Every Time A Bell Rings
George Bailey is vainglorious, a loud mouth, a complainer. He blames everyone else in his life for why he didn’t get to have an adventure. He lives in a fantasy where one day he will get to see the world. *One day.* He often writes checks with his mouth that his actions cannot cash. He is short-tempered and irritable.
George Bailey is a jerk.
And that is why It’s A Wonderful Life is my favorite movie.
He is a jerk, but he is still a good man.
He loses his temper, he yells at strangers, he wishes he had more than the life he has. But he is still a good man, a man who is a pillar of his community. A good father and a good husband and a good friend.
Even with all of his faults, his virtues shine through. In fact, everyone around him seems to only see his virtues. In many ways, he doesn’t see his own value and he tells himself stories about how he has been shafted.
George Bailey’s redemption is seeing a world where he was never born. A terrible and eye-opening lesson.
“Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”
I have watched It’s A Wonderful Life innumerable times, at different stages in my life.
I watch it so many times because for some reason I can’t get the message through my head.
The world would be better if we had more George Bailey’s, even though he is a jerk.
