[7thson]

I did a quick search and did not see this posted. A very sad commentary on how the elite look upon the small towns of the United States. The writer sees Bedford Falls as dull and oppressing but sees Pottersville as exciting and lively. What the author fails to see in this movie is the power of God. His teacher told him to watch out how Bailey treats his future wife or the blank, lifeless stare of the cabbie in the alternative life. The essence of the film for me is near the end when George is running away and comes back to the bridge. He cries/prays for the angel to help him. Only when he says Please God, bring my family back, does it start snowing again and his lip bleeds again. The NYT writer - as wise as he thinks he is - cannot see that with God, all things are possible.

[Dallas59]

This writers version would have been a blank screen for 45 minutes.

[ClearCase_guy]

A great many people are fighting a war against God. They don't necessarily know that. They don't necessarily intend to do it. But they love the excitement and attraction of a glitzy, glamorous world in which everyone can chase after their own pleasure. They oppose the kind of life that values family, personal responsibility and a relationship with God.

I teach my children that we are a persecuted minority in America. This country will not get better until it experiences a true spiritual revival.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

Was there any doubt that a NYT columnist would see “Its a Wonderful Life” as anything other than an oppressive representation of that Liberal Great White Whale, the pre-1968, middle-class America? I could have written the rest myself after he talked about the “oppressively perfect wife.” A, yes, a juvenile rant against Middle America wouldn't be complete without the Stepford Wife reference.

I'll tell you what's pitiful, dreadful and stifling: a rigidly-enforced cultural narrative in which everyone is desperate to escape the religion of the small town for the booze and hookers of the big city (Potterville in this column). Grow up, Wendell.

[Dr. Sivana]

“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a terrifying, asphyxiating story about growing up and relinquishing your dreams,

The writer is making the assumption that "living your dreams" as you think they ought to be is always liberating. It is a paradox. The psychiatrist's offices are filled with celebrities who have lived their dreams, "have it all" and are still miserable, and have no answers because they see indulging their dreams and whims as the road to happiness. At the end of the movie, George Bailey is happy, in part because even these "small-minded" people did appreciate him and what he has done. Unlike the author, Bailey has "grown up" and has embraced the wonderful life he has been given.

[fwdude]

An excellent commentary on how really blind the liberal elite are. Poor, poor wretches. Really.

[heartwood]

living among bitter, small-minded people. It is a story of being trapped, of compromising...

All he saw in that town were small-minded, bitter people? The pain of compromising to accept responsibilities thrust on you against your will is terrifying? So it might be, but those responsibilities will come, and you will choose to meet them with grace or with bitterness, or you will choose to run away.

Here’s the thing about Pottersville that struck me when I was 15: It looks like much more fun than stultifying Bedford Falls — the women are hot, the music swings, and the fun times go on all night. If anything, Pottersville captures just the type of excitement George had long been seeking.

Does he remember how much fun those hot women were having, how happy they looked?

[laotzu]

From the comments section after the article:

"In addition to wrecking the economy of Bedford Falls, George may be responsible for the housing bubble by introducing subprime mortgages to the town."

What sad & empty souls this paper & its readers must possess. God bless FreeRepublic. I love you guys.

[gridlock]

This article is interesting because it displays how little the writer, Wendell Jamieson, undestands about being a responsible man in America. To Jamieson, every virtue, from thrift to good grooming, is seen as a negative. In his eyes George Bailey wasted his life struggling to provide for his family and town, when he could have been partying down at the Kit-Kat Klub.

I guess it is the difference between people who have known hard times and people who have not. If you have grown up in the last thirty years, you have known nothing but wealth and opportunity at every turn. The notion that anybody would have to struggle to put bread on the table is as foreign as stories of isolated head-hunter tribes of the South Pacific. Jamieson can not understand that most people really did live one step away from destitution not so very long ago, and that to build a stable, solid life, with a nice house, and loving spouse and beautiful, healthy children was quite an achievement. Nowadays people take these things for granted.

And, of course, the greatest insult is when this movie is plucked out of time and used as grist for their ironic hipster mill. The very lowest points in George Bailey's are held up as being typical, and indicators of the oppression and backwardness of the man. I wonder how Mr. Jamieson’s life would appear to an observer if I cherry-picked the four or five episodes that take him at his worst, string them together and say that they represent his entire life.

The movie displays these episodes not because they are typical, but because they are atypical. George Bailey perseveres through the difficulties of his life, making the best of things, helping his neighbors, and providing for his family, and does so with grace and courage. On occasion, he falls into despair. But from those occasions come his greatest triumphs, small though they may seem to Wendell Jamieson’s eyes.

[Publius Valerius]

In terms of the theft, sure, you take the money and put it back, you still committed the larceny,” he said. “By giving the money back, you have mitigated in large measure what the sentence might be, but you are still technically guilty of the offense.”

This struck me as particularly dumb, and I wonder if this prosecutor is equally dumb or if he's never seen the movie--or, perhaps, New York has an odd larceny law.

But at common law, larceny is the trespassory taking and carrying away of the personal property of another with the intent to permanently deprive the previous possessor thereof. What Bailey did in the movie wasn't larceny; he didn't have any intent to steal the money. The money was lost; it wasn't stolen. There might be some sort of banking laws that he violated, but it's not larceny.

[Sherman Logan]

The movie is an almost perfect example of the ideal of traditional America. Not perfect, but providing a good life for more people than any other in all human history.

The author of this review and his fellow travelers loathe, hate and despise that America and anyone who still believes in it. This article is an almost perfect example of their rejection of what America is, or used to be, or perhaps what it used to want to be.

The director, Frank Capra, was an Italian immigrant who lived the American dream. He would be quite ashamed of Mr. Jamiesen and his ilk.

[silverleaf]

“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a terrifying, asphyxiating story about growing up and relinquishing your dreams, of seeing your father driven to the grave before his time, of living among bitter, small-minded people

When Wendell Jamieson loses his job, or becomes suddenly confronted with a mortal illness or debiltating injury, or finds himself set adrift in a society broke down by pandemic or internal strife

I pity him for not having a small town full of "bitter small-minded people" to return to. He will surely not find sustenance or human compassion in Pottersville (or Time's Square)

[outlawjake]

the way i see the movie.. is that there is that feeling of frustration and asphyxiation.. that is built up on all of jimmy stewarts self-less acts through out the movie..

and at his darkest moment he fully believes that all his lifetime of good deeds and living honestly and selflessly has led to nothing...

But then the story turns.. and we see that all his good deeds did mean something.. not only in the alternate world sequence.. but also when he comes back and all the people he helped out in small ways.. returns the favor..

so stewart’s character can then relinquish all his pent up animosity for choosing a selfless life.. and foregoing his dream.. coz the life he has lived was actually better..

[Opinionated Blowhard]

If you want more grist for the mill, read the comments after the article. Some people defend the movie and find Wendell disturbing. Others use it as a chance to rant against oppressive, sappy Middle American values.

[50sDad]

Here’s the thing about Pottersville that struck me when I was 15: It looks like much more fun than stultifying Bedford Falls — the women are hot, the music swings, and the fun times go on all night. If anything, Pottersville captures just the type of excitement George had long been seeking.

George wants to see the world, true, but he wants more than a three-day drunk...he wants to build bridges and skyscrapers. George wants to work and achive.

I always think of Bifftown, in the parallel timeline world in Back to the Future 2, with relation to Pottersville. This writer would probably LOVE to live there...what could be more exciting than gangs shooting up your house?

[DouglasKC]

“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a terrifying, asphyxiating story about growing up and relinquishing your dreams, of seeing your father driven to the grave before his time, of living among bitter, small-minded people. It is a story of being trapped, of compromising, of watching others move ahead and away, of becoming so filled with rage that you verbally abuse your children, their teacher and your oppressively perfect wife. It is also a nightmare account of an endless home renovation.

The author is either mentally ill or evil. And I'm not kidding.

[Sherman Logan]

A few misreadings of what's in the movie:

That night George humiliates his future wife, Mary (Donna Reed), by forcing her to hide behind a bush naked

Anybody who can't tell Mary is enjoying herself immensely throughout this sexually charged sequence just isn't paying attention. She's not humiliated in the least.

George again treats Mary cruelly, this time by chewing her out and bringing her to tears before kissing her.

This "long distance" sequence is among the most erotic ever filmed, IMO. George is struggling against the tender trap Mary is clamping down around him. She's perfectly well aware of why he's acting the way he is, and she's perfectly in control. She wants George and she gets him.

I interpret it instead as showing the true characters of these individuals, their venal internal selves stripped bare.

Kinda judgmental, ain't he? More so than George, anyway.

He even noticed that the only entertainment in the real town ... is “The Bells of St. Mary’s.”

It's Christmas Eve. People are home with their families instead of out on the town getting drunk. Sheesh.

“The reason is that it is a resort, and it has built an economy around that,” he said. “Meanwhile the great industrial cities have declined terrifically. Look at Connecticut: where is the growth? It’s in casinos; they are constantly expanding.”

Uhh, the author is several months out of date. So far, the hardest hit city in America is Vegas. When you're hurting financially, discretionary spending goes first. Nothing is more discretionary than a weekend in Vegas.

Fifteen years old and imagining myself an angry young man, I got all choked up.

Despite himself, it appears in the final analysis that he gets at least this much. George Bailey has led a far richer and more fulfilled life than Wendell Jamiesen.

[kevkrom]

Here’s the thing about Pottersville that struck me when I was 15: It looks like much more fun than stultifying Bedford Falls — the women are hot, the music swings, and the fun times go on all night. If anything, Pottersville captures just the type of excitement George had long been seeking.

Yes, Pottersville does capture that "excitement" George wanted -- but when he experiences it, it's horrible, not satisfying.

Youthful dreams may be one thing, but George Bailey was the most loved and respected man it town, and that really is a wonderful life.

[Sherman Logan]

A very sad commentary on how the elite look upon the small towns of the United States.

Neither Frank Capra nor Wendell Jamiesen is really talking about small towns. They're talking about visions of Americas, which used to be and still are found in small towns and big cities. Oottersville and Bedford Falls both exist everywhere.

Frank Capra loved and admired Bedford Falls, although he might enjoy an occasional night out in Pottersville. Mr. Jamiesen loathes and despises Bedford Falls and its inhabitants. If he were to have his way, all of us would be forced to live in Pottersville.

[weegee]

“In terms of the theft, sure, you take the money and put it back, you still committed the larceny,” he said. “By giving the money back, you have mitigated in large measure what the sentence might be, but you are still technically guilty of the offense.”

We never hear this line of reasoning when Democrats use illegal foreign contributions to win campaigns and then they promise to "give back" the illegal contributions AFTER THE ELECTION. With no additional penalty.

[weegee]

Not only is Pottersville cooler and more fun than Bedford Falls, it also would have had a much, much stronger future. Think about it: In one scene George helps bring manufacturing to Bedford Falls. But since the era of “It’s a Wonderful Life” manufacturing in upstate New York has suffered terribly.

How's Atlantic City doing? And not just "financially". Or to bring it closer to home, how was Times Square for 50 years? Nice place to live in the 1970s was it?

Which contributes more to the strength of the community, state, and nation?