It's A Wonderful Movie

There was something vital I wanted  to address during the holidays but they came and went pretty fast so here it is:

What's the deal with Mr. Gower and Mr. Potter in the movie "It's A Wonderful Life"? They're both ancient, decrepit wrecks in the first scenes of the film, approximately 1919, but look exactly the same in the late 40s. It's one of my favorite movies but that facet of lazy scriptwriting has always bothered me.

I pondered this recently and my fantasy rewrite would have addressed the problem with the addition of these two major plot points: After Gower's son died he was left in charge of Violet, his granddaughter. But Potter also had a grandson, a handsome, though devious lad, who loved Violet.

Think about it. When Potter died or retired his grandson could have been placed in charge of the bank. He now would had honest motivation to resent George, whom Violet always preferred. The grandson, in revenge, would have put the screws to Gower's business to simultaneously torment him and force Violet to show him affection, or else. In this he no doubt fails.

Potter was a bitter old man, for certain, but a grandson twisted by petty jealously, not business, would have been far worse.

As for Mr. Gower, he would have been a doting grandfather, spoiling Violet and answering the question of how she dressed so well and had so much time for frivolity. After Gower dies, of simple old age, Violet have found herself unable to run the business and, in shame, decides to leave town and start over.

In the alternate reality Violet, unaided by her grandfather, imprisoned (and inevitably dying in prison) for accidentally poisoning a patient, never escaped poverty and became a loose woman. It would have been her that was tossed out of Nick's for being an undesirable, not old man Gower.

So what was already a pretty dang good film could have had a spiffy new subplot of steaming passion and revenge. Just the thing we need at Xmas time.

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The following are real shootings that occurred in December of 2015 in these here United States, summarized in the first-person voice.

A man tried to rob my store, but I have a concealed carry license, so I pulled out my gun. I unintentionally shot a bystander, and one of my bullets hit a nearby house. The robber got away unharmed. (IL, 12/05)

I heard a noise so I grabbed my shotgun to investigate, but unintentionally discharged it into my five-month-old baby’s crib. (GA, 12/06)

I wanted my 14-year-old niece to give me her Jordans so I could sell them. She said no, so I shot her dead. (WA, 12/07)

My neighbor was watching a movie and the sound was bothering me so I knocked on his door and shot him when he answered. (MO, 12/12)

My fiancé was holding my dog so I could euthanize it with my gun. The bullet went through the dog and into his wrist. (FL, 12/15)

I was teaching my wife how to defend herself with a gun when I unintentionally shot her in the shoulder. (OK, 12/16)

A coworker made a joke about me so I shot him in the butt. (PA, 12/17)

Dad and I were fighting and his gun fell on the floor. It went off when I picked it up and shot mom dead. (MI, 12/17)

I was watching the Eagles game with my buddies and we got into an argument about football, so I shot three of them. (PA, 12/20)

I was using video chat to demonstrate the proper way to clean a gun when I unintentionally shot myself on camera. (FL, 12/22)

I met a woman who didn’t believe in God, so I shot her dead and made a shrine out of her body. (AZ, 12/24)

My boyfriend didn’t want to spend Christmas with my mom, so I shot him. (SC, 12/25)

I got a new gun for Christmas and I was playing with it and unintentionally shot my two-year-old niece in the face. (OR, 12/25)

Another customer at McDonald’s yelled at me that my order was ready, so I shot him. (FL, 12/26)

I got into an argument at a family gathering, so I started blasting away in a blind rage. I shot two little kids playing with Christmas presents. (MI, 12/27)

My brother accused me of disrespecting our mom, so I threatened to shoot him. He handed me my gun and dared me to shoot him, so I did. Twice. (FL, 12/27)

I grabbed my gun to go see what my dogs were barking at. I unintentionally shot myself in the leg, then lied to police and said a home invader shot me. (NY, 12/28)

I heard somebody approaching my bed in the middle of the night, so I grabbed my gun and fired. It was my daughter. She’s dead now. (FL, 12/29)

A car pulled into the parking lot of my apartment complex while the driver consulted the GPS. The headlights were right in my face, so I shot nine times at the car, hitting the six-year-old in the back seat. (TX, 12/29)

My son’s girlfriend was using my washing machine, and we had a fight about it, so I shot her and another guy who was visiting and then my unarmed son wrestled my gun away and shot me with it. (CA, 12/31)

A guy fell asleep at my New Year’s Eve party. I thought it would be funny to scare him and wake him up with my gun pointed at his face. But I unintentionally shot him in the head. (AZ, 12/31)

=Lefty=