Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Mr. Potter’s America: A Contemporary Christmas Nightmare
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/jaime-oneill/60024/mr-potter-s-america-a-contemporary-christmas-nightmareThe film was made in 1946, at a time when the country was feeling pretty good about itself. We’d just defeated an indisputable and unmitigated evil in the world, and we had lost lots of good young men in the process of doing it. From that sacrifice, we had purchased the confidence that we could do most anything, the optimism that the future had been assured. We were initiating programs that would allow a whole lot of veterans access to college educations, a prospect that was new to most people in the middle and lower classes. The generation that survived the Great Depression and World War II had produced a committed core of liberals and progressives, bred on the idea that the system could be made more equitable, that poverty could be pushed back, if not eliminated, and that progress was going to deliver the nation and the world to undreamt of vistas of better lives for their children and grandchildren. Those Roosevelt Democrats knew the gains the labor movement had secured for American workers, and the central role of unions in the struggle to better the lives of working people.
But that was then, and this is now, and it’s difficult to imagine a movie like It’s a Wonderful Life being made and released by the big media conglomerates these days. And, compared to people like the Koch brothers, the execrable Walton family, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and the young tech industry gazillionaires, Mr. Potter looks like a bleeding heart liberal. As greedy as he was, Mr. Potter wouldn’t have been so likely to export jobs until the economy of Bedford Falls was destroyed because the workers there could no longer afford to pay the jacked-up rents and mortgage rates he was charging. And even Mr. Potter wouldn’t have done the kinds of things being done to deny living wages and benefits to working men and women.
And a contemporary George Bailey wouldn’t be the working class hero he was in that old movie, a guy with an unshakeable sense of right and wrong. No, a 21st century George Bailey would be played by someone like Ben Stiller, maybe, and he’d be a Tea Party member, flying that Gadsden flag over the headquarters of Bailey Savings and Loan. He’d be supporting right wing politicians who wanted fewer government regulations on lending practices, and whining incessantly about taxes and the way white males like himself were being oppressed. He would have been long since divorced his first wife (played in that old movie by Donna Reed) and would be living in a open relationship with a woman (played by Reese Witherspoon) who sells high-end real estate, mostly out in “The Falls at Bedford,” a gated community outside of town, with McMansions starting at a million-five. Meanwhile, downtown Bedford Falls would be lined with derelict and boarded up old businesses. The only stores left open would be a Dollar General store on one end of town and a Dollar Tree on the other end, with a sprinkling of second-hand stores on main street selling cast offs to poor people. The Dollar Stores on either end of town, of course, only sold cheap goods made by people in Bangladesh or similar colonies for impoverished wage-slave laborers.
In the new film, George Bailey is up on charges of embezzlement, money laundering, and five years of non-payment of child support. He gets drunk in Martini’s bar, and goes to his car to commit suicide with a Sig Sauer p238 he keeps in the glove compartment of his leased BMW. On the way to the car, he’s confronted by a old man who says his name is Clarence, and claims he’s an angel. Drunk and unable to shake the old coot, George says “let’s talk in the car, I’m freezing my ass off here.” They get in the car and George starts it up to get some heat going. Rush Limbaugh comes on Clear Channel radio, talking about how the police are getting a bad rap, and how black thugs are out of control. Clarence says he can’t get his wings unless he completes his mission of showing George how his life really mattered, after all. And in that instant, George is transported to an alternate universe where all the good things he’d done had never happened.
But since the 21st century version of George Bailey had only been out for himself, there really wasn’t that much for George to see, not much he’d done to improve things, or to make the world a better place. He’d been, in fact, like most people of his time, and his life hadn’t contributed much of anything to advancing anything. He’s been a mindless consumer, a low-grade hedonist, and an ill-educated putz with a degree in Business Administration, with ambitions of great personal wealth, and an avid interest in professional sports. So George told Clarence to get the hell out of his car. He then did a line of coke, took a deep swallow of Jack Daniels from his engraved silver flask, and blew his brains out.
But that was then, and this is now, and it’s difficult to imagine a movie like It’s a Wonderful Life being made and released by the big media conglomerates these days. And, compared to people like the Koch brothers, the execrable Walton family, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and the young tech industry gazillionaires, Mr. Potter looks like a bleeding heart liberal. As greedy as he was, Mr. Potter wouldn’t have been so likely to export jobs until the economy of Bedford Falls was destroyed because the workers there could no longer afford to pay the jacked-up rents and mortgage rates he was charging. And even Mr. Potter wouldn’t have done the kinds of things being done to deny living wages and benefits to working men and women.
And a contemporary George Bailey wouldn’t be the working class hero he was in that old movie, a guy with an unshakeable sense of right and wrong. No, a 21st century George Bailey would be played by someone like Ben Stiller, maybe, and he’d be a Tea Party member, flying that Gadsden flag over the headquarters of Bailey Savings and Loan. He’d be supporting right wing politicians who wanted fewer government regulations on lending practices, and whining incessantly about taxes and the way white males like himself were being oppressed. He would have been long since divorced his first wife (played in that old movie by Donna Reed) and would be living in a open relationship with a woman (played by Reese Witherspoon) who sells high-end real estate, mostly out in “The Falls at Bedford,” a gated community outside of town, with McMansions starting at a million-five. Meanwhile, downtown Bedford Falls would be lined with derelict and boarded up old businesses. The only stores left open would be a Dollar General store on one end of town and a Dollar Tree on the other end, with a sprinkling of second-hand stores on main street selling cast offs to poor people. The Dollar Stores on either end of town, of course, only sold cheap goods made by people in Bangladesh or similar colonies for impoverished wage-slave laborers.
In the new film, George Bailey is up on charges of embezzlement, money laundering, and five years of non-payment of child support. He gets drunk in Martini’s bar, and goes to his car to commit suicide with a Sig Sauer p238 he keeps in the glove compartment of his leased BMW. On the way to the car, he’s confronted by a old man who says his name is Clarence, and claims he’s an angel. Drunk and unable to shake the old coot, George says “let’s talk in the car, I’m freezing my ass off here.” They get in the car and George starts it up to get some heat going. Rush Limbaugh comes on Clear Channel radio, talking about how the police are getting a bad rap, and how black thugs are out of control. Clarence says he can’t get his wings unless he completes his mission of showing George how his life really mattered, after all. And in that instant, George is transported to an alternate universe where all the good things he’d done had never happened.
But since the 21st century version of George Bailey had only been out for himself, there really wasn’t that much for George to see, not much he’d done to improve things, or to make the world a better place. He’d been, in fact, like most people of his time, and his life hadn’t contributed much of anything to advancing anything. He’s been a mindless consumer, a low-grade hedonist, and an ill-educated putz with a degree in Business Administration, with ambitions of great personal wealth, and an avid interest in professional sports. So George told Clarence to get the hell out of his car. He then did a line of coke, took a deep swallow of Jack Daniels from his engraved silver flask, and blew his brains out.
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Wow! Nicely done. A really good read.
I have not been to Smirking Chimp in years. I guess I should put it back on my daily click-throughout. I don't know why I ever stopped visiting there. Stupid me.
R&