History YMMV / ItsAWonderfulLife

** The film's lambasting of the amoral way Potter runs the town bank, up to and including flat-out robbing his customers, remains ever relevant in light of the Great Recession, as is him getting away with it, and being untouchable despite all the stuff he does. The responsibility a businessman has to a community has become ever more relevant in the era of neoliberalism. George sees the people of Bedford Falls as his friends and neighbors while Potter regards them as nothing but cattle who exist solely for his benefit.

** Potter himself get this from fans, often seen as a stern but reasonable businessman while George is often considered to be an irresponsible lender. This glosses over the fact that Potter tries to frame George for misappropriation of funds by knowingly keeping the $8,000 that Billy took, and later told him a really vile insult that made George want to throw his life away. Not to mention that Pottersville is the way it is because Potter wants to suck all the wealth out of the town rather than invest in the well-being of the community. That's in addition to it also being pointed out that George's more humane approach does yield results as giving people stability makes them happier, better and more reliable and improves life for the whole town and Potter would rather they be miserable and impoverished to keep them dependent on him.

** Mr. Potter has started to get a number of fans who see him as a representation of a good capitalist businessman. This requires ignoring his criminal actions later in the film, his cruelty mixed with his business tactics, and his cold disregard for anyone else at all, favoring placing more value on material possessions and total control over everything he can have than on human life and decency.

** The film's lambasting of the amoral way Potter runs the town bank, up to and including flat-out robbing his customers, remains ever relevant in light of the Great Recession, as is him getting away with it, and being untouchable despite all the stuff he does. The responsibility a businessman has to a community has become ever more relevant in the era of neoliberalism.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: From a standpoint of sound business practice, Potter isn't wrong to be concerned about George approving loans for people who were turned down by the bank because they didn't qualify. Just because someone like Ernie has good character, that doesn't necessarily mean that he'll be able to make his loan payments.
** Though that's lessened by the scene itself, in which George only throws in Ernie's character as an afterthought, and spends most of his defense pointing out that Ernie's actual finances ''do'' indicate his ability to repay a loan... provided that the terms of the loan are ''fair,'' rather than the predatory loans offered by Potter's bank. George also counters that giving people the stability of home ownership makes them better workers and customers and that it's unrealistic to expect working people to save the kind of money Potter expects them to have to buy a home.
** Subverted entirely when George's altruism is rewarded at the end of the movie, when everyone in town demonstrates that due to the kind terms of the B&L loans, they've been able to ''save'' money for an emergency.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: George Bailey's younger brother Harry has quite a bit of fans for being TheAce at various things (All-American college football star, genius at research, war hero to boot), but also being relatable, since George's frequent sacrifices are what makes Harry's achievements possible in the first place. Later on, Harry comes when Mary tells him his big brother is in trouble, and he repays the favors to George tenfold, even bringing his squad of men for reinforcement.

* PetTheDog: The residents of Pottersville may be a bunch of selfish and corrupt degenerates, but they're more than willing to protect the local spinster librarian from being chased by a man they perceive to be either crazy or drunk (or some combination) when she runs into the tavern screaming for help. They can be heard variously yelling to either subdue him or to call for a cop - which, in any other instance, would be commended.

* PetTheDog: The residents of Pottersville may be a bunch of selfish and corrupt degenerates, but they are more than willing to protect the local spinster librarian being chased by a man they perceive to be either crazy or drunk (or some combination) when she runs into the tavern screaming for help. They can be heard variously yelling to either subdue him or to call for a cop - which, in any other instance, would be commended.

* PetTheDog: The residents of Pottersville may be a bunch of selfish and corrupt degenerates, but they are more than willing to protect the local spinster librarian from a man they perceive to be either crazy or drunk (or some combination) when she runs into the tavern screaming for help, and calls can be heard calling for a cop - which, in any other instance, would be the responsible thing to do.

* GeniusBonus: Clarence's offhand line about his book Literature/TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer and [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/MarkTwain its author]] ("You should read the new book Mark Twain's writing now!") is most likely a reference to Twain's unfinished work Literature/TheMysteriousStranger - about an Angel who appears on earth before humans and takes them on a journey through time and space to help them avoid foretold tragedies in their lives. Sound familiar? (Although that's where the similarities end - [[spoiler:Twain's Angel is in fact Satan, and the story's intended nihilistic message - that "There is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream, a grotesque and foolish dream" - is the polar opposite of Capra's hopeful message at the end of the film]]).

** Though that's lessened by the scene itself, in which George only throws in Ernie's character as an afterthought, and spends most of his defense pointing out that Ernie's actual finances ''do'' indicate his ability to repay a loan... provided that the terms of the loan are ''fair,'' rather than the predatory loans offered by Potter's bank.

** Potter himself get this from fans, often seen as a stern but reasonable businessman while George is often considered to be an irresponsible lender. This glosses over the fact that Potter tries to frame George for misappropriation of funds by knowingly keeping the $8,000 that Billy took, and later told him a really vile insult that made George want to throw his life away. Not to mention that Pottersville is the way it is because Potter wants to suck all the wealth out of the town rather than invest in the well-being of the community.

* PopularityPolynomial: The reputation of this film these days is that it's an overexposed "classic" that plays too often on Christmas, and that it's much too sappy and sentimental to really be taken seriously (or, alternatively, embraced by its defenders for its serious and compelling portrayal of middle-class despair and for James Stewart's performance leading to George Bailey's breakdown). Strangely enough, this was more or less the reaction to the film in the year of its release, not only from the critics and the moviegoing public but from many of Capra's own contemporaries, friends, and colleagues (Creator/JeanArthur often noted that it irritated her when Capra called it his best film). It was only in the 1960s and '70s, when it started airing on television, that it came to be widely seen as a classic.

** As [[https://youtu.be/4pEppxr6pN4?t=384 Cinema Sins]] points out, George's motivations for keeping Mary's robe from her are a bit murky. Is he genuinely being a perverted asshole sexually harassing a poor girl who's repeatedly asked for her clothes back or does he think it's just a little gentle teasing between friends who already have some chemistry together?

--> '''Mr. Potter:''' [chuckling] You're worth more dead than alive.
* {{Narm}}:

* SpecialEffectFailure: The scenes of Bert, Ernie, Marty, and Harry at war are very obviously the actors superimposed over stock [=WWII=] footage. It seems unlikely that they would have appeared convincing even at the time of the movie's release.

* PopularityPolynomial: The reputation of this film these days is that it's an overexposed "classic" that plays too often on Christmas, and that it's much too sappy and sentimental to really be taken seriously (or, alternatively, embraced by its defenders for its serious and compelling portrayal of middle-class despair and for James Stewart's performance leading to George Bailey's breakdown). Strangely enough, this was more or less the reaction to the film in the year of its release, not only from the critics and the moviegoing public but from many of Capra's own contemporaries, friends, and colleagues (Creator/JeanArthur often noted that it irritated her when Capra called it his best film). It was only in the 1960s and '70s (when it started airing on television) that it came to be widely seen as a classic.

* SignatureScene: The ending where George regains his will to live and happiness, runs through Bedford Falls overjoyed, and is then greeted at home by the entire town who have come to financially save him, followed by everyone happily singing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "Auld Lang Syne".
* StrawmanHasAPoint: On the surface, Potter is right to be concerned about George giving loans to people that were turned down by the bank because they didn't qualify and that just because people like Ernie have good character, it doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be able to make their loan payments.
** Lessened by the scene itself, in which George only throws in Ernie's character as an afterthought and spends most of his defense pointing out that Ernie's actual finances ''do'' indicate his ability to repay a loan...if the terms of the loan are ''fair,'' rather than the predatory loans offered by Potter's bank.

* SpecialEffectFailure: The scenes of Bert, Ernie and Harry at war are very obviously the actors superimposed over stock footage. It seems unlikely that they would have appeared convincing even at the time of the movie's release.

* PopularityPolynomial: The reputation of this film these days is that it's an overexposed "classic" that plays too often on Christmas, and that it's much too sappy and sentimental to really be taken seriously, or alternatively embraced by its defenders for its serious and compelling portrayal of middle-class despair and for James Stewart's performance leading to George Bailey's breakdown. Strangely enough, this was more or less the reaction to the film in the year of its release, and by many of Capra's contemporaries, friends, and colleagues (Creator/JeanArthur often noted that it irritated her when Capra called it his best film), and that it was only in the 1960s and '70s (when it started airing on television) that it came to be regarded as a classic.

** In real-life, Creator/FrankCapra was at heart a "populist", i.e. someone who liked to take the side of the "little guy" against the system. That allowed him to take a bunch of contradictory attitudes. His strong individualism made him oppose, in his personal life, the New Deal policies of FDR and even admire, initially, Mussolini as a strong-man. But as an Italian-American in WASP America, he also understood the sympathies of the underdog, and as someone who wanted to entertain and please audiences, his movies in TheThirties largely reflected the social criticism that was popular at the time.[[note]]To wit, he was anti-Union but he also helped found the Director's Guild of America (mostly because it benefited his career). When the anti-communist controversy broke out, Capra became a stoolie for HUAC and provided secret testimony naming names, including many of his collaborators in the '30s, albeit this was something that pretty much everyone did, including people on the left such as Creator/CharlesLaughton and Creator/NicholasRay, since it was either that or get fired; so it's not by itself disqualifying.[[/note]] When he made ''It's A Wonderful Life'', his intention was to counter ''Film/TheBestYearsOfOurLives'' by Creator/WilliamWyler, which was a somber, critical view of how the war changed American society and the plight of the returning veterans. However, in the year of its release, Capra's film failed while ''Best Years of Our Lives'' was a success.

* PopularityPolynomial: The reputation of this film these days is that it's an overexposed "classic" that plays too often on Christmas, and that it's too sappy and sentimental to really be taken seriously, or alternatively embraced by its defenders for its serious and compelling portrayal of middle-class despair and for James Stewart's performance leading to George Bailey's breakdown. Strangely enough, this was more or less the reaction to the film in the year of its release, and by many of Capra's contemporaries, friends, and colleagues (Creator/JeanArthur often noted that it irritated her when Capra called it his best film), and that it was only in the '60s and '70s when it played on cable that it became a classic.

** Pottersville itself has a few people who think that it actually looks like a fun place to live, and that the various nightclubs and strip clubs would boost the town's economy. [[http://www.salon.com/2001/12/22/pottersville/ This article]] by Gary Kamiya in ''Salon'' examines this argument in more detail, claiming that the portrayal of Pottersville versus the straight-laced Bedford Falls suffers from a bad case of DoNotDoThisCoolThing by making the town look glamorous enough that people might actually want to live there, while Bedford Falls, by contrast, seems to have a dearth of entertainment options and a severe lack of privacy. Likewise, it doesn't help that Capra himself shoots Pottersville in a very glamorous FilmNoir-style that is visually quite striking.

** While suicide is a crime in Bedford Falls (and a sin in heaven), ideas thought at the time to be a suicide deterrent, the fact that George considers killing himself despite the law resonates with the more recent evidence that such laws don't often work, only stopping the suicidal person from getting help. By the 1990s, only two states still listed it as illegal.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Clarence Oddbody [[{{Determinator}} is beloved]] [[GuardianAngel for]] [[IncorruptiblePurePureness obvious]] [[CoolOldGuy reasons]], even though he doesn't make a physical appearance until the final act of the film.
** George Bailey's younger brother Harry has quite a bit of fans for being TheAce at various things (All-American college football star, genius at research, war hero to boot), but also being relatable, since George's frequent sacrifices are what makes Harry's achievements possible in the first place. Later on, Harry comes when Mary tells him his big brother is in trouble, and he repays the favors to George tenfold, even bringing his squad of men for reinforcement.
* FairForItsDay: Annie being a stereotypical housekeeper, and the only black character at that, subverts a lot of stereotyping seen at that time by showing her as being treated like a member of the family, which was relatively unseen at the time.

** Henry could be the ancestor of a [[Film/HarryPotter young wizard]].

** The video of Mary [[VinylShatters smashing a record]] out of frustration, replaced with trashy music, has been used as meme fodder.

*** It probably doesn't help that he shares a first ''initial'' and last ''name'' and with a teenage ''sorcerer''.

** A minor example. Viewers very often mistake the man whose tree George runs his car into for William Frawley of ''Series/ILoveLucy''. This character was actually played by an uncredited J. Farrell [=MacDonald=]. It is an easy mistake to make, since the two actors do look and sound similar and the character's only appearances in the film come in a pair of dimly-lit nighttime scenes.
** A more major example is the general pop-cultural perception that the film is a corny, diabetes-inducing schlockfest that only young children and old people stuck in the '40s would be able to stomach. Those who believe this are frequently surprised to see that the film contains BlackComedy, sex jokes, discussions of economics and banking that are difficult to understand without prior knowledge of the subjects, and copious RealismInducedHorror and NightmareFuel even ''before'' the BadFuture sequence kicks in.

* SocietyMarchesOn: Mr. Gower slapping and punching young George when he didn't deliver the medication didn't raise too many eyebrows at the time, but nowadays it would likely land him behind bars and facing a lawsuit from George's parents.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Potter is right to be concerned about George giving loans to people that were turned down by the bank because they didn't qualify and that just because people like Ernie have good character, it doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be able to make their loan payments. Lessened by the scene itself, in which George only throws in Ernie's character as an afterthought and spends most of his defense pointing out that Ernie's actual finances ''do'' indicate his ability to repay a loan...if the terms of the loan are ''fair,'' rather than the predatory loans offered by Potter's bank. Subverted entirely when George's altruism is rewarded at the end of the movie, when everyone in town demonstrates that due to the kind terms of the B&L loans, they've been able to ''save'' money for an emergency.

** Pottersville has a taxi dance, a burlesque house, a dime-a-dance, a pawn shop, and a bunch of places where you can get alcohol. By twenty-first century standards, it seems like a pretty tame place to live.

** The conflict between Potter and Building and Loan is that Potter wants to build slums while George wants to give the working people of Bedford Falls decent housing. With the cost of housing rising in the early 21st century, the need for cheap housing has never become more relevant than today.

* AccidentalAesop