Quote of the day
posted at 9:30 pm on December 20, 2008 by Allahpundit
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“‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is a terrifying, asphyxiating story about growing up and relinquishing your dreams, of seeing your father driven to the grave before his time, of living among bitter, small-minded people. It is a story of being trapped, of compromising, of watching others move ahead and away, of becoming so filled with rage that you verbally abuse your children, their teacher and your oppressively perfect wife. It is also a nightmare account of an endless home renovation…
Not only is Pottersville cooler and more fun than Bedford Falls, it also would have had a much, much stronger future. Think about it: In one scene George helps bring manufacturing to Bedford Falls. But since the era of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ manufacturing in upstate New York has suffered terribly…
What a grim thought: Had George Bailey never been born, the people in his town might very well be better off today.”
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Only the New York Times could concoct such a dreary idiotic load of bilgewater as they did with this piece of crap article.
Why is it, time after time, over and over again, when we are faced with all the evil in the world today and something like “It’s A Wonderful Life” is out there to remind us that there is still good in the world, assclown outfits like the New York Times throw a bucket of fecal-laced icewater on our heads and drag us back into the hardships and foibles of the world that the writers and staff of the Times obviously love to wallow in?
pilamaye on December 21, 2008 at 9:02 AM
I think the NYT has a Social Darwinist on its hands — and they don’t even know it. The irony (and it’s a delicious irony) is that should we become the soulless dark place this NYT writer seems to desire, he and all of his effete friends will be the first marched into the Gulag. Unlike George Bailey, they are of no use to anyone, least of all, I imagine, to their wives, who undoubtedly woke up a few years into their marriages to these useful idiots only to find that though they married the opposite gender, they are, in fact, in a gay marriage. Men like this writer should be pitied. Their uselessness and emasculation burn just at the edge of their consciousness, and they have to expend what little testosterone they have pushing it back down so they can get through another day. George Bailey, I think, reminds them just how small their pee-pees actually are. This writer’s only recourse, it seems, is to pass this pitiful self-imposed castration on to his young son. Now there’s a real man for ya!
Rational Thought on December 21, 2008 at 9:12 AM
Sorry guys: I’m a conservative libertarian type, but like the author, an ex-punk, and I agree with lots of what he has to say. But I’m female so you’ll have to revise your “castration” metaphors…
I grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (imagine a cross between Pittsburg and New Jersey). I hated it. It wasn’t a small town, but it felt like one. I felt trapped, thwarted, misunderstood (see “ex-punk”, above).
Whenever I watched It’s a Wonderful Life, I felt the same way George did about being stuck in a crappy place full of anti-intellectual slobs.
I moved to the big city first chance I got, but when I had to go back to care for my dying mother & grandmother, I felt some of George’s frustrations.
I always leaped to Sarah Palin’s defense when ignorant urbane sophisticates mocked her “small town values”. BUT: would I trade my anonymous, leave-me-alone big city for a place where — egads! — “everybody knows your name”, and business?
No way.
Of course, I always turn off Alistair Sim’s Scrooge after he wakes up in the morning. THAT’s too depressing for me :-)
fivefeetoffury on December 21, 2008 at 9:25 AM
Such are the clueless tidbits from the rag now valued at well below 10 bucks a share.
DannoJyd on December 21, 2008 at 9:36 AM
Then maybe we could buy up enough stock between us all to the get controlling shares and fire everyone except the typesetters and printers. We’d only have to issue one edition with the title, “The NYTs, Worlds Best and Oldest Cat Box Liner” and just let it run.
hawkdriver on December 21, 2008 at 9:48 AM
Difficult to avoid a drop in stock price where advertising is a key part of revenues. Even Google has lost more than half its value in the past year. During that time NYT is down about the same percentage as News Corp.
dedalus on December 21, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Most market analysts attribute it chiefly to sales/readership. But good, whatever it takes. I hope they’re all out on the street with tin cups soon.
hawkdriver on December 21, 2008 at 9:55 AM
Hawkdriver is definitely onto something, but Dedalus’s excuse cannot explain the dramatic drop in value of the NYSlimes shares over the past 5 years. Only 10 years ago it was getting 100 bucks a share. What happened?
Please, read the craptastic article above to get a clue.
DannoJyd on December 21, 2008 at 9:56 AM
NYC has thrived for the past 2 decades and weathered the economic downturn better so far than most cities, which is surprising given the concentration of finance jobs. 2009 could be a bad year in a lot of places, including NYC. Right now, though, the city is still crowded and there are plenty of interesting things to do.
dedalus on December 21, 2008 at 9:59 AM
Did their editorial content change dramatically from 10 years ago in a way that caused the decline?
What happened? The Internet happened.
dedalus on December 21, 2008 at 10:13 AM
OK. I read the entire article yesterday and disagreed with the author BUT it’s just an opinion and to each his own when it comes to the place where you want to live. Look at California. The people there have no idea, aparently, how screwed up they seem to middle America but they are happy in their weirdness. As long as they don’t come begging to DC for money to support their eccentricities then I say let them be as weird as they want. It’s when my town starts thinking like California that I’ll worry.
.
(BTW – I’ve driven the entire length of that state and it’s beautiful. LOVE Placerville and Carmel.)
.
I feel kind of sad for the writer because he\she doesn’t seem to understand that we are a species that NEEDS to work together for survival and that the world he craves is destructive to the survival of the human race. Potterville is a predatorial world. Once people unleash the using and abusing of others for entertainment – that’s Caligula-land and the end of the Empire. So. I hope there aren’t many out there who see that world as a better place because – if so – we may very well be in the end times of the USA. Like California – as long as New Yorkers stay in NY and don’t come looking for a bailout to support their destructive desires then I say let them have at.
.
But I’m watching them – like a hawk.
BrideOfRove on December 21, 2008 at 10:17 AM
Dedalus, I do agree that the net has had an effect on the dropping sales of that rag, but I would submit that the effect was caused due to people finding better articles on the net, not because the net exists, and that in turn caused the drop in advertising revenues.
No one wastes monies on advertising that will not be seen. ;o)
DannoJyd on December 21, 2008 at 10:19 AM
NYT = LOSERS That simple.
marklmail on December 21, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Some folks take a sympathetic view of the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood.
BowHuntingTexas on December 21, 2008 at 10:19 AM
So in short, you’re a moron and are only qualified to work for the NY Times. It’s a real shame soon you may have to look for a real job. That’s Ok, you can go to Pottersville. I’m sure they’ll need a not notch writer to do ads for all those entertainment establishments.
Tommy_G on December 21, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Gutfeld? Is that you?
soundingboard on December 21, 2008 at 10:26 AM
This guy needs therapy and needs it badly.
roux on December 21, 2008 at 10:26 AM
This guy is a jerk. I love this movie and I sure would prefer living in Bedford Falls than Potterville.
The NY Slimes needs to be shut down. Idiots! I sure would hate to see thier review of Scrooge.
becki51758 on December 21, 2008 at 10:28 AM
Hitchcock might debate the latter point.
soundingboard on December 21, 2008 at 10:31 AM
True. Lately, also fewer ads for autos and luxury goods in the NYC and Boston area where the times gets most of its print ad revenues.
Most all of us commenting here love the Net, especially for the way it allows the “official” viewpoint of corporate media to be quickly challenged. What percentage of the Times circulation loss is attributable to better articles on-line or just the fact that online news is free, fast and mobile? Don’t know. Mix of both.
At some point the NY Times will likely cease printing all together. Maybe it’s 10 years from now, but at some point it will make business sense.
dedalus on December 21, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Talk about spin and distortion; however, that is what the New Your Slimes does best.
The Rock on December 21, 2008 at 10:34 AM
That is true, but the old papers (and the old TV networks) are having a crisis of credibilty as well. There just aren’t any Brinkleys or Cronkites anymore, regardless of the fantasies Brian Williams or Katie Couric may harbor.
The NYT has been online for quite a while, though. It used to be pretty much for-fee, though. Not enough people (I think it was called “Times Select” or something like that) were buying, apparently.
ddrintn on December 21, 2008 at 10:38 AM
The print readership has declined and print ad revenues along with it. Overall readership has increased, counting eyeballs on their website, but they can’t monetize it fast enough to offset their other losses. Don’t know if they’ll have tin cups but they’ll be competing in a medium where there aren’t the same barriers to entry.
dedalus on December 21, 2008 at 10:42 AM
When the NYT goes belly up he can always move to Pottersville and be a manwhore there.
Lonetown on December 21, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Of course not. I’d write more, but Javier and Pedro are ready in their shorty robes and sleigh harness, so I’m off to the late Service. Nothing like a good sleigh ride.
Scribbler on December 21, 2008 at 10:50 AM
When did AllahPundit start writing for the NY Times?
Paul-Cincy on December 21, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Yeah, that failed. I think it shocked a lot of people on the business side of the paper that they couldn’t charge a subscription premium for their brand in cyberspace.
Agree, even more, about the network news. That died a long time ago and the current anchors are engaged in nothing more than ritual. Eventually, maybe NBC gives up on its nightly news and turns the timeslot over to Leno–that seems to be its solution at 10PM.
dedalus on December 21, 2008 at 10:54 AM
One of the greatest movies ever made. I would not read this tripe because I simply will not allow anyone to ruin this marvelous movie for me.
Jimmy Stewart’s disintegration at Martini’s Bar where he is praying for help is simply the best dramatic scene I’ve ever witnessed on film. I dare anyone to watch that scene and not understand exactly what his character is feeling.
Charles Martel on December 21, 2008 at 10:56 AM
No story I ever clicked on that took me to a pay-site was ever interesting enough to pay to read. Too many other places where you can get another version of the story for free. And certainly not with the liberal twist and out-right lies the NYT injects.
hawkdriver on December 21, 2008 at 11:06 AM
If he declared he was gay and left his wife on Christmas Eve, the NYT would LOVE this movie!
artist on December 21, 2008 at 11:13 AM
There are some things you just shouldn’t mess with…A Wonderful Life being one. Just another example of their arrogance. The Gray Lady has been hiring journalists with shovels for quite some time and it would be good if they just pitched the final load of dirt over the rag and called it a day. RIP, NYT.
scalleywag on December 21, 2008 at 11:25 AM
Obviously, the author would prefer the Pottersvilles of the world. If morality and family values don’t mean a whole lot to you, then all you would want is a place to “have fun.”
theregoestheneighborhood on December 21, 2008 at 11:27 AM
Good Lord, the hostility and defensiveness on this thread has become a LOT more interesting than the fairly ordinary bit of pop culture crit that sparked it — which, it is fairly obvious, not all the commenters have read all the way through…
Guys: I’m a socon. I read the Bible. I have an American flag stuck in a Thank You President Bush mug on my desk — and I’m a Canadian.
BUT not all of us wanna be stuck in a small town against our will for the rest of our lives.
I submit to you that that unwillingness is actually the impulse that made America great.
Did the pioneers and immigrants who built your nation say, “Oh I guess its my duty to stick around the Old Country with my family rather than go off and better myself and invent some cool thing that will change the world”?
Sheesh. Ask yourselves what has gotten you so worked up about this piece instead of questioning the author’s penis size.
There is a lot of male fury on this thread and you might want to ask yourselves what it is really all in aid of.
fivefeetoffury on December 21, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Barrons and the WSJ can do it. Money (along with sex) seem like two things that can get people to pull out their credit cards while surfing.
dedalus on December 21, 2008 at 11:31 AM
Perhaps the NYSlimes could get a clue from this article as it nails down the success that talk radio enjoys today.
DannoJyd on December 21, 2008 at 11:32 AM
Er, there’s sex in the WSJ? (kidding)
All I know is that people I speak to are really going out of their way to avoid providing commerce to liberal print and the entertainment industry in general. I hear Hollywood is feeling some pinches too.
As far as the greatest Christmas movie of all time, the themes in IAWL should be an anthem to liberals. It has it all. Big business being the evil guy and the almost non-profit collectivism of the Building and Loan concept. But gosh damn it, all those cutesy fundamentalist morals and corny innocence have got to go.
hawkdriver on December 21, 2008 at 11:51 AM
Did “you” read the entire article? The point is not that we’re making fun of his preferred habitational environment, he’s making fun of ours. I don’t give a rat rear-end where he (or you) choose to live. Does that choice somehow make it necessary to deride an otherwise harmless and quaint old movie that’s become somewhat of a holiday tradition to many of us?
hawkdriver on December 21, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Geez Katie, you thought this was worth an entire thread making fun of us over on your site huh? Snickies, quoting yourself both places? Lots of indignant chest thumping too. lol, Lots of mirrors in your place huh?
hawkdriver on December 21, 2008 at 12:04 PM
Yeah, some of their ink dot drawings have been known to get pretty racy. :-)
dedalus on December 21, 2008 at 12:09 PM
hawkdriver:
It’s a Wonderful Life was never intended to be either quaint or harmless. You are imposing your own superficial reading and misremembered viewing sensations upon a film that is NOT sentimental or sappy — which is the point of the NYT article.
Also: work on your reading comprehension. Lots of men on this thread ARE making fun of the writer for being (they presume) a stuck up, latte sipping _city boy_.
Maybe you should leave the film studies and other heavy analytical lifting to others.
I didn’t detect any “making fun of you” in anything I read, btw hawk.
Again: YOUR defensiveness and hostility, as well as your poor powers of perception, are making you look very foolish. I guess when you post anonymously it’s easier to get away with being a blustering goof.
PS: spell my name right next time.
fivefeetoffury on December 21, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Let me say that I liked the article. I’m a fan of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” but have often felt some of writer’s ambivalence about the events and characters (even though the ending never fails to choke me up). I think that any great movie will do that for the viewer.
SWLiP on December 21, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Id love to hear his revue of ” W ” or ” inconvenient trufe ”
eff him if he cant appreciate art.
I mean, with all the fine examples of movies without a plot and my favorite, a historic account being told to you by none other than tom cruise.
l o l
Sonosam on December 21, 2008 at 12:42 PM
Actually, the movie couldn’t be more timely. Thrift, integrity, and responsibility are missing among so many of today’s financial leaders.
corona on December 21, 2008 at 12:51 PM
I never enjoyed that heist movie that had all the Cooper Minis in it. There were so many incredible reality flaws that I couldn’t enjoy spirit of the film. I missed the point that it was a fantasy, even though it was told in a “real world” context.
On the other hand, I love superhero movies. Going in I recognize it is a fantasy and certain amount of grace is required to overlook obvious reality flaws.
It’s a Wonderful Life is a fantasy about the grace George receives that rescues him from his despair. Too bad this reviewer missed this point completely. He is judging it in present day context as a “real world” story and failing to extended any grace of his own to the film.
The article is what passes in the NYT as “edgy” and “bold.” Take down a cultural icon by ignoring the message of the movie and focusing on other details of the story.
Mallard T. Drake on December 21, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Oh, I be so p’wned.
Let’s see, used the classic work on your reading skills insult. Then injected things that were never said. Chastised me for misspelling your name in the same post where you abbreviate mine.
Oh yeah, I be p’wned!
hawkdriver on December 21, 2008 at 3:23 PM
I didn’t read anything “furious” here. I was quite insulted when I read the above quoted comment on your site though. Is HA just a place where you come to collect material for your site from where we brainless commoners wallow in our mistruths?
hawkdriver on December 21, 2008 at 3:31 PM
…not my favorite movie, but apparently not the reviewer’s either…for entirely different reasons….
…store this review away for later…it’ll come in handy….
…it’s as good an example as you’re gonna get of those folks who’ve grown so cool that they’re completely useless….
…if movies are the literature of our lazy, degraded spot on the timeline, then this review is a sign of the reason why the timeline has sunk so far….
…movies relay our emotions, aspirations, jealosies and hatreds…we only write today is only used for snarky remarks about achievers…to prove how small we’ve become….
Puritan1648 on December 21, 2008 at 3:49 PM
Yeah, so were mine. Then I grew the hell up, unlike this writer.
Missy on December 21, 2008 at 4:19 PM
It’s a Wonderful Life is set in a small town but its enduring lessons have nothing whatsoever to do with small towns. I personally can’t stand small town. I find them stifling. But I love IWL nonetheless. It’s about making a difference and being an honorable man.
Charles Martel on December 21, 2008 at 5:35 PM
Most people have no idea what a dark movie It’s a Wonderful Life is because most people simply haven’t seen the entire movie. The movie runs 2 hours and 20 minutes and until I bought it on VHS when I was in my late 20’s I had never seen the whole movie either. It always played in 2 hour time slots with commercials, so all those dozens of times I’d seen it, I had never really seen it.
The only disagreement I have with the article is the writer’s description of the scene where George and Mary first kiss. That scene, with Mary and George sharing the receiver as they are talking to Sam on the phone is one of the most erotic scenes in all of movie history. The chemistry between Donna Reed and Jimmy Stewart is electrifying. George wants Mary, but he knows it means never leaving Bedford Falls. Mary has loved George since she was a little girl and she doesn’t understand his conflict. George wasn’t being cruel to Mary. Cruel would have been if he had listened to his head (and not his heart and his dick) and walked out. He didn’t. He did the right thing.
Like the previous comment says, It’s a Wonderful Life is about making a difference and being an honorable man. That’s why when Harry says “To my big brother George, the richest man in town” it’s true.
Jaynie59 on December 21, 2008 at 6:03 PM
Why is it that every time I read a story like this the author seems to always reveal themselves to have been an angry teenager? In this case he refers to himself as an “angry young man”. I think he still sees life with the mentality of an angry teenager. Who else would watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” and then write:
I guess some people never change.
Dollayo on December 21, 2008 at 7:06 PM
I wonder that Shaidle makes comment on the commentary here while not even allowing commentary at her own blog.
Reminds me of another blogger in the centre of the known universe. Used to work for a guy named Chretien.
Jim708 on December 21, 2008 at 8:01 PM
I also left my small town for the big city. I appreciate the city for certain qualities, but if I moved back to my small town, I’d appreciate it for other qualities. I often think whether I’d be happier in the small town. My interpretation is that all situations have pros and cons. If you focus on the cons, like earlier in the movie, things are miserable. Focus on the pros, like at the end, things are better. The actual situation is immaterial.
InCali on December 21, 2008 at 8:56 PM
Wrong, Mr. Moss, you worthless ignorant amoral piece of crap.
Check the divorce and illegitimacy stats–and others–during the Depression of the 1930s. The opposite of what this garbage-article says
There have been ugly threads on this blog before, but in a way this is possibly the worst. It’s not even worth taking on, but I just wanted to express my disgust
GFY, AllahP. Really, dude, GFY
Janos Hunyadi on December 21, 2008 at 9:12 PM
I think the movie is about sacrifice: yeah, living in the big city is cool, and if one has an opportunity to go there and has to pass it up to live in a one-horse town… anyway, I can see why that message would fly over any number of learned, oh-so-cool heads.
ddrintn on December 21, 2008 at 9:21 PM
So you know how all atheists are…. cool. Guess that means I can make blanket statements about everyone who believes in some all powerful diety, correct?
In the words of one of your fellow believers and in the grand Christian tradition of hypocrisy, GFY.
Jim708 on December 21, 2008 at 10:14 PM
I wondered the same thing. The sad part is that her site has very reasoned Conservative commentary. I would enjoy it if (as I would also appreciate Blakes postings) if they just weren’t so insulting and such bomb throwers. And I’ll throw out an apology to them both right here for what it’s worth to either one of them for posting in kind. I honestly think it solves nothing and hate it when any of us get that way. Me in particular.
hawkdriver on December 21, 2008 at 10:38 PM
The NY Times actually pays this guy to check the accuracy of fiction? I must wonder how much longer that will go on. What is next for this guy, pondering how much jail time Santa should get for breaking into homes and trespassing?
Dollayo on December 22, 2008 at 3:39 AM
I say we take off and nuke New York City from orbit.
It’s the only way to be sure.
pseudonominus on December 22, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Right, because it is better to live in squalor and poverty than to ever have any chance at any opportunities. So says the NY Times, and who can doubt their wisdom. How dare he bring manufacturing anywhere? He should live in a tree communing with nature until a bear eats him, or he freezes/starves as nature intended. That would be wonderful.
Sadly this writer is stuck in a huge metropolis built on the backs of unimaginable manufacturing and industry… I guess the guilt got to him for this to be his submission.
gekkobear on December 22, 2008 at 2:14 PM
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