti Park, or scrawled on a posterboard (OK, a really big posterboard)? But here’s where the movement and the movie differ greatly — George Bailey never camps out in Mr. Potter’s front yard. He and his “rabble” never stake down R.E.I. tents in front of the bank to show how upset they are with Potter’s greedy ways. They continue shaving, bathing and keeping their noses to that old grindstone, no matter how unfair life seems. George spends his whole life sacrificing personal luxuries — a trip to Europe, a college education, his honeymoon, that lucrative equity in Sam Wainwright’s plastics company — so he can keep the lights on at the Bailey Savings & Loan, an institution he frankly never wanted a part of. But he knows the “99 percent” of Bedford Falls would be up a creek without it. He builds a subdivision of “dozens of the prettiest little homes you ever saw” and sells them for half of what they’re worth so he can keep a few more people out of Mr. Potter’s slums, all while living in the decrepit old house whose windows he and his buddies used to throw rocks through as kids. And don’t even get him started on that ball post at the bottom of the stair railing... I won’t spoil the rest, but suffice to say the fat cat Potter never breaks George Bailey and the working class of Bedford Falls. And maybe we never see our protagonist fulfil his bright-eyed dreams as a world-renowned architect, but is that really the ultimate metric of success? Look, I can’t fault the occupiers for their passion, but how about channeling it into a little less Twitter and a little more elbow grease? If you’re unhappy with the economy Mr. Potter has created, make your own. Just remember — don’t entrust Uncle Billy with the cash deposit. |
