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Link: https://ws.onehub.com/files/g1r3k3cr

Early reaction with commentary: https://www.patreon.com/posts/32324584 

Comments

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum

Thank you so much for your reaction to such a beautiful movie. And what a classic! I really enjoyed your overall reaction for it, even though I can tell that you didn't feel quite the same impact as most people who've grown up watching It's a Wonderful Life year after year at Christmas time. Obviously... you don't have that same nostalgic feeling as this movie brings to me every time I watch it. Which is completely understandable of course. I'm just happy that you enjoyed it nonetheless. So thank you. :) First... I absolutely love Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey. I love his character, because he's just a really good guy who puts everyone else's needs above his own. Yes... at times, he was harsh, especially with his family. However, a part of that was because of the times. Back in the 40s, men and women acted differently and the world was different all those years ago. Men tended to be more gruff at certain times. I'm not excusing his poor behavior by any means. Not when he shook Mary out of anger as he yelled at her especially. But they loved one another very deeply, and George loved her in spite of not being able to ever live his own dream to see the world, that he's had since he was a boy. I absolutely love how good George truly was and the message behind his story is so beautiful, heartbreaking, happy, and everything you could want in a feel good, heartwarming movie such as this. And it's because George was so good to everyone around him, his life was truly blessed and his goodness was rewarded by the end, when everyone came together for him and his family when he needed to see just how much they loved him most. It's so beautiful. As for Clarence, George's Guardian Angel... I absolutely love him. He's just such a beautiful character that everyone falls in love with when people watch this movie. He's sweet, funny, adorable, and he's the kindliest old man you would ever meet. And I love that his last name is Oddbody, given that it describes his character perfectly. As for Bert and Ernie, the cop and the cab driver... I am happy you caught onto their names. It's never really been confirmed that Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street were named after these two characters from It's a Wonderful Life. And the creator of Sesame Street and The Muppets, Jim Henson, only ever stated that these characters having the same names as George's friends from It's a Wonderful Life, was merely a funny coincidence. Bert and Ernie were simply names he liked for these two Muppets he created, and that these two names felt right for them. It's quite a funny coincidence though. I love it! :) And of course... I love Mary too, as well as each of their children, George's brother Harry, their mother, and their Uncle Billy, who is very absent minded. I love all of their friends too. I just absolutely feel for these characters. I love how much George shows he cares for them, and I love that they love him in return and do all they can for him, especially when he needs them the most. My heart shatters a little at the end each time as George discovers his brother is dead because he hadn't been there to save him from drowning in that frozen lake when they were kids. And then I cry happily so hard in the end when Harry comes in and gives his toast... "To my big brother, George... the richest man in town!" George wasn't richer than Mr. Potter in wealth, but in love with his family and their friends, and in all the ways that matter most in this world. I love this ending so much, and again... I cry every time. And I especially love the moment when George finds Clarence's book of Tom Sawyer among the treasures given to him and his family, and reads the message about a man living a full life so long as he has friends... or something more beautiful to that effect. And then of course a bell on the tree rings, as Zuzu reminds her father, "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings." I love that George comes to know that Clarence was rewarded with his wings for saving his life and for helping him to remember what is most important. So beautiful. :) The messages of this movie shows us just how much one person’a life can impact all of those around us. And we should never take a human life for granted, or threaten to destroy a life. I struggle every day with depression and being able to see how my life might have impacted others. Often times I’ve wondered what the world would be like without me in it, believing that all whom I love would be better off without me. We’ll never know how much we mean to others around us, but I do try to live and fight through my pain and troubles one day at a time for them. I just hope that it’s enough and that it means something. I absolutely love this movie and love to be able to watch it each year at Christmas with my family, or even without. The messages are so heartwarming and this movie is beautiful. So, thank you so much again! Merry Christmas to you, my dear friend!! And as always... I will continue to look forward to many more movie reactions from you. Sincerely, Heidi

FernWithy

I haven't watched that through in ages. I remember the first time I saw it, all I knew was the "I wish I was never born" part, and I was surprised how much of it was in the real world--but that was a good choice, since otherwise... well, the alternate universe wouldn't make sense. We have a habit of thinking mental health issues have only been raised in recent years, but this was a really good look at them, actually. George does break under stress, and I'm glad that it was money that did it. Money has got be one of the biggest stress points out there, and when people wave it off as, "Oh, he was just having money troubles"... have they ever *had* money troubles? It feels exactly as broken and jagged as the time just before George goes to the bridge. No one else seems to notice or care, you can't talk about it because we have this deep-seated anxiety that money disasters prove our own worthlessness (literally, in the sense of being worth nothing), and the whole world seems to be falling down while everyone else is blissfully ignorant of it. So that part of the movie was just so raw and real... not what people normally think of in terms of a feel-good annual Christmas tradition. They actually go all the way to that dark place, just to show that even a normal--decent, but normal--person has real worth. Is the end a little convenient? Yes. I can't see the bank inspector allowing that to go on. Of course, they probably also wouldn't show up on the same day they were called and keep pressing on Christmas Eve (they want to go home to their families, too), but that's the time pressure of fiction. Instead, they'd have left him to twist in the wind over the holiday and make his family miserable with him for days in real life. (I like to think that, with all the people vouching for George's character and Uncle Billy's flightiness, an investigator would have traced Uncle Billy's steps and found out that Potter filched the $8K and he ended up in jail for grand larceny.) The interesting thing about your comment on "capitalism at its finest" is that of course, George is a capitalist, too, loaning money and making it grow. The difference is that Potter is utterly rapacious, and doesn't understand the concept of long term investment in the community. Of course, there are no businessmen out there who would actually do such a thing. They are all responsible and understand that if you destroy a community just to make a quick buck, your customer base will quickly disappear. I mean, that's true, right? The leprechauns told me so, anyway. ;p

EricReacts

Ohhhh too true! Our society has made us believe that our value as human beings is solely our economic value and that's just not the case. The movie definitely did go to that dark place!

EricReacts

You know what I just realized?! I forgot to give the movie a score! I think it'd be like a 9.25. Not quite a 9.5 but not a 9 either. Definitely very feel good... maybe when I watch it in the future I'll start getting that nostalgic feeling :D