Last night, 5 of us shuffled into the Renior Cinema to see the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. Though this is deemed by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best American films ever made, it was a box office flop at the time. For me, it’s what makes Christmas more Christmasy.
Two of our friends hadn’t seen it before so I was excited to share it with them. A man who’s worth comes not from the riches of finance but the friends that surround him? Brilliant.
It was emotional, as always, but after years of watching it, this was the first time I realised how backward Capra’s view of women was.
Now I understand that women’s roles were very different in 1947 – I don’t agree with it, but it was what it was. In Capra’s world, women may have been a bit feisty but all they wanted (or needed) was a husband or a man to be kind to them and lead them on the right path.
If you’ve never seen It’s a Wonderful Life, stop reading here….
What struck me, was what happened to the women in George Bailey’s life if he never existed (as is played out near the end of the film to show George that he really was worth something). His mother becomes a bitter widower who *shock* *horror* has stooped so low, she’s running a boarding house. The local flirt, Violet Bick, becomes a drunk floozy without George’s steady influence.
But the horror of all horrors appears to be the fate of Mary. Without George ever being born, his brother drowns, hundreds of men burn on a troopship, his Uncle Billy ends up in the insane asylum and the town sinks one of strippers, booze and crime as the renamed Potterville. But the one thing the angel Clarence doesn’t want to tell George, is that without him, his wife is unmarried, in her mid-thirties and is working as a Librarian. Surely not! But yes. That is a fate worth than death.
I guess being in my thirties now, this is a bit closer to home. All I can say is, it’s a good thing I’m not a Librarian. In Capra’s world, it would be the end of the world for me. Thank God it’s not.
As I am halfway to completely moving to New York, I thought I’d reach out to you all to see what I should do here (especially as I love crowdsourcing so much). As in, if you were here, what would you go eat or see or do. I originally thought I’d do the top 100 things to do in Timeout but it’s all done by season or type of thing to do. I want a real mix.
Stalk me online