Blogging From A to Z - L is for Love and Life

Welcome to the It's A Wonderful Blog's Blogging From A to Z April (2015) Challenge. For this challenge, I will post every day in April (except for Sundays) about topics related to the Frank Capra/Jimmy Stewart film, It's a Wonderful Life.

Love:

George and Mary kissing.
Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/It's_a_Wonderful_Life

Only minutes into It's a Wonderful Life, Mary Hatch proclaims her love to George Bailey. She proclaims it into his deaf ear, so George is oblivious.

During the pool scene, we see George and Mary's eyes meet. This is the definition of "love at first sight." Even though they grew up together, this is the first time the audience meets them as adults. Technically, it's not "first sight," but for us, it is.

Love is a powerful thing. It allows you to let go of the $2,000 for the honeymoon so that your husband can save the family business. It allows you to work long hours while missing your family. It allows for dedication when you feel like there is nothing left inside to give.

Sure, we talk about the surface messages of It's a Wonderful Life a lot. We can't forget to look at the deeper message of love. After all, the other messages start with love.

Life:

George celebrating his return from the Pottersville nightmare.
Source: https://blog.soton.ac.uk/sp15g13/reviews/its-a-wonderful-life-review/

God's greatest gift. It's what George was going to throw away on the bridge. Life is part of the name of the film. "The Greatest Gift," referring to life, is the name of the story by Phillip Van Doren Stern, upon which It's a Wonderful Life is based.

The final scene of the film is a celebration of many things: Saving the Building and Loan (giving it life), celebrating Harry Bailey (for saving other people's lives in the war), and celebrating George's life, which Clarence saved by way of the Pottersville sequence. The entire final scene is about celebrating life.