I'm a little excited and a little nervous about the prospect of there being a new book on the way about It's a Wonderful Life.
That's right...a new book. I learned about it from the one and only Richard Goodson, who seems to have an inside track about all things Wonderful Life. It's uncanny. And I am so very grateful to be under the umbrella of his sharing tree.
Last week, he told me about a new book coming out in May. It's called "Zuzu's Petals," and is by a high school AP English teacher named Jeff Jarot. This book doesn't examine the film (like my book), and it doesn't retell the story of It's a Wonderful Life if something had changed, like The Last Temptation of Clarence Oddbody by John Jughead Pierson.
Instead, this book looks at a modern family in which the father has a bit of an unhealthy obsession with It's a Wonderful Life. It hits a little close to home. In fact, I joked with Goodson when he told me about it. My response was, "Sooooooo......Is this book about you or about me? And is that an honor or is that offensive?"
But all ego aside, this book looks to be a great examination of obsession and love. Where does interest cross the line of hobby? Where does hobby cross the line of obsession? When does obsession cross the line to insanity?
You can read more about the book and about the author here.
You can get a feel for what his book will feel like by downloading his thesis and dissertation here.
I'm really looking forward to the book. What do you think?
Showing posts with label petals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label petals. Show all posts
Monday, March 7, 2016
Sunday, June 21, 2015
"Look Daddy. Paste it."
"Look Daddy. Paste it."
It is an innocent, heart-felt request from a little girl of about 4 years old. Something she loves has broken and she wants her dad to fix it.
Most of us have done this. We have asked our fathers to fix something. When we were young, we looked up to our fathers as magical beings. They could do anything. Somehow, they could do the impossible and it always left us with a sense of awe and wonder. As we grew older and needed more adult help - like replacing a hot water heater or building a deck or replacing a roof, or fixing a garbage disposal, we knew dad could help. And he never let us down.
Now that I'm older, I realize that I didn't pay nearly enough attention to the lessons. I can't solder two copper pipes together to save my life. Dad tried to show me how. I just took it for granted that he would always be here to do it, and I wouldn't have to know how to do it myself. That was short-sighted. It makes me wonder what life lessons I missed or screwed up on.
I was a bit of a block-head that way. People tried to teach me things and I didn't really learn from it. If 40-year-old me could go back and talk to 12-year-old me, I'd box my own ears, get in my own face and tell my self to learn something.
The good news is that in a way, I can still heed that late lesson. I still have the opportunity to follow the advice of Sweet Caporal cigarettes:
In the mean time, I realize that I'm a dad now and my kids are reaching the age that I can start teaching them how to do stuff. And I find myself praying that they will listen and learn better than I did.
I also keep my fingers crossed that there is no immediate need to enlist dad's aid on any more large crisis-type projects.
I CAN tell my dad thank you. I didn't listen as much as I should have, but that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate it, or that I don't love you.
Or as George tells his dad, "Pop, do you want a shock? I think you're a great guy." Happy Father's Day.
It is an innocent, heart-felt request from a little girl of about 4 years old. Something she loves has broken and she wants her dad to fix it.
 |
| Dad and the deck project. |
Now that I'm older, I realize that I didn't pay nearly enough attention to the lessons. I can't solder two copper pipes together to save my life. Dad tried to show me how. I just took it for granted that he would always be here to do it, and I wouldn't have to know how to do it myself. That was short-sighted. It makes me wonder what life lessons I missed or screwed up on.
I was a bit of a block-head that way. People tried to teach me things and I didn't really learn from it. If 40-year-old me could go back and talk to 12-year-old me, I'd box my own ears, get in my own face and tell my self to learn something.
The good news is that in a way, I can still heed that late lesson. I still have the opportunity to follow the advice of Sweet Caporal cigarettes:
 |
| Source: http://www.alwaysjacked.com/2013/02/how-brands-and-dad-bloggers-should-work-together/ |
I also keep my fingers crossed that there is no immediate need to enlist dad's aid on any more large crisis-type projects.
I CAN tell my dad thank you. I didn't listen as much as I should have, but that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate it, or that I don't love you.
Or as George tells his dad, "Pop, do you want a shock? I think you're a great guy." Happy Father's Day.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Blogging From A to Z - Z is for Zuzu
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.
Sadly, this is the end of the challenge. I am so grateful for what it has done for me during the month of April. It forced me to look at the film in ways I had never thought of before. I had creative ideas and I wrote about topics I never thought I would discuss...like suicide.
So thank you for the challenge, and thank you for reading. Stick around. Photo Friday returns tomorrow and it's back to the regular Monday-Wednesday-Friday rotation.
Zuzu:
Zuzu Bailey is a special child. One might argue a preferred child. I will make that argument here.
George and Mary have four children. While Zuzu, their youngest daughter, is sick in bed, the rest of the family is getting ready for a family Christmas party that will be held later that night.
Mary, Pete, and Tommy are decorating the Christmas tree. Both boys are wearing Santa Claus masks. Janie is practicing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” on the piano. She plans to play it during the party.
In telling him about their day, his children innocently remind George of their financial situation. When he learns that Zuzu is sick on top of that, he begins to lash out at his family, complaining about their “drafty old house.”
George goes upstairs to check on Zuzu, and when he gets to her room, we again see the calm, caring George that we have come to love throughout the film. Zuzu has a calming effect on George. She is able to silently remind him that he is there to take care of others. While the other children are annoying him on this night, Zuzu is his special child, who is ill. It is his responsibility to take care of her. We see George’s tenderness when Zuzu wants him to paste the petals back on her flower. Instead of snapping at her like he did at Pete about asking how to spell words, George humors her and pretends to “paste it.” The theme of Zuzu’s petals are even carried to her headboard, which has cartoonish drawings of flowers on it.
Zuzu is treated as a special child from the moment we meet her through the end of the film. She is introduced separately from the other children, and she will greet George separately from the other children upon his return from Pottersville. She is the only child to have a separate, one-on-one scene with George. Additionally, she utters the most famous line of the film when she tells her dad, “every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.” When George loses control of his emotions, trashes his home office and yells at his family, Zuzu is the only one spared from his anger. George holds her during the final scene, even though she is not the youngest of the Bailey children.
Her name is the only “odd,” non-traditional name in the family. George and Mary’s other children, Tommy, Pete, and Janie, have names that sound like they came straight out of a book written for first graders. Zuzu also is the only Bailey child with a nickname. George calls her “my little ginger snap.”
Of the one-on-one scene with Stewart, Karolyn Grimes’ biographer Clay Eals says, “The scene hints that Zuzu is her dad’s favorite child — or that she is at least the most endearing example of how George deeply values his family” (57).
When George returns to his home after the Pottersville scene, he is joined by his wife and all four of their children. It is the first time we see the Bailey family together in its entirety. Allowing all six members of the Bailey family to be together for the first time just before the final scene solidifies the film's message of the important role that family plays in civic-minded capitalism and the American Dream.
There also are several connections between Zuzu and Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Both Zuzu and Tiny Tim are ill, and both of them seem to be their father’s favorite child. There is a symbolic parallel that can be drawn between Zuzu’s petals and Tiny Tim’s crutch. Furthermore, both of them have a brother named Pete.
Finally, both of them utter their respective story’s most famous lines. In the case of It’s a Wonderful Life, Zuzu observes that “every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.” Tiny Tim’s famous line is “God bless us, every one!”
The parallels between these two children appears to be intentional on Capra’s part.
Purchase Every time a bell rings: The wonderful life of Karolyn Grimes on Amazon.com
Sadly, this is the end of the challenge. I am so grateful for what it has done for me during the month of April. It forced me to look at the film in ways I had never thought of before. I had creative ideas and I wrote about topics I never thought I would discuss...like suicide.
So thank you for the challenge, and thank you for reading. Stick around. Photo Friday returns tomorrow and it's back to the regular Monday-Wednesday-Friday rotation.
Zuzu:
Zuzu Bailey is a special child. One might argue a preferred child. I will make that argument here.
 |
| Zuzu and George Bailey Source: http://bit.ly/1NQZ8Xo |
Mary, Pete, and Tommy are decorating the Christmas tree. Both boys are wearing Santa Claus masks. Janie is practicing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” on the piano. She plans to play it during the party.
In telling him about their day, his children innocently remind George of their financial situation. When he learns that Zuzu is sick on top of that, he begins to lash out at his family, complaining about their “drafty old house.”
 |
| Mary, George and Zuzu. Source: http://bit.ly/1EEH8N5 |
Zuzu is treated as a special child from the moment we meet her through the end of the film. She is introduced separately from the other children, and she will greet George separately from the other children upon his return from Pottersville. She is the only child to have a separate, one-on-one scene with George. Additionally, she utters the most famous line of the film when she tells her dad, “every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.” When George loses control of his emotions, trashes his home office and yells at his family, Zuzu is the only one spared from his anger. George holds her during the final scene, even though she is not the youngest of the Bailey children.
Her name is the only “odd,” non-traditional name in the family. George and Mary’s other children, Tommy, Pete, and Janie, have names that sound like they came straight out of a book written for first graders. Zuzu also is the only Bailey child with a nickname. George calls her “my little ginger snap.”
 |
| Scrooge and Tiny Tim. Source: http://bit.ly/1Bb3xu5 |
When George returns to his home after the Pottersville scene, he is joined by his wife and all four of their children. It is the first time we see the Bailey family together in its entirety. Allowing all six members of the Bailey family to be together for the first time just before the final scene solidifies the film's message of the important role that family plays in civic-minded capitalism and the American Dream.
There also are several connections between Zuzu and Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Both Zuzu and Tiny Tim are ill, and both of them seem to be their father’s favorite child. There is a symbolic parallel that can be drawn between Zuzu’s petals and Tiny Tim’s crutch. Furthermore, both of them have a brother named Pete.
Finally, both of them utter their respective story’s most famous lines. In the case of It’s a Wonderful Life, Zuzu observes that “every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.” Tiny Tim’s famous line is “God bless us, every one!”
The parallels between these two children appears to be intentional on Capra’s part.
Source:
Eals, Clay. Every Time a Bell Rings: The Wonderful Life of Karolyn Grimes. Seattle: Pastime Press, 1996.Purchase Every time a bell rings: The wonderful life of Karolyn Grimes on Amazon.com
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