It's a Wonderful Life, the Meaning of Life, and Christmas

It's my favorite movie and it's a timeless Christmas classic. It's a Wonderful Life tells the story of George Bailey, a resident of the picturesque Bedford Falls, who continually runs into bad luck. However, while consistently having to forgo opportunities that would have enriched his life, Bailey ends up being a huge boost to his community. Despite his perpetual generosity, both intentional and unintentional, Bailey ultimately falls victim to a particularly bad set of circumstances. "Uncle Billy" is on his way to the evil greedy banker Mr. Potter's bank to deposit $8,000 for the Building and Loan Association that Bailey inherited from his father. When he accidentally and unknowingly gives the $8,000 to Mr. Potter instead of to the bank as it is wrapped inside a newspaper, the banker uses the opportunity to land Bailey in prison. On Christmas Eve, after trying hard to find the ostensibly missing money, Bailey becomes suicidal. That is, until the angel Clarence shows him what his town would be like without him -- and it is not a pretty sight. When George realizes the profoundly good effect he has had on his Bedford Falls, the angel brings him back to the real world where citizens he's helped over the years bail him out, the police ultimately drop charges, and George is thrilled to be reunited with his family.

The movie is my favorite film because it teaches you all you need to know about living a meaningful, rewarding life and it encapsulates the best of the meaning of Christmas. One of my favorites quotes is an Einstein quip: "the only life worth living is a life lived for others." This same selfless sentiment is expressed in the Bible by Jesus, whose birthday of course we celebrate on Christmas, who emphasizes again and again the importance of living for others. That is precisely what George Bailey did his whole life. Sure, he fervently wanted to advance his own fortunes, whether it was wanting to go to college or desiring to travel abroad or a host of other plans he had for himself. Eventually though, he puts aside his own interests for the sake of his family, his friends, and the broader community. Perhaps the best reflection of his selflessness is from his youth when he saves the life of his brother. His brother went on to become a World War II hero who saved the lives of eight men. When George is showed his brother's tomb, buried after a life of merely eight years, the angel Clarence informs him that since George did not ever live in this alternate universe, he was not there to save his brother's life -- so his brother was not there to save those eight men. "See, George," Clarence extolls, "you really lived a wonderful life." That is an incredible moment in the film because in that exchange alone, director Frank Capra is defining a wonderful life the way it ought to be defined: not as one of personal success and enrichment but of one defined by our generosity towards others. In January 2011, President Barack Obama expressed a similar sentiment that basically also defines my own view of life, that it is not about our own personal success but instead it is about "how well we have loved and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better." This very Christian concept is what life ought to be all about and it is what Christmas is and ought to be all about; if George Bailey could set aside grand desires for the good of others, we have to display that same tendency when called upon as well.

Nevertheless, the movie has its detractors. Some critics of It's a Wonderful Life claim the film is "terrifying" and that the 'Pottersville' alternative reality that Bailey finds himself in is "the world as it is." To some extent, these critics are right. Surely, in my view, there is at least one frightening aspect of the film. It is disheartening and tragic that Mr. Potter could systematically destroy the lives of working poor people legally while George Bailey is about to be charged with a crime for a comparatively trivial offense -- one that he didn't even commit since the money was stolen from Uncle Billy. This discrepancy is the ultimate example of injustice. It is true that injustices like this one exist in our world and even here in the United States. "If you're caught with an ounce of cocaine," Senator Elizabeth Warren said at a Senate hearing earlier this year, "the chances are good you're gonna go to jail...but evidently if you launder nearly a billion dollars for drug cartels and violate our international sanctions, your company [HSBC] pays a fine and you go home and sleep in your bed at night." An example more similar to the case in this film would perhaps be an instance of where Mitt Romney, as CEO of Bain Capital, could legally make life miserable for so many workers yet if those financially struggling workers committed a relatively minor, nonviolent crime, the law will not be kind to them.

However, It's a Wonderful Life teaches greater lessons with regards to such injustice. First, it is clear that while the authorities and Mr. Potter and his cohorts may view Bailey as a criminal and as unworthy of even the modest life he lives, the vast majority of his fellow citizens, and his family, do not view him as such. They know he is a man who operates in good faith, who is well-intentioned, and who is good-hearted. Sure, he may have committed a "crime" in the eyes of the law but that doesn't change the reality that George is a fundamentally good man. In the eyes of God and from a utilitarian perspective, George's basic decency and goodness is all that really should matter. Second, as the residents of Bedford Falls demonstrate at the end of the film, injustices like the one George was about to face can be overcome with the collective pressure and assistance of family, friends, and the community. The people of Bedford Falls rose together to help their friend George and, in doing so, freed him the prospect of prison time.

While the conclusion may seem unrealistically Pollyannaish to some observers, this communitarian action to combat injustice has proven successful in the past. Just last week, thanks to the pressure of liberal organizations, President Obama commuted the sentences of eight people in prison for cocaine abuse and pardoned 13 others. Many of these individuals were in prison for lengthy sentences during which time they were separated form their families and friends, all for nonviolent offenses, while individuals who committed more egregious crimes got away with less punishment. Liberal activists lamented that the pardon-shy president would not give these people a break. They were proven wrong and proven wrong in large part because they stood up together and demanded an end to this injustice. This popular democratic pressure has consistently proven successful throughout our own history in quashing injustices and broadening equality, justice, and freedom for all people. Whether it is specific cases like the successful campaigns on behalf of these individuals whose sentences were commuted or pardoned or broad-based uprisings like the civil rights, women's rights, and LGBT rights movements, we, as a people, have a history of uniting in opposition to injustices and ultimately successfully changing laws, circumstances, and statutes that correct those injustices. In the end, taking that kind of action, executed on behalf of George Bailey in this film, is part of this larger importance of living a life that reflects one of Jesus' core values: living life for the sake of others. Bailey himself shows this spirit of taking on injustice when he battles against Mr. Potter on behalf of working poor people early in the movie. Taking on Mr. Potter in this regard was again part of Bailey's life work for those less fortunate than him in his community.

Ultimately, a life lived for others is what this film is all about, what George Bailey's life is all about and what his fellow citizens demonstrate in their action at the end of the movie, and what Christmas is all about too. It is for this reason that I love this movie so much. All you need to know about the core reason for the season and the meaning of the Christmas spirit is reflected in It's a Wonderful Life. If you live a life that has greatly enriched the lives of those who surround you even at your expense for the betterment of the common good, then you have really lived a Christian life -- a wonderful life. "No man," the angel Clarence reminded George Bailey, "is a failure who has friends."