Daily Verse | Titus 1:12
Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons. ” This testimony is true.
Monday’s Reading: Philemon
Happy Monday, Daily Broadside friends!
This past weekend I watched the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s become something of an annual tradition in our home, even to the point that I may end up watching it again once the kids arrive for the Christmas holiday.
The film was added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 1990 for being a “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” film. That may be part of why I felt sad after seeing it.
It’s a Wonderful Life is a quintessential American classic. Released in 1946 following the end of World War II, it portrays the importance of faith, family and friends in a small town where everyone knows everyone else. While it is categorized as “fantasy” for its depiction of angels and an alternate reality where the main protagonist, George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), never existed, those are merely vehicles for driving home the message that caring for your fellow man, even at great personal cost, is what makes life wonderful.
One summary says that the main character “ends up embodying the heart of small-town ethics and sensible American values. The film takes place in a town where people look out for their neighbors and fight for the common good, and George Bailey is hugely influential in making sure this is so.”
The phrase “sensible American values” is what captures my angst. The story portrays an American culture that no longer exists. It may have been idealized and over-simplified but even so, it is much closer to what America was intended to be than anything that exists today.
That’s what made me feel sad after I watched it. The values of a close-knit family and a community of neighbors who watched out for each other and stood against a greedy bully who put power and profit over the good of others no longer defines our culture. I’m not saying those values don’t exist in pockets here and there — they most likely do — but if you ask someone what the defining characteristics of contemporary America are, you’re unlikely to have anyone point to It’s a Wonderful Life as capturing today’s zeitgeist.
In fact, the values portrayed in the movie are more likely to mocked today as racist for its handling of blacks and Italians, with critics scoffing at the broader point of the movie as white supremacy being imposed on the masses.
The only place I can see where some of the story’s values still exist in some sustained way is in the Church. While George, his family, or the other townspeople are never seen in church, the concept of faith is always an undercurrent. Clarence the angel’s presence is the most obvious, but even the representation of a heavenly discussion going on behind the scenes suggests a belief in Providence.
Then there’s George’s desperate plea as his life and dreams collapse: “God. Oh God. Dear Father in heaven. I’m not a praying man but if you’re up there and you can hear me, show me the way. I’m at the end of my rope. Show me the way, God.”
That kind of sentiment no longer typifies American sensibilities in our post-Christian age. Yet the notion of faith in a heavenly Father and George’s persistent sacrifice of his own ambitions in service to those around him are distinctly Christian markers.
“The greatest among you will be your servant.” (Matthew 23:11)
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
Ironically, It’s a Wonderful Life offers us a look at what we had and what we lost, not unlike George Bailey’s experience of what a life would be without him. In a society that is bitterly divided racially, politically, economically, and socially, we sorely need a return to the unifying values and shared principles portrayed in the movie.
Without the Christian values that once unified this great nation, we will not experience the redemption that George Bailey encountered. Perhaps praying like George did will move God to bless us with a second chance.