It’s just five days until Christmas and no Christmas season is complete without a viewing of Frank Capra’s paean to Socialism, otherwise known as “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
Now that we transition from Obama’s Socialism to Trump’s Putinism, there is little doubt that this movie should be remade to better reflect our American Values, circa 2016.
Seventy years after its debut, the movie doesn’t hold up very well.
You can start with the movie’s efforts to cast George Bailey, the film’s protagonist, as a sympathetic figure when, in fact, he is a LOSER, bigly.
Take a closer look at this guy. You’ll see what I mean.
For starters, Bailey operated something called Bailey Building and Loan, a company that was essentially a socialist collective where people of ill-repute contributed money, which was then shared among other people whose credit rating was not sufficient to enable them to acquire a reputable loan from the local bank, operated by the area’s leading businessman and banker Henry Potter, who is constantly being slandered in this mockery of a movie.
By enabling these shiftless people — a dubious group that includes a “loose woman,” a drunken, homicidal pharmacist, a smattering of immigrants who never produce any papers, an uncle who is clearly well on the way to senility but not allowed to retire with dignity — Bailey embraced and perpetuated a sense of entitlement.
Bailey was leading these people down a slippery slope toward full-blown Socialism where no one is responsible for their own behavior.
It took a while, but Bailey’s questionable business practices finally caught up with him. You just can’t go around forever making off-the-book loans without paying the price.
Meanwhile, Mr. Potter, who has worked all his life to build the community through sound financial decisions, is unfairly cast as a villain, simply because he is a Capitalist.
What is also conveniently forgotten is that Potter tried to elevate Bailey from his wretched financial state, offering him a job with a generous salary and great benefits. Bailey, a man of no real ambition, turned down the offer. Yet even on his meager salary, Bailey irresponsibly chose to have four children, You can bet they all get free lunches at school, too.
Clearly, you cannot help people like George Bailey.
Then there is the character of Clarence the Angel, who is an idiot and probably not even a real angel, since angels are known for their sound judgment. I strongly suspect that Clarence is one of the Occupy Wall Street operatives sent to convince Bailey that his mission on earth is to build some sort of Socialist Utopia in Bedford Falls.
Is this really the kind of message we want to be sending to our children?
In an updated version, it should be apparent that Mr. Potter is the hero, fighting a lonely battle against the creeping tide of Socialism, a man whose only goal was the Make Bedford Falls Great Again.
That’s the movie we should be seeing this Christmas Season.
Just think about how powerful a recast version of the film’s triumphant final scene would be:
Zuzu: “Teacher says every time a bell rings, a corporation gets a tax break!”
I get a bit misty just thinking about it.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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