7 Horribly Disturbing Implications Of Your Favourite Christmas Films
3. God Rewards The Fiscally Irresponsible - It's A Wonderful Life
What Happens: George Bailey, owner of a small town Building and Loan Association, gives $8,000 to his scatterbrained uncle Billy to deposit at the bank so the Building and Loan operation will stay afloat. Uncle Billy, being an idiot, lets himself be goaded into a scuffle with the dastardly Mr. Potter, who takes the opportunity to steal the deposit knowing that it will bankrupt George. A despondent George decides to kill himself so his family can cash in on a life insurance policy only to be saved by his guardian Angel Clarence. Clarence shows George a vision of what life would be like if George had never existed, proving to George that his life is important to the people around him. In the climactic scene of this holiday classic, all the people who George helped over the years arrive at his home and offer him financial aid in an outpouring of goodwill. Clarence, having fulfilled his mission to do a good deed by showing George how wonderful his life actually is, ascends to heaven where he is rewarded for his good work with a pair of angel wings. The Implications: Here's the thing though: George has no one to blame for his predicament but himself. Sure, Mr. Potter stole the money from Uncle Billy but it was George who entrusted Uncle Billy with the $8,000 despite knowing that Uncle Billy is a few cards short of a full deck. Throughout the feature Billy demonstrates again and again that he does not possess the mental capacity to fulfil his duties properly. Also, when Clarence shows George the alternate time-line where George never existed, the state has institutionalized Billy because George wasn't there to take care of him. Every time George handed the Bank and Loan's deposit over to uncle Billy knowing full well Billy was unfit for the job, he gambled with his financial future and the financial future of everyone he did business with. Cronyism like this is one of the causes behind the great market crash of 2008. Is George punished for his managerial ineptitude? No. God sends down an angel to save him and rewards George by having his friends and family bail him out. This sets a dangerous precedent for anyone else who doesn't take their financial responsibilites seriously; your guardian angel will save the day so don't worry about making sure your financial house is in order. Now that George is in the clear, how long will it be before he pulls another boner that torpedoes the Bank and Loan and ruins the lives of the people who depend on him? Don't worry about it. God has his back. What about everyone else? How many times can his friends afford to bail him out?
