It Really is a Wonderful Life

Donna Reed, Jimmy Stewart and Karolyn Grimes

We attended last weekend’s It’s a Wonderful Life Festival in Seneca Falls.  I can’t recall a holiday season when we didn’t watch the 1945 Frank Capra classic.  So, it seemed obligatory that we would attend at least once.  Naturally, we tracked down Karolyn Grimes, the child actress who played Zuzu, the youngest of the Bailey children.  We took a picture together and I bought a photo which she autographed for me.

“Do you want me to address it to someone or just sign it?” she asked with pen poised.  When I hesitated before answering, she added “it’s worth more with just my autograph.”  

What? I’ll never sell it.  And, who would want it?  Isn’t the movie an idealized version of a time gone by?  A time that older Boomers remember and that is now dismissed as hopelessly old-fashioned and irrelevant?  Well, yes, it is.  And it is also much more than that.  It’s a Wonderful Life is a story about how each of us can have a positive impact on the community in which we live.  It’s also a story about the sacrifices we make to live according to our values.  

Many people decry the commercialization of Christmas.  And, it’s true that most of us spend more time and energy on gifts, decorations and holiday celebrations than spiritual pursuits.  But even as the celebration of Christmas has become more about gifts and festivities than the birth of Jesus Christ, it has never strayed from a celebration of the human values taught by Christ.  The United Nations took the time to delineate those values in in 1948.  In thirty articles, it articulates our right to equal treatment before the law; to the life liberty and security; and, to freedom of thought and conscience.  

 

Karolyn (Zuzu) Grimes

It’s a masterpiece that was deemed essential in the wake of two world wars separated by a global economic depression.  But it doesn’t bring the message home in the same way as George Bailey does.  It’s a Wonderful Life is a story about the reciprocal obligations of communities.  It’s a demonstration how loyalty, fairness and caring work in real life.  These values are cherished by people around the world whether they are Christian, Jewish or Muslim.  They form the basis for successful communities in nations that are prosperous and those that are not; among the wealthy, the poor and the middle-class; and by people of all races.  The reciprocal obligations of our communities transcend our political, religious and cultural differences.  

The Baileys are heroes because they place those obligations above all others including their own financial success and, also, because we see the sacrifices they make in their endeavors.  So, I think the movie will remain relevant long after we Boomers have gone on to our reward.  And, no, Zuzu’s picture is not for sale.  

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!