Clickable Advent Calendar, 12: It’s a Wonderful Life
December 12, 2008 at 8:00 am by Curt Holman in A&EIt’s a Wonderful Life airs tomorrow night at 7 p.m. on NBC. It’s unquestionably one of the best Christmas-themed movies ever made, but some things about it really stick in my craw, and I’m not alone in this. Maybe it’s because the inequities and injustices of American life seem so close to its surface. Everyman George Bailey sacrifices his dreams to fight the good fight in Bedford Falls, and almost loses everything to his Uncle Billy’s idiocy.
Theatrical Outfit’s radio play version of the material (reviewed here) simply celebrates the work, but satires of It’s a Wonderful Life can cut Frank Capra’s vision to the quick. Gary Kamiya’s classic Salon article “All Hail Pottersville” suggests that the nightmarish version of Bedford Falls sans George Bailey might be more fun than the real thing (and is certainly more diverse). The comic strip “Sheldon” gives Uncle Billy some much-needed tough love. I love this recut trailer that suggests that George Bailey’s dark side is close to the service.
The best spoof of It’s a Wonderful Life came from “Saturday Night Live’ about two decades ago, however:
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