History Fridge / ItsAWonderfulLife

** Even worse: life insurance policies don't cover suicides. [[note]] That's not true. If enough time has passed since the policy was purchased, most companies will pay out even for a suicide. [[/note]]If George went ahead and killed himself, the B&L would definitely have gone under and his family would have been left with nothing. How much do you want to bet that Potter knew this and goaded George into suicide because of it? In Potter's mind, the B&L would've been his whether George lived or died; making Mary and the kids suffer the consequences of George's death [[KickTheDog would've just been a bonus for him]].

*** What’s worse, George had snapped at his children and Mary had angrily told him off for scaring them, causing him to storm off and Mary to realize what was really going on. If George really had died, the family’s last memory of him would had been of him angry and distraught, with Mary in particular having to live with the fact the last words she would had ever said to her beloved husband were full of anger and not realizing his issue until it was too late to comfort him.

*** What’s worse, George had snapped at his children and Mary had angrily told him off for scaring them, causing him to storm off and Mary to realize what was really going on. If George really had died, the family’s last memory of him would had been of him angry and distraught, with Mary in particular having to live with the fact the last words she would had ever said to her beloved husband were full of anger and not realizing his issue until it was too late to comfort him.


!!FridgeLogic
* Why is George allowing Uncle Billy to handle the money at all?
** There's a difference between being forgetful and being irresponsible. Also, ''you'' come up with a way to tell an old man that he's not fit for the duties he's been performing faithfully and flawlessly all his life without a really solid reason.
*** Also keep in mind that Billy was apparently one of the founding owners of the business. Trying to tell a guy he's too incompetent to run the business he helped start, especially a family member, would probably be a little difficult. Although still, you could hope that George talked to Billy afterward about retirement.
** That may be for the better, since Pottersville Mrs. Bailey mentions that after the Building and Loan went out of business, Uncle Billy was put in a mental hospital. Whether that's because he's too loopy to be out on his own or because he just didn't know what else to do with himself is probably up for debate.
*** I always imagined that Uncle Billy simply couldn't handle that his business went belly up, had a nervous breakdown, and was hauled off to the funny farm in a straitjacket.
*** Also, Billy was seen to drink now and then. He got sloshed at Harry's party and had a nip from a flask in the "run on the bank" sequence -- seeming to use it as self-medication for anxiety. My guess is that he wasn't an alcoholic, but might have become one, or at least hit the bottle more heavily after the B&L failed, a routine reason to have someone committed back then.
*** The bar for commitment to a mental institution was a lot lower in the 1940's. For all we know (and it it's perfectly within character), Potter may have ''arranged'' for Uncle Billy to be committed so he could take over the Building and Loan. Having sometimes perfectly fine people committed was a common underhanded way for someone to get his hands on a business or estate. As it was, this was an era when homosexuals and people with learning disabilities could be confined to a mental institution in most jurisdictions. All it takes is one crooked judge... and [[ScienceMarchesOn psychiatry being what it was back then]], it would be next to impossible to convince the doctors to let you back out. Hell, it's ''still'' like that in some places ([[BedlamHouse mental institutions]] can ''make'' you crazy). Even if they did let him out, the damage would already be done.
* Why does Mary need glasses in the Pottersville segment? Did George's existence somehow improve her eyesight?
** She's working at the library now. Everyone knows that dames can't handle that much readin'. They'll go blind.
** It's because George was the only man she ever loved. In this universe, because George never existed and she is living in a CrapsackWorld, the men in that world would have been just as bad for her. A person of George's quality wouldn't exist. So she rather take her chances of being an old maid than to be a depressed wife.
*** This is all true but I don't understand how it relates to Mary's eyesight.
** She's living in one of the crappy little shacks Potter provides to working-class people and thus doesn't have adequate lighting at night, causing her to strain her eyes.
** Glasses might have been one of the few things Mary was vain about, considering them unattractive. In the lousy alternate world, she didn't care about her appearance, having given up. So she needed glasses to read, which is important for a librarian.
** Or she's working to make herself as plain as possible. It's not unheard of for women in places like Pottersville to be assaulted by drunken men.
*** Conversely, in the alternate world, she may have worn glasses whether she needed them or not because [[SmartPeopleWearGlasses having a "smart person" job]] was the keystone of what self-respect she could cling to.
** She's a spinster. What they say [[SelfAbuse is true]].
** Or both Marys need reading glasses and librarian Mary was too distracted by thoughts of getting home safe to remember to take hers off.
** Constant reading raises the risk of nearsightedness. Alternate Mary is a librarian. She reads a lot. Hence the glasses.
* Why did Gower even have that bottle of poison powder in his work area to begin with?
** I may be wrong, but it's possible that either the substance was only poisonous in combination with other things in the capsules, something that was supposed to be topical but was toxic if ingested, something that particular patient would have a bad reaction to, or a usually harmless in small amounts drug being administered at an absurdly high overdose because Gower mixed up the drugs in his grief. (All we know is George says it's poison and Gower is horrified when he tastes it -- that doesn't mean it's ''always'' poison, only in the context of capsules meant for a sick kid. I don't believe we got a good look at the bottle he mixed it in, but it has been a while since I've seen it.) It's also possible Gower was so drunk he grabbed rat or roach poison -- which would have a legitimate reason for being in an establishment that also sold food items, but obviously hopefully not in close proximity to the medicine/food.
*** Watch the scene more closely, and the bottle is clearly marked "POISON" on one side. It's most likely the latter case; insect or rat poison that Gower keeps, both for use in his own business to keep vermin out, and to sell to the townspeople who may ALSO need poison to rid their homes of vermin.
*** This is covered in Headscratchers, but the poison is cyanide, usually kept for use in tests. Its only medical use is as tiny doses to lower high blood pressure.
*** Plus there's plenty of chemicals which, in small doses, are perfectly safe, but in large doses are dangerous. These are often covered with big skull-and-crossbones labels telling people not to mess around with them. Considering Gower has a young boy working for him, he probably has bottles labelled with 'POISON' specifically to make sure George doesn't go anywhere near them.
*** And if you read anything by Agatha Christie, you'll find a lot of references to people "signing the poison book" when purchasing something at the pharmacist that is poisonous. Pharmacists likely had greater control over substances sold elsewhere now. ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmacy_Act_1868 Poison register books]] are a British thing, but it's reasonable to assume something similar existed in the U.S., probably at the state level.)
* Speaking of Gower, during the sequence about Gower and the pills, Mary is sitting at the counter and ''witnesses the entire thing''. George swears he'll never tell about the mistake; Mary doesn't reveal that she saw it all, but she keeps silence also.
* Obviously the heavenly host is under no obligation to explain its nomenclature system, but "[=AS2=]" doesn't really make sense as an abbreviation for "Angel, Second Class." "[=A2C=]" would work better.
** Someone once worked out that the S stood for Seraphim, and while that's not a seraph's job, it was Christmas and heaven was probably an absolute zoo.
** The angelic designations in the film may be based on the U.S. government Civil Service ones, known as GS (General Schedule -- [[SarcasmMode of course it really stands for Government Slave]]). The GS numbers refer to pay grades. AS, then, would be Angelic Service or Angelic Schedule. With this system, Clarence will become an Angel ''Third'' Class when promoted.
** Another likely possibility is that it's based on the Navy's system of enlisted ranks and rates - a Boatswain's Mate Second Class is a BM2. Not all rates (i.e., job titles) are exact acronyms, so there wouldn't be any need for angels to be, either. Clarence would then likely get a promotion to AS1, that is, Angel First Class.

*** What’s worse, George had snapped at his children and Mary had angrily told him off for scaring them, causing him to storm off and Mary to realize what was really going on. If George really had died, the family’s last memory of him would had been of him angry and distraught, with Mary in particular having to live with the fact the last words she would had ever said to her beloved husband were full of anger.

* Considering how Gower was so ''wrecked'' by the loss by the loss of his son that he came close to poisoning a kid (and did in the alternate timeline), what kind of grief did Peter go through after the death of Harry in the Pottersville world?
** The failure of the Building and Loan in Pottersville might've been a result of that personal tragedy. Remember that the Building and Loan isn't exactly a profitable business: Peter runs it in order to keep Bedford Falls afloat, and faces opposition from people like Potter who only care about money. What if after the loss of his son, [[CynicismCatalyst he stopped caring about doing any good and let B&L collapse]]. Or what if the stress of losing his son killed him? It could also explain why Ma turned out so bitter: her husband losing his faith in the world and then dropping dead is not a remotely fun thing to experience.
** Uncle Billy is a man who already isn't "all there", but imagine how much worse they would've been made by the loss of his nephew, his brother [[DespairEventHorizon shutting down and not caring about the world]], his own wife dying, and his town taken over and ruined by a heartless monster? Billy might've been institutionalized out of sheer depression and despair alone.

* It is easy to mistake Potter as a grumpy Scrooge-like businessman who only cares about money. But Scrooge eventually felt guilt over his greedy and uncaring behavior and was always scrupulous in his affairs, but Potter shows remorse for ''nothing'' and is willing to cheat. The fact that he enjoys the desolation of Pottersville is means he's something ''much'' worse: He is an outright psychopath who enjoys having power over others, holds deep contempt for virtue and decency, and straight-up enjoys ruining other people.
** His willingness to ruin his own business rival through straight-up ''theft'', reveling in the man's misery, and then telling him to go kill himself goes well beyond illegal, it is a sign of some serious anti-social tendencies.
** Like many psychopaths, Potter lacks any meaningful human connection in his life and is more or less content with that. But what if the reason he never married is that his antisocial tendencies make him a ''[[DomesticAbuse rotten]]'' husband?
** Potter also shows signs of superficial charm: he pretends to show respect for Peter and his lofty ideals while trying to manipulate them into shutting down his rival's business, and he nearly convinces George to work for him directly with a promise of money and benefits. As George observes the man plays the spider, spins his web, and waits for delicious insects to come toward him.
** The moral cesspit of Pottersville isn't just an ''accident'' of his greedy ways: he's just a monster who loves seeing his fellow man consumed by misery, on top of the power he holds. And if he's capable of causing so much ruin to others, what other horrible things does he get away with when there's no one to stop him?

** Even if he lived- Potter's shown to be casually racist (angrily calling Martini and his family "garlic-eaters" at one point). If Potter controls all the property and real estate, it's pretty unlikely that Martini would be able to open his bar and make a living.

* When Clarence (and the audience) first see Potter, he's riding around in a carriage with a very haughty expression. Clarence asks his superiors if the man is a king. It is obvious Potter, the egotistical ass, is projecting an image of majesty. By this time, around 1919, horse-drawn carriages had fallen out of favor. The only reason Potter would still use a horse is pure vanity.