Frank Capra: "I think it was probably the strongest picture I've made.
I think it's my favorite film
because what it does is it epitomizes everything I'm trying to say in all the other films in one package."
After more than 70 years Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" is still widely regarded as a holiday favorite
and one of the greatest films of all time.
The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey,
a citizen of the small town Bedford Falls who in the beginning of the film
appears to be in desperate need of divine intervention,
which comes to him in the form of Clarence; an angel seeking to earn his wings.
But before intervening in George's life,
Clarence first dives into George's past and in doing so guides us, the audience, through his life
to discover what led him into this dire predicament.
We learn that from a young age, George dreamed of a life of great adventure.
I'm going out exploring some day, you watch!
I'm shaking the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I'm going to see the world!
But as he grows older,
his sense of responsibility to his community seems to prevent him from acting on his ambitions.
I think a lot of us can relate to the seemingly eternal struggle
between chasing our dreams and serving the needs of others
between having the feeling of limitless potential and finding it challenged by external limitations.
What I find so interesting about this
is that this idea of the individual versus the community is a relatively new concept.
It wasn't until the beginning of the 20th century that Emile Durkheim, one of the first modern sociologists,
started observing what he called a "Religion of Individualism"
a growing focus on individual autonomy as the basis of modern society.
Today, I want to dig deeper into this development of individualism,
and how it presents itself in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life"
Not only to explore why it's still such a beloved film, but also why it might be more relevant than ever
German Sociologist Ulrich Beck wrote that for a long time,
the individual was but the smallest unit of an imagined whole
Individual behavior was even seen as deviant and idiotic throughout ancient times and much of the Middle Ages.
Stories of great achievements and heroic journeys as famously conceptualized by Joseph Campbell
in "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" were only reserved for a select few
who were often pre-destined for greatness
If we take a few examples of popular stories that were based on this hero's journey,
we can see that the main protagonists indeed seemed to have been faded from birth
to one day fulfill a greater destiny.
In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker's heritage and connection to the force already set the stage for his heroic journey,
just as Harry Potter's past set him up for his
You're a wizard Harry
I'm a what?
in both cases our protagonists were destined to become more than their fellow human beings.
The upside of this for everyone else in these stories,
let's say the settlers on Tatooine or the muggles in England,
is that they didn't have to worry about these grand matters.
It is clear from the beginning both to them and to us that they would merely play small parts in the larger narrative
In our modern times however,
Joseph Campbell observed a change in the way we interpret the hero's journey.
The growing focus on the Individual and the crumbling of many of the grand narratives
that used to determine the few worthy of a heroic journey,
Resulted in us becoming the main heroes of our own stories.
Each of us born into life with the expectation of a great adventure waiting for us.
Ulrich Beck too notes that today there doesn't seem to be any desire more widespread
than the desire to live one's own life.
He writes;
"Anyone who today travels in Europe and needless to say the United States though also in South America
Singapore, Tokyo, or South Korea and asks what motivates people,
what they strive for, what they struggle for, what is really important to them,
receives the answers:
money, jobs, power, love, God, etc., but also increasingly the promises of individualism.
Money means one's own money, space means one's own space, as elementary preconditions for a 'life of one's own.'"
All of this of course seems pretty enticing
which is probably why it won't be a surprise that after the Second World War,
the rise of neoliberal economic policies embraced individualism
and increasingly began to assume individuals as self reliant and independent,
capable of forging their own destiny.
Beck writes:
"[Neoliberal ideas of individualization] assume that individuals alone can master the whole of their lives
That they derive and renew their capacity for action from within themselves.
Talk of the 'self entrepreneur' makes this clear."
Beck however is concerned about this growing emphasis on the individual because it conflicts with our everyday experience
in which individuals are unmistakeably limited by external circumstances and tie to others to work family and other relations
This conflict becomes clear in "It's a Wonderful Life"
when we look at the journeys of George Bailey and his brother Harry
Unlike George, Harry is the one who seems to become the author of his own life
and embarks on the traditional hero's journey.
He is the one that gets to leave his town to go to college ,
who becomes a decorated fighter pilot during the Second World War
and basically gets to live the life that George dreamed of.
Here we begin to see the negative consequences of neo-liberal individualism;
by assuming the individual as self-reliant, every failure becomes a personal failure
every dream left unfulfilled becomes a painful emptiness.
Even though George ends up marrying the girl he loves, in his perception he is a failure.
He didn't get to be what he wanted to be and ends up staying in Bedford Falls
where he struggles to preserve himself, his family business and his community against Mr. Potter,
a greedy banker who wants to take over Bedford Falls and constantly forces George to make sacrifices for the sake of his fellow citizens
Mr. Potter personifies a truly corrupted version of individualism.
His ambition consists of an insatiable hunger for more,
a relentless pursuit of selfish desires that leave no room for community, selflessness and kindness.
To Mr. Potter compassion is a weakness and men like George Bailey are pathetic naive and soon to be devoured.
Indeed it seems that for every act of self-sacrifice George ends up being punished,
eventually leading him into desperation.
What can be observed here are two attacks on our self-worth which seems to have become more relevant today than ever.
One hand there is the encouragement to become the author of your own life
We can see this today in the increasing importance of using social media to turn your life into an adventurous story
in finding ever more elaborate ways to stand out for a job application
and turning to self-help books and spiritual gurus to become the ultimate master of self-actualization.
All of this isn't an issue when we are successful,
but when we're not it can be damaging to our self-worth as the blame for this often falls on ourselves.
On the other hand, there is the discouragement to be a member of a community
to act selflessly and compassionately for the sake of others.
This we find in the rise of Neo-liberalism that promises personal freedom and opportunities for all
but which in reality only seems to be true for the Mr. Potters of the world
whose greed has increasingly molded our economy and society
to favor their own profits at the expense of others.
It has created a climate where might is right and to quote Father Gabriel from the film "The Mission";
"If might is right, then love has no place in the world."
Towards the end of "It's a Wonderful Life"
George Bailey's uncle loses eight thousand dollars of the family business
which he intended to deposit at the bank.
The money is found by Mr. Potter who hides it and as a result, George faces jail time for fraud.
In his desperation, George turns to Mr. Potter who shows no sympathy and points out that,
because of his life insurance, George is worth more dead than alive.
Being at the end of his rope, George starts praying for guidance and contemplates suicide.
This, finally, is where he meets Clarence.
George laments to Clarence that everyone would have been much better off had he never been born
and Clarence shows him exactly that.
In a world without George Bailey, Bedford Falls has fallen into the hands of Mr. Potter.
His brother Harry has long since passed away
because George was not there to save him when he fell into a frozen lake as a child.
His wife Mary ends up alone and his children never came into existence.
The experience gives George a newfound appreciation for his life and begs Clarence to bring him back
His wish is granted and upon returning to life,
George rushes home to embrace his wife and children like never before.
At the same time the citizens of Bedford Falls come through George's aid having collected enough money to pay off his debt
All ends well it seems,
but it is important to remember that despite the grand gesture of selflessness from his community,
for George this is not a definitive victory.
The missing money has been replaced,
But it's just another battle barely won in the ongoing struggle against Mr. Potter,
who has not been defeated or reconciled with.
what I like about this is that it doesn't trivialize George's situation and by extension;
the very real issue of the Mr. Potter's in today's society,
draining the world of hope, kindness and compassion for their selfish desires.
What I do think is important here, which the ending shows in an exaggerated matter,
is that it is not so much George's reality, but rather his attitude, which has changed.
Clarence showed the impact of George's selflessness on his community,
but when we look at the entire story again with the same awareness
we discover that this community has also done plenty for him.
When George is planning for his travels.
His old boss Mr. Gower helps him by buying him a suitcase.
When George sacrifices his honeymoon to help out his fellow citizens who are in financial trouble because of Mr. Potter,
they go through a lot of effort in the pouring rain to give George a honeymoon after all
And when George finds himself in his darkest hour,
the prayers of the entire town summon the angel Clarence from the heavens and save his life.
So I believe that in the end George comes to acknowledge not only the impact of his own goodness,
but realizes that it's there in everyone else as well and that truly makes him the richest man in town
Clarence really only reveals what was there all along.
Yes, it is important to have dreams, but it's also important to not punish ourselves
if our lives do not become the perfect adventures that so much of our society expects them to be.
This might not sound very inspirational, but maybe that's why "It's a Wonderful Life" is still so relevant today
It breaks the illusion that we are and should be the absolute masters of our own destinies.
That we are all on our own.
It shows how deeply our lives are intertwined with each other; how others can cause us misery,
but also how they can fill our lives with joy and happiness.
It shows that we can find meaning in helping others and sacrificing for them.
But more importantly; it shows the importance of acknowledging those who have sacrificed for us,
Because above all, I believe that "It's a Wonderful Life" asks us to find the George Baileys in our lives,
those who have made our lives more meaningful,
Who have helped us in times of need and, be kind to them.
The world reflects what we project onto it,
if we let ourselves become cold and cynical the world will respond in kind,
but if we look for goodness and compassion,
we will find that it's there too.
Frank Capra: "I want to put into your heads
that the world is not all evil. Yes, we do have nightmares, but we also have dreams.
We do have villainy, but we also have a great compassion among ourselves.
That's all I'm here for really, trying to tell you that there's good in the world and that it's wonderful."