Gosh, you guys, not sure about this one, even as I write it.

First I have to say – It’s a Wonderful Life has been one of my all time favorite movies ever since I was a child. Sometimes I even watch it during the year. Even today, my dog walked in with her ears perked and her head cocked as if to say “what’s wrong with you?” as I cried – AGAIN – at the end. I swear I didn’t think I’d cry this year, but it gets me every time.

HOWEVER, maybe it’s from watching it so much that one begins to question things that shouldn’t be analyzed in a lovely holiday movie.

But if I’m going to do it – here goes. (Seriously, I’m about to ruin this movie for you forever, you may not want to venture further into this blog).

Did anyone else notice how George’s father had a heart attach RIGHT AFTER Mary made her wish?! WITCH! Later in the movie she states, this is what I wished for, he and her in that house. She got her “wish,” didn’t she?

The real horror for me is that George wants out of that small town and through a series of circumstances beyond his control (mostly) he never gets out. Maybe this hits close to home – not that I came from a small town, but many of the minds were small and there didn’t seem to be any living or growing to do there.

George has to earn his own money to go to college which keeps him there four years longer than his friends. That’s not bad. Working for what you want builds character. Then he’s ready to leave and his father passes, and he needs to take over the Bailey Building and Loan while his little brother gets out! He has to deal with that horrid Potter character or the town will be damned. Then – Mary and her witchy trickery, casting that spell to keep him. What happened to if you love someone, set them free?

If that’s not enough – Clarence the wingless angel appears to show him all the good he’s done. Anyone else see this as just a tad manipulative? When I was younger I thought – omg, that’s beautiful, but lately I’ve been thinking – well, wait, who’s to say if he got out of that town he wouldn’t have made a bigger impact! He wanted to build skyscrapers and cities. Perhaps his actions would have touched even more people! But then again, we must consider that George was a good man, a nice guy, and he may not have made it in the dog eat dog rat race. (yes, I know, I used two cliches which is far worse than using just one!)

Has the pandemic soured me this much?

Perhaps it is just my nature to question things.

The movie is, after all, about the small things we do that can cause big changes in others’ lives in our communities. This is something I believe.

The pandemic has changed the world. I believed we would come out of it as better people. Some of us may have, but there seems to be a whole lot of people who did not. The world is in a bad, bad place right now.

With all this horror happening around us, we can be the difference in the world. We can be a little more patient, a little more understanding, giving, and loving. It is the small things that will make a difference not only in others’ lives, but in our own lives. We feel better not having had a meltdown because our coffee was late or angered because we were cut off on the free way. We will walk into our own homes on a softer sweeter note having left someone a compliment rather than a complaint. We should continue to look for the good, hope for the best, and believe in something.