Sunday 15 December 2019

It's a Wonderful Life Censored

Christmas is coming and television is getting fat with Christmas movies. One of the most popular and distinct releases of that entire genre is Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, see: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/. It is one of my personal favourites and I can enjoy it at any time of the year. The director considered it his finest achievement and screened it to his family and friends every Christmas for the rest of his life. It is based on an unpublished novella by Philip van Doren Stern. It was released in 1946 and has never been free from controversy; in fact I've had to refer to it on HPANWO Voice before, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2018/12/ayn-rand-denounced-its-wonderful-life.html. The storyline follows the life of a man called George Bailey, played by James Stewart, who lives in a town called Bedford Falls. It begins in his childhood and ends with him as an adult family man just before the film concludes. As George grows up he falls in love with a woman called Mary, played by Donna Reed. His courtship with Mary is one of the sweetest and most romantic I have ever seen. At the same time, George Bailey is not a typical Hollywood invulnerable alpha male. He is very flawed and has weaknesses that any viewer could identify with; in other words, he is you and me. The couple have four children. George dedicates his professional life to his family's business, a credit union called the Bailey Building and Loan that allows the people of Bedford Falls to buy homes at affordable prices. Yet George feels unfulfilled. He has longed to travel the world and come back to get an education and then become a mega-rich businessman. He once boasts to his lover: "You want the moon? I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down!" Yet he never leaves Bedford Falls. He spends his life fighting a notoriously greedy property developer called Henry Potter who is determined to take over the entire town and force all the people into poverty and degradation to line his pockets, meaning the Bailey Building and Loan is his bitter enemy. In the end Potter steals some money from George's uncle and business partner, threatening the firm with bankruptcy. George responds by attempting to commit suicide. But the moment he is on the brink, he is visited by an angel who transports him to a parallel universe, the earliest example of this concept I know of that is explored in cinema; a universe in which George Bailey was never born. It is a living hell. Bedford Falls is called "Pottersville" because George was not there to stop Potter's evil plan. George's brother is dead because George was not there to save his life when they were children. All the people's lives George's brother saved are also dead. It is eerily reminiscent of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. George then realizes that he has actually had a wonderful life. He begs the angel to return him to his original universe. His wish is granted and he runs home to celebrate with his loved ones. His family and friends turn up with as much spare cash as they have to pay the debts of the firm off. They do it because they love George so much because he has loved them so much and given so much to them. In my view, it is one of the most moving and uplifting moments in the history of fiction.

According to a recent video, It's a Wonderful Life has suffered censorship. Why? Its script contains no swearing or explicit references to sex. It has a few scenes of mild violence, but nothing that would be too strong for any contemporary children's programme. It is pretty typical therefore of the cinematic standards of its era. It was a box office flop when it was released, but slowly grew in popularity over time. It was booked for re-screenings more and more often, and was shown all the time on television. Eventually it became a big hit in the home entertainment market of VHS, DVD and ITunes etc. Many people around the world find It's a Wonderful Life enormously inspiring. The famous Greek-American actor Telly Savalas first saw the film during its initial release in 1946. He was something of a wide boy in those days and so sneaked into the cinema through the fire exit before anybody spotted him. When the film was over he voluntarily went to the box office, confessed and paid the cinema what would have been his ticket fee. There was no need for him to do that; he had got away with an illicit entry and could have easily just left the cinema with the crowds afterwards, but the film affected him so much it piqued his conscience. As the source video explains, It's a Wonderful Life brings out the integrity in people. There are many "feel-good" films on the market; sometimes they are called "blues busters". These are films made with an optimistic theme and happy content intended to make the viewer feel better in themselves. It's a Wonderful Life is probably the most extreme feel-good film of all time, but in truth it is far more than that. Its powerful message of hope and inspiration plunges deep into the most fundamental levels of humanity and spirituality. Despite that... no, because of that, attempts have been made to restrict the film's distribution. The film was released into the public domain in 1974 by the original producers, Republic Pictures, but a lawsuit was filed against that release, not by the writers, director, any actor or photographer, but by representatives for the score composers. This courtroom tussle has been picked up and run with by NBC, the eventual people who won the rights to show the film on television. The film has still been distributed since then by NBC, but only very rarely, and it has been torn apart by edits for commercial breaks that many fans consider spoils the movie. It was even snubbed at the 1946 Oscars. Its only award was a technical one; how they created a realitic snowy winter scene while filming in the summer through a record-breaking heatwave. The truth is, the globalist rulers of this world do not want us feeling inspired and uplifted. They don't want us to be exposed to profound spiritual concepts that enrich our lives and bond us to each other; man and woman, father, mother and child. It's a Wonderful Life has an almost magical power of positive influence over people. As I say in the background link above, it promotes traditional values and relationships. On the Cold War level this was seen as very pro-American, but the true message of the film is far more profound. It is about human value, self-esteem and universal love. These things are the ultimate antidote to the hatred of the Illuminati and their plan for a New World Order. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySatDqciDpA. Thanks to my friend Viv for bringing this to my attention. If any readers want to watch It's a Wonderful Life, it can be seen on many platforms, despite the censorship, including Amazon, see: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Its-Wonderful-LIfe-Lionel-Barrymore/dp/B00FZ32V3G.

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