Friday, December 24, 2021

It's A Wonderful Life: Faux Populism

 Somewhere I never saw a full version of this classic, Its a Wonderful Life, but here it is on Christmas Eve, an official Christmas classic. I was always suspicious of it, from all I had heard, but it looks less worth than I had heard. I mean, really, local bank owner gets into real estate problems? And the well-intentioned owner is somehow some great hero? He is offered total control of local monopolies. Heck, today's WaPo noted that the real hero is the wife, played by Donna Reed, Indeed she saves the day in many ways, including the final money pile-on to save him.

OK, so now I have finally seen the whole thing, but, I think I got the bottom line already above. 

Merry Christmas, you all

Barkley Rosser

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

dare i say it deserves a second look - it is a story about the difference we make in each other's lives and the need to persist and consider more than the bottom line. I rather enjoy it as it celebrates the little guy and demonstrates the value of community and sticking together! it is a 95 on rotten tomatoes and they say that it is a holiday classic to define all holiday classics, It's a Wonderful Life is one of a handful of films worth an annual viewing...have a merry merry and a happy happy!

rosserjb@jmu.edu said...

I understand I am being a grouch. But then my wife Marina has a bad case of Covid, yeah vaxxed and boosted, but still a bad case, although not hospitalization bad. Anyway, maybe that put me off a bit. I know it is a classic, and I am being some sort of Scrooge.

BTW, I read on FB that at one point it was accused of spreading "communist" ideas, all that critiicism of big banks and businesses. Bah humbug!

AXEC / E.K-H said...

For all those who doubt that academic economics never has been science and finally became a subcontractor of the entertainment industry, Barkley Rosser delivers the Christmas proof.

Economics is not science, economists are in the disinfotainment business
https://axecorg.blogspot.com/2021/11/occasional-tweets-economics-is-not.html

Anonymous said...

Hope Marina gets better soon.

Anonymous said...

Be well, Marina.

rosserjb@jmu.edu said...

Thanks, Anonymous. Not well yet at all.

Egmont, I am not sure how my grouchy commentary on a classic Christmas movie while I am upset about my wife being sick says anything about whether or not economics is a science or not. Of courae, we have heard your view on this before.