Blogging From A to Z - C is for Children, Challenge, Contentment

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.

Children:

Source: http://www.classicmoviehub.com/blog/
happy-fathers-day-a-celebration-of-classic-movie-fathers/

They inspire us, love us, challenge us, make us realize that we are worse at math today than we were 20 years ago. They make us realize we are getting old and turning into our parents.

But the unconditional love they give is amazing. Seeing their compassion and their excitement for life fills my bucket. They are our opportunities to teach them to avoid our mistakes while never, ever, ever admitting those mistakes. We always know "a friend" who has been in any given situation. ;)

Most days you want to die for your children. Some days you understand why some species eat their young. In It's a Wonderful Life, George asks Mary, "Why do we have to have all of these kids?" It takes a trip to Pottersville to remember that they are worth fighting for, no matter the cost, and no matter the...

Challenges:
Life is one challenge after another. Sometimes there are breakthroughs and times of success. But those successes don't come without a fight.

James 1:2-4 says, "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow."

Without trouble, we don't grow. Without growth, we don't change. Without change, we would still be the same people we were when we were born. To quote my friend and the creator of the Evolution of Dance, Judson Laipply, "life is change."

To quote Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

In It's a Wonderful Life, George faced many challenges during his life, from not getting to travel or go to college, to being forced to stay at home running the Building and Loan while his brother and friends went to college and travelled the world. Those challenges were intended to show him the importance of...

Contentment:
The grass is not always greener. If it is, perhaps it is because it is fertilized with b.s.

While we shouldn't give up on our dreams, we all need to learn to be content with where we are at today. We must appreciate what we are provided and be grateful when opportunities arise. By all means, follow your dreams! But don't grouse around when you fail, looking for someone to blame or giving up on life.

George Bailey tried that. It earned him a trip to Pottersville and a shocking look at what would have happened if he hadn't been there. We matter. Worrying does not fix problems.

To quote Bobby McFerrin, "Don't worry, be happy."

   

Blogging From A to Z - B is for People, Places and Things

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.

Buffalo Gals:

Every couple needs a love song. Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" seems to be pretty popular. For George and Mary in It's a Wonderful Life, their song was "Buffalo Gals," which became their song while walking home from a particularly aquatic school dance.

It's interesting to note that at some point I read that the song is about....well, shall we say, ladies from the red light district with questionable reputations? I don't have the time or space to explore that idea here, but check out the song lyrics and some of the song's history here, or listen to Dimitri Tiomkin's musical intro to the film here:

Source:
http://fogsmoviereviews.com/2012/12/24/movies-that-everyone-should-see-its-a-wonderful-life/

Bridge: 
While George was wandering (or drunkenly stumbling) down the street, he came across the bridge. It becomes a symbolic location in many ways. First he contemplates suicide on the bridge. Later, he prays to God to return to his life in Bedford Falls, complete with all of its challenges, risk and fear. It is at the bridge that George crosses from life to death, and from death to life.

The bridge also is symbolic in that it is a starting-over point for the film. The first time we meet George is when he is sledding as a child with is brother and his friends. When his brother falls through the ice, George selflessly jumps in the river to save him. When Clarence jumps off of the bridge later in the film, an adult George follows him into the river to save him. In that way, it resets the film and prepares us for the events in Pottersville.

Ben Franklin:

Benjamin Franklin is the large constellation on top,
shaped like a stomach.
Source: http://cinema-fanatic.com/2010/12/20/oscar-vault-
monday-its-a-wonderful-life-1946-dir-frank-capra/

Yes, THAT Ben Franklin. Glasses, kite, Old Farmer's Almanac. That Ben Franklin. He is a character in the film. Really. And he has lines.

No, really. I mean it.

When we travel to Heaven, we meet three stellar bodies. One is Clarence. One is Joseph. The other is never named in the film. Most of us naturally assume it is God, since this constellation makes decisions and gives directions. All scripts, however, indicate that the stellar body is named Franklin. Initial consideration could lead anyone with a knowledge of the film’s time period to believe this might be a reference to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. As the 32nd President of the United States, Roosevelt served from 1933 until his untimely death in 1945, just before World War II ended.

Capra worked for the government, filming the Why We Fight propaganda films during the war. Although Capra served his patriotic duty to his country, he did not support Roosevelt’s New Deal program, so consequently this reference is unlikely.

Benjamin Franklin
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin

Early script for It’s a Wonderful Life, reveal even more about this character’s identity than the final script. Originally, an early script called for Joseph and Franklin to be physical beings instead of constellations. In that script, we learn that “Joseph comes to Ben Franklin’s workshop and office” (Basinger 325).

Benjamin Franklin is an American icon who represented the American Dream. He was an inventor and capitalist. He owned his own publishing business and published Poor Richard’s Almanac. He was a self-made, self-educated man who wrote an autobiography and was instrumental in forming America’s identity as a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

In Capra’s notes, which include questions and minor details to work out about It’s a Wonderful Life, Capra wrote, “Franklin. Still flies kites in Heaven. Still reads Sat. Eve Post” (Basinger 21). This is a reference to Franklin flying the kite with the key tied to it during an electricity experiment. The reference to the Saturday Evening Post is a reference to an American magazine that was popular in the early 20th Century, and that was descended from Ben Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette.

Source:
Basinger, Jeanine (in Collaboration with the trustees of the Frank Capra Archives), Interviews by

                Leonard Maltin. The It’s a Wonderful Life Book. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1996.

Blogging From A to Z - A is for Angel, Second Class

Clarence Oddbody, AS-2.  Source:
http://www.tomatobubble.com/wonderfulrace1.html

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.

Poor, hapless Clarence. He can't seem to get a leg up.

Jesus taught us to love others unconditionally. It's in the red words. And yet Joseph can't help but hold him in contempt. His voice just drips of it. In fact, Joseph thinks Clarence will fail. He reveals his Debbie Downer Disease when he sighs, "Poor George."

It's so sad.

Clarence is kind of like Quasimodo in a way. Clarence is an Angel, Second Class, and poor Quasimodo can't even achieve the status of Full Modo.

Second class. In Heaven. Forget political correctness. Forget equality. Clarence comes in with the silver medal, and no wings. He can't see visions without the help of other - better, First Class - angels.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/clarence/quotes/

He can't even get his own movie....at least not a quality movie.

In 1990, there was a movie. Not a film. A movie. Called Clarence. It starred Robert Carradine as a younger Clarence. It wasn't very good. I just looked it up on Internet Movie Database, and I can say I'm honestly shocked that it has 5.4 stars. Check it out for yourself.

Now granted, I bought the movie (on videocassette), watched it once about 20 years ago, and I haven't touched it since. I'll have to watch it sometime and review it here. So take my opinion lightly and watch it yourself.

In It's a Wonderful Life, Clarence is accused of being simple. George calls him a fallen angel (Fans of Poison and Bret Michaels bang heads now), and also calls him Gabriel a couple of times.

In many ways, he is like the little guy that George fights for throughout the film. Except that Clarence is fighting for George. The little guy is fighting for the guy who fights for the little guy. That's pretty cool, and pretty special, as well. Check out Clarence's big intro below: