Mrs. Seinfeld could never believe or understand how anyone could not like Jerry

Actually, Dad and I just talked about his dislike of the movie a week or so ago. He just thinks it's very depressing. I'm betting he will agree with the NY Times article's assessment of the story.

One hopes that George's view of his life is redeemed at the end. I think that is why it is a much beloved movie--based on the hope that even though he has suffered a lifetime of disappointments and set-backs, he realizes that the life he has led really couldn't have been better and the rest of his life will be led with that perspective in mind. George does make the best of it--he does appear to be happy between all of the setbacks that are the main plot points. It is this side of George that makes the ending plausible and leaves one with the view that he will see his life as wonderful from here on out.

I can see how a lot of the movie is kind of depressing.

But I think that not only is George's view of his life redeemed at the end, but that he was not really unhappy with his life until the crisis of the lost deposit and its theft by Mr. Potter.

We see a lot of the disappointments in George's life, but that's all back-story of his sacrifice and nature. But until that fateful Christmas Eve, I think if you asked George his thoughts on his life, he would not have been angry or depressed.

Perhaps Dad can chime in here, but my sense is that folks of George's generation, which would be contemporaries of Nana and Papa, were more accustomed to the kinds of sacrifices and "limitations" in their lives, so that to a modern audience, we expect George to be a "warped, frustated young man" as Potter calls him in throwing George's words in his face.

Having gone through the Depression and living a life of scrimping, saving and sacrifice was what many more people did during that era than our own (perhaps up to this point...). But George loved his family, his friends and, I would think, his life until everything was threatened on Christmas Eve and he found himself apparently unable to protect himself and ones he loved.

Let's not spend too much time over analyzing a movie. It's not so much that I really dislike it, as much as I never was crazy about it. Just a little dark for me. I was also not fond of "A Christmas Story". I think that's the name of the B B gun movie, which your mother likes. Again, no special reason, just not crazy about it. "A Christmas Carol" isn't my thing either. If I have a favorite, it would be "White Christmas", which used to be a network staple in a simpler time. As I recall, Wonderful Life was not really well received when it first came out but only became popular later. If I need to offer a comment, from the perspective of the mid 40's, the events of life were dark, in a way none of us can identify with today. In that context, it is probably easier to understand the movie, as Ed has noted.

... I had to laugh when I read dad's wise advice not to over-analyze it, it's a movie. I say the same thing to my lovely bride quite often when she starts asking questions about characters on TV.

All that said, the generation starting with mine is used to a world where we get reviews and critiques of everything. Think of Siskel and Ebert and other tv movie critics, and now multiply that by a billion with the online world filled with people who are ready, willing and able to give you a view on everything (obviusly, myself included).

Throw in the fact that more people than ever are getting college degrees and are exposed to more and more over-analysis of everything, and it's kind of a "perfect storm" for generating lengthy, soul-searching essays on things like 60 year old Christmas movies.

I was reading an editorial the other day by Rob Long, who was one of the Cheers producers, and he made a funny, perhaps too true, observation about international trade and observed that Asia is where all the things that we buy as consumer goods for our lives and homes are made. Here, we create arcane debt structures and invent Twitter.

the Liberal who can't understand a story of transcending the physical, the temporal to find the meaning of life in the spiritual. It's far to easy to dismiss life as brutish and ugly, and too often seen that way as a Liberal. Great post.