Most of our interns don’t remember a time when old movies were shown on TV all the time, and it was a pleasure to watch your annual favorites. Now that we live in a time when so much entertainment is available whenever and wherever we want it, some of the older classic favorites have been pushed aside in the name of better special effects, the newest glamour, and often crass comedy.
Please allow me to make the case as to why one classic is *the* movie for January 2021. It’s in black and white, it features the Charleston, and even the song, “Buffalo Gals,” which our interns have also never heard. The movie is Frank Capra’s enduring 1946 classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. My family watches it every January without fail.
Have you ever felt frustrated, stuck, and that your life was going no where? Did you dream of bigger things for yourself? Have you started new plans over and over just to be thwarted by real-life circumstances? You might identify with protagonist George Bailey. George wanted to see the world from the time he was a young boy, and had the support of his friends and family. Even so, every attempt he made to get out of his hometown, Bellows Falls failed. From deaths in his family, to failing banks, to an injury that left him deaf in one ear, and the outbreak of war, George’s plans are thwarted over and over. He does not want to get married and have a family, but that plan is more happily thwarted too. Soon George finds himself in a career he never aspired to, giving mortgages, often to struggling families who immigrated to Bellows Falls, that help new developments spring up across town.
© 1946 Liberty Films/RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
2020 was a hard year for all of us. Even if we weren’t personally infected during the pandemic, our lives changed drastically. Just like George Bailey, many of us had to cancel cruises, honeymoons, and the chance to see people we loved in person. This was an especially difficult year for those already walking the line between financial stability and instability. Many people felt stuck in houses in disrepair as both money and supplies to do home projects ran in short supply. If we’ve ever all been stuck, this has been the time. Even small frustrations became huge in light of the crises we’ve been through.
Enter a pivotal character in George’s story: Clarence. Clarence is an angel desperately trying to earn his wings, who gets to work with George during the lowest time in his life. Even if you haven’t seen the movie you might get the iconic reference, “Every time a bell rings an angel gets it’s wings.” Clarence can give George something no one else can, the chance to see what life would be like if he had never been born.
While I don’t want to give away too much of the story, this January 2021 I’d like to invite you to sit back and think about how the world would be different if you had never been born. Think about all the lives you’ve touched, and all the changes you’ve made in the lives around you, no matter how small. Every single one of us has changed the lives of others, just by being here. If you’re reading this you’ve changed my life by continuing to support the museum even during these profoundly trying times!
2020 was a bear and I hope I’ll never see another year like it. But this January I’m looking back at the lives we’ve touched, the friends and family we’ve supported, and the fact that so many of us are getting through this. We’ve learned things we never wanted to know, but when we come out on the other side, I hope the number one things we’ll keep from this is knowing that it’s true, our lives are truly wonderful.
Jenny Powers is the Family Engagement Coordinator at the Springfield Museums
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