In the 1946 movie It’s a Wonderful Life an angel (Clarence) is sent from Heaven to help a suicidal man (George Bailey). The little story The Greatest Gift, on which the film is based, has grown over the past 75 years from a couple hundred family and friends to an audience of millions.1 It’s a story filled with unfortunate relatable circumstances and lasting encouragement. If you haven’t seen it yet, I hope you take some time to do so.
Since he was young, George has wanted to get out of the small town of Bedford Falls and see the world. Plan modern cities. Do something big and important! Not resigned to spend his time at his family’s business trying to figure out “how to save 3 cents on a length of pipe.” But when his father dies, George takes charge of the Bailey Bros. Building and Loan to save it from the slumlord Mr. Potter.
This was no easy decision. In fact, George has been putting off his dreams of travel and college and career for some time already. And he will do it again four years after taking the helm. His impromptu date with Mary was interrupted by his father’s death. And later, his honeymoon with Mary will be put on hold as well.
Running the Building and Loan, while Potter seeks to devour it, is a battle. From the outset, Potter wants to dissolve the company and take the assets for himself. To him, the Bailey Bros. Building and Loan is “unnecessary” (we learn later that the Building and Loan has allowed people in the community to build assets and wealth through home ownership). Not being able to take over by dissolution, Potter puts the Building and Loan in line for default by stealing some of their cash (about the value of 1.5 homes).
Facing default, George’s life’s work is about to be stripped from him. Everything he has pales in comparison (at best) or is (at worst) not worth the dreams and opportunities he has given up. Facing this incredible loss (and potentially jail), George has come to believe that he would be better off dead. Certainly, he is more financially valuable dead (as Potter is quick to point out). So Clarence comes and saves George from killing himself, by giving George an opportunity to “save” him after Clarence jumps off a local bridge.
In the end we see George coming around to the value in his life; the family, friends and community that he has impacted and vice versa. Perhaps we think to ourselves, “OK, I get the movie title now.” If someone had commissioned me to write a story based on the concept of “a wonderful life” it likely would have looked much different – more pleasant – than Frank Capra’s film. But Capra has captured one of life’s dichotomies. And that for me is why the film has endured.
One writer has described the movie as a Christian morality tale she has little patience for. Concluding that “George Bailey’s life isn’t presented as inherently valuable but only valuable because of his constant selfless deeds. This story upholds troubling ideas about human worth that have plagued American culture for centuries: that each person’s value is determined by a concrete impact that can be seen, and that virtue and hard work are their own rewards.”2
Others have pointed out how attractive Pottersville life is compared with Bedford Falls. “In that alternative universe, Potter has triumphed, and we are intended to shudder in horror at the sinful city he has spawned….” If only George had spent more time hanging out, “had a few drinks in the Indian Club, dropped a couple dimes in the dance hall, maybe checked out the action at the burlesque, he would have gotten a whole new take on the situation.”3 While Potterville has its problems, it’s just way more fun (and realistic).
And yet, Capra himself saw the movie as an examination of “the individual’s belief in itself” and God, saying that he made it “to combat a modern trend toward atheism.”4 Atheism inherently lacks the ability to enable individual worth. The conclusions that George Bailey’s life is a sacrifice doomed to drain him of everything – ultimately “suicidal” if you will – and Pottersville as idyllic seem to be sprung from the distinctly Western worldview that I matter, fun matters, and any sacrifice infringes on my ability to achieve or be whatever I want – unless I want to be so. This notion has created a world of hurt – quite literally.
“All that you can take with you is that which you’ve given away.”
Peter Bailey
It is a proverb that has rung true over time. Other proverbs like ‘it is better to give than to receive,’ ‘give and it will be given to you,’ and ‘treat others as you would like to be treated’ remind us of this as well. We are not saved by our works, but by grace. We are judged, not by our actions, but by our motivations.
Just about one month ago the Smithsonian Magazine noted “…despite its darkness [the movie’s] lessons that creating community and serving your fellow human beings can lead and sustain us through challenging times have never been more salient than they are today.” Furthermore, it “can tell us a lot about the nation we were and help guide us forward to what we want to become.”5
George was not simply a victim of circumstance. He chose (as we all must) his response to what he faced and through that determined who he was and would become. Yes, George is put again and again into situations where he takes blame unfairly and where he puts others needs over his own; but that does not mean his life is valuable because of those things. His life is valuable more-so because he chose to do those things.
During a run on the Building and Loan, George reminds the people of Bedford Falls where their money has been placed. Not in stores and vaults but with one family to another – in the process of building assets (their homes). The money was not hoarded, it was put to work to serve a thriving community. The Bailey Bros. legacy comes from their way of doing business (in contrast to Potter’s) that allowed simple people in a small town to own their share of it, to build wealth, and be interconnected with one another.
It is not serving that drains us of life. No, it is life-giving. In part, that is the story of the Gospel and of Christmas. Perhaps that is why so many of us find ourselves drawn to this story over and over at the end of each year.
- https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2021/did-you-know-its-wonderful-life-edition
- https://www.salon.com/2021/12/30/its-a-wonderful-life-harmful-message-sacrifice/
- https://www.salon.com/2001/12/22/pottersville/
- Cox, Stephen. It’s a Wonderful Life: A Memory Book. Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland House, 2003
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/what-its-a-wonderful-life-teaches-us-about-american-history-180979223/
The Joy Experiment 
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