As the Holiday season fast approaches, audiences of all ages turn to the silver screen for some old fashioned Christmas-cheer. Avid readers of the Titan Times will know that I have spoken before on the topic of Christmas movies, exploring the age-old debate of which holiday The Nightmare Before Christmas belongs to. While there was a great deal of contention about that claymation classic, my next cinematic exploration contradicts what appears to be a settled issue. This holiday season I’ve set my sights on Frank Capra’s iconic black-and-white fantasy drama, It’s a Wonderful Life. The 1946 flick is widely regarded as one of the best Christmas movies ever, but perhaps it is time to rethink this tired classification. My take, and it’s a hot one: It’s a Wonderful Life is not a Christmas movie.
In order to answer the question of whether or not Capra’s beloved masterpiece is a Christmas movie, we must first define what a Christmas movie is. For the purposes of this article, we will say that any movie where Christmas and its related elements can be removed without causing substantive changes to the plot or storyline is emphatically not deserving of the “Christmas movie” categorization. In other words, Christmas must be central to the story of the movie, rather than an afterthought. When viewed with this definition in mind, It’s a Wonderful Life is, categorically, not a Christmas movie.
So, let’s examine the extent to which Christmas actually plays a role in the movie that we’re so quick to label a holiday classic. First, a brief plot synopsis. Protagonist George Bailey sacrifices his personal dreams in order to take on his family business and help those in his community. When his uncle misplaces a large sum of cash, George faces steep financial trouble and contemplates suicide. An angel, Clarence, appears to George and shows him what the world would have been like without him, after which George recognizes how wonderful his life is and denounces his suicidal thoughts. When his community finds out he is in trouble, they band together to give him the money he needs. The very end of this story just so happens to take place on Christmas Eve. Let’s remove that from the equation. Does the story change? No.
George’s uncle still loses the money, George still contemplates suicide, the angel still comes to him, and his community still produces the money he needs. In fact, the only thing that changes with the removal of Christmas is that the movie does not end in a charming chorus of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “Auld Lang Syne.” While Christmas serves as a setting for the movie (or, rather, for its final scenes), it can hardly be argued to be an integral part of it. It’s a Wonderful Life without Christmas is still It’s a Wonderful Life.
It seems that the holiday categorization of It’s a Wonderful Life is as deeply ingrained in American culture as the movie itself. For most people, accepting it as anything else is cinematic heresy. But relegating this masterpiece to the late months of the year is doing a disservice to its artistic genius. Its themes ring true all the time, not just December.
So, I implore you to reconsider how you think about Capra’s timeless classic, and join me in my year-round viewings of the film. Because whether it’s Christmas time, Thanksgiving time, or the Fourth of July, It’s a Wonderful Life is always a wonderful time.
