The film presents us with options and lets George Bailey choose his dreams. He could have gone travelling and let his father's business falter; he could have abandoned the girl down the block who loved him; he could have let misfortune bring him to self-destruction. Going back to the telephone kiss, he walked back to the girl's house, annoyed that she was so solicitious and that people were badgering him to pursue her. He rebelled (and actually acted rudely to her), though in the end, when he saw her tears and sorrow, he relented.

George Bailey is someone who changes, who is attuned to dreams and misfortunes of others (much as they are to his own). The film validates the necessity of compromising in life, not as a form of "sellout" but as a way of protecting the values one holds dearest.

It's interesting to compare with Christmas Carol, which frames another fate v. freedom conflict. When the three ghosts visit him, his fate seems inevitable. But by framing it as a dream, the story gives Scrooge another opportunity, another lease on life, another chance to atone for his previous oversights.

Finally, the question of "what would the town be like if..." is a great deliberative question, and no person can leave the theatre without pondering what impact (if any) he or she has made on people around him. Movies that can leave us thinking are capable of great things. Such is the case of Wonderful Life.

One more thing. This is a sentimental philosophical story, and so is Christmas Carol, but there is no intrinsic reason to pair these two with the Christmas holiday. The central concern of both stories is not Christmas itself but the individual's alienation from ritual holiday sentiment that blankets our world like snow (or propaganda).

See also Sorrentino's essay on Wonderful Life and Gary Kamiya's All Hail Pottersville.

Robert Nagle (aka idiotprogrammer) runs several weblogs and writes fiction under various pseudonyms. He lives in Houston, which experienced snowfall for the first time in 10 years on Christmas eve.