There used to be this recurring discussion on the old Mike & Mike show about the cartoon of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. Golic had come to notice, as the more-or-less adult he was, that Santa was not exactly sympathetic to Rudolph's plight as a young deer. You'd think the North Pole, of all places, would have an anti-bullying policy, but no, no Naughty List for that. And Rudolph's father was disturbingly unsupportive as well. Which coincidentally reminds me of this image someone posted online yesterday:
Anyway, someone brought up favorite Christmas movies today, and I was reminded of A Wonderful Life. I first stumbled onto this film when I had worked really late on Christmas Eve, came home & flipped on the TV to PBS just as it was starting. Loved it then, but as time has passed I've noticed an issue or two. One, George Bailey has more than a little drinking problem. As things go wrong for him, George hits the bottle (and almost hits a couple of his kids.) The whole town taking up a collection for him won't fix that, unless some of the money is spent on therapy. Also, the druggist, Mr. Gower, should have gone to the slammer for assault after he pummeled young George in (booze again) a drunken rage. Sure, he'd been notified his own son was dead, but that hardly justifies physically attacking someone else's young son. While we're on the subject, George's Uncle Billy most likely lost the money for the bank deposit because he, too, was a wee bit tipsy, as he appeared to be quite often. That whole movie is as rum-riddled as a re-gifted Christmas fruit cake.
Also, my kid used to absolutely seethe at the early scene when George and Mary are throwing rocks thru the windows of the Old Granville House, making wishes. George says
"Mary, I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow, and the next day, and the next year, and the year after that. I'm shakin' the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I'm gonna see the world. Italy, Greece, the Parthenon, the Coliseum. Then, I'm comin' back here to go to college and see what they know. And then I'm gonna build things. I'm gonna build airfields, I'm gonna build skyscrapers a hundred stories high, I'm gonna build bridges a mile long..."
And then Mary throws a rock through a window, but she won't say what she wished for, although it becomes clear later. Basically, she wished that every single thing George has ever dreamed of for his life will never come true. And she gets her wish. Might explain his drinking problem.
Anyhoo, if you've got a pet peeve about some annually aired classic that everybody else loves unconditionally, feel free to vent about it here rather than out there in the real world. That way, maybe non-virtual people will still be speaking to you by New Year's Eve.
Anyway, someone brought up favorite Christmas movies today, and I was reminded of A Wonderful Life. I first stumbled onto this film when I had worked really late on Christmas Eve, came home & flipped on the TV to PBS just as it was starting. Loved it then, but as time has passed I've noticed an issue or two. One, George Bailey has more than a little drinking problem. As things go wrong for him, George hits the bottle (and almost hits a couple of his kids.) The whole town taking up a collection for him won't fix that, unless some of the money is spent on therapy. Also, the druggist, Mr. Gower, should have gone to the slammer for assault after he pummeled young George in (booze again) a drunken rage. Sure, he'd been notified his own son was dead, but that hardly justifies physically attacking someone else's young son. While we're on the subject, George's Uncle Billy most likely lost the money for the bank deposit because he, too, was a wee bit tipsy, as he appeared to be quite often. That whole movie is as rum-riddled as a re-gifted Christmas fruit cake.
Also, my kid used to absolutely seethe at the early scene when George and Mary are throwing rocks thru the windows of the Old Granville House, making wishes. George says
"Mary, I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow, and the next day, and the next year, and the year after that. I'm shakin' the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I'm gonna see the world. Italy, Greece, the Parthenon, the Coliseum. Then, I'm comin' back here to go to college and see what they know. And then I'm gonna build things. I'm gonna build airfields, I'm gonna build skyscrapers a hundred stories high, I'm gonna build bridges a mile long..."
And then Mary throws a rock through a window, but she won't say what she wished for, although it becomes clear later. Basically, she wished that every single thing George has ever dreamed of for his life will never come true. And she gets her wish. Might explain his drinking problem.
Anyhoo, if you've got a pet peeve about some annually aired classic that everybody else loves unconditionally, feel free to vent about it here rather than out there in the real world. That way, maybe non-virtual people will still be speaking to you by New Year's Eve.
