For All Us Big Softies
I always lead with Escape from New York as my favorite movie (and it's up there, no doubt). But this time of year, well, um, I watch It's a Wonderful Life over and over and just cry, cry, cry. Good to see another intelligent person doing the same:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/movies/19wond.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&th&emc=th
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/movies/19wond.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&th&emc=th
posted by KPaffenroth at
12:23 PM
4 Comments:
Well...
Perhaps I lack subtlety, but I can't say I liked the reviewer's take on it. Economic prosperity or no, it's hard to see going the direction of Potterville as a good thing for the community. Sure, there might be more money to go around, but it comes at a terrible cost of human dignity and justice.
And the reviewer probably would have more fun in Potterville, but the fun comes at the exploitation of people like Violet. Instead of being treated like a friend, she becomes one more disposable commodity.
The film (typical for it's time) paints too stark a picture of good and evil in society. 'Normalcy' passes for good all too easily, and anything that breaks with conformity (the pleasures of Potterville and George's thwarted trip) are 'bad'.
But it's too simple to dismiss this as a fable about conformity vs. non-conformity. It has more to do with community vs. radical individualism. In the alternate reality of Potterville, Potter sacrifices others to pursue his own ends, and the community follows in lock-step behind him.
On the other hand, George sacrifices his personal wants for the good of others. It's a thankless and sometimes infuriating thing, but his example also leads others and shaped a more caring less selfish community.
The reviewer suggests that Potterville offers us the 'real' face of the neighbors. I would argue that they are no more real than the presonae we see in Bedford Falls. The potential for either was always there.
The point that George may still have to go to jail (assuming Potter's crime goes undiscovered) is an interesting one, but I'm not sure it changes much. The point of the movie (IMO) isn't so much that George gets to have a happy Christmas with his family. That's just a nice feel-good extra. The point is that he is at peace with the decisions he has made. That victory would take much of the sting out of going to prison.
I haven't seen it in a couple of years. I'll have to watch it again this year and see if I still get dewy eyed.
Well...
Perhaps I lack subtlety, but I can't say I liked the reviewer's take on it. Economic prosperity or no, it's hard to see going the direction of Potterville as a good thing for the community. Sure, there might be more money to go around, but it comes at a terrible cost of human dignity and justice.
And the reviewer probably would have more fun in Potterville, but the fun comes at the exploitation of people like Violet. Instead of being treated like a friend, she becomes one more disposable commodity.
The film (typical for it's time) paints too stark a picture of good and evil in society. 'Normalcy' passes for good all too easily, and anything that breaks with conformity (the pleasures of Potterville and George's thwarted trip) are 'bad'.
But it's too simple to dismiss this as a fable about conformity vs. non-conformity. It has more to do with community vs. radical individualism. In the alternate reality of Potterville, Potter sacrifices others to pursue his own ends, and the community follows in lock-step behind him.
On the other hand, George sacrifices his personal wants for the good of others. It's a thankless and sometimes infuriating thing, but his example also leads others and shaped a more caring less selfish community.
The reviewer suggests that Potterville offers us the 'real' face of the neighbors. I would argue that they are no more real than the presonae we see in Bedford Falls. The potential for either was always there.
The point that George may still have to go to jail (assuming Potter's crime goes undiscovered) is an interesting one, but I'm not sure it changes much. The point of the movie (IMO) isn't so much that George gets to have a happy Christmas with his family. That's just a nice feel-good extra. The point is that he is at peace with the decisions he has made. That victory would take much of the sting out of going to prison.
I haven't seen it in a couple of years. I'll have to watch it again this year and see if I still get dewy eyed.
Well, I think the reviewer was admitting that the middle of the film feels a lot more "real" than either end, but the "ends" make us all gooey and weepy. The dark middle saves the film for me, to a large extent.
Good point. Without the dark middle (making it the opposite of an oreo?) the ending would be stripped of it's emotional omph.
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