It's A Wonderful Life

The lights from the tree cast a warm glow throughout the living room.  Gingerbread boys and girls line the cookie plate ready to be devoured by eager children.  Presents sit quietly under the tree, tempting small hands with their untold delights.   Peaceful displays of the Nativity sit on shelves throughout the house, serving as reminders that Christmas is simply about the birth of our Savior.  All that’s missing are the chestnuts roasting on an open fire.  Though the house is ready, the baking is done, and the gifts are purchased, Christmas never seems to really begin until the first viewing of It’s A Wonderful Life.

This Christmas classic might be 67 years old, but there is a timeless element that captures the hearts of any generation of viewers.  What is it about this film that speaks to its viewers each time they watch the affable George Bailey sprint through the streets of Bedford Falls shouting “Merry Christmas”?  The archaic black and white presentation of the film doesn’t even appear to deter a younger audience.  The movie captivates the imagination regardless of its age.  It’s a film that truly transcends time.

Perhaps what attracts most to the film are its characters.   Set in the midst of the Great Depression, those of us living in the midst of the Great Recession understand what it is like to put our dreams on hold and pinch pennies simply to survive.  Could it also be the reality of unrealized dreams haunting the most ambitious of viewers?  Like George Bailey, many of us have vowed to kick the dust of our small town and go on to accomplish great feats, yet we watch our high school sweetheart tuck our little ones into the bed in the house just down the street from where we grew up.  We begrudgingly trudge through traffic on our way to a job that simply pays the bills, wondering when life happened and the tangible pursuit of our dreams became a fantasy.  We wonder, with George, when did life careen off track?

It’s A Wonderful Life also appeals to our heart.  Few movies today present characters that selflessly place their own dreams aside for the betterment of others.  The Savings and Loan may represent a ball and chain to George but to the town it represents a beacon of possibility.  George is the unlikely hero who warms the hearts of millions.  We relate to him but there’s something about his character that each of us longs to emulate, even if it means putting aside our own ambition.   George represents not just who we are but also who we wish we could be.  Even though he does it, often begrudgingly, he never compromises his values for material gain.  As I watch the movie, I cling to the hope that there are still some George Baileys out there.

Perhaps what draws us most to the film is the idea that our lives matter.  Though we may not see the evidence displayed daily, our lives impact those around us.  George reminds us that no man is an island.  George is given a chance to see what the world would have been like had he not been born, and that causes us to reflect on our own lives, forcing us to reevaluate how we treat those we see each day.  Are our interactions positive and would our impact be missed?  This film encourages us to ponder the imprint we leave on the lives around us. 

It’s a Wonderful Life also restores our faith in humanity.  When George is at the end of his rope and desperately seeking for a way to resolve an impossible situation, the families and friends he’s impacted throughout his life of selfless devotion rally around their distraught friend.  Everyone pitches in to ensure that George’s deficit is met.  And perhaps the most gratifying element of the movie for me is that it encourages a greater faith in God.  Though we may be small and capable of messing up even the smallest of tasks, our heavenly Father watches over us.  He takes an interest in our lives and intervenes to guide and direct us in ways that are both mysterious and astonishing.  While it may appear to simply be a film about the Christmas season, It’s A Wonderful Life is much more.  It’s one of those rare gems that invites the viewer to contemplate what truly matters in life and to decide that, like George Bailey, regardless of broken dreams and unfulfilled promises, in the end faith, family, and friends will always create a life worth living.