There’s a psychological term that sprouted from this landmark film, “The George Bailey Effect.” Clarence Odbody, the angel, takes George (Jimmy Stewart)—who is on the verge of suicide—through a “Sliding Door” scenario of what his little town, Bedford Falls, would be like if George never existed. It is a journey poetically summed up with Clarence famously telling George, “Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?” The Effect comes from realizing the Ripples of Impact we have in the world. When someone is going through a difficult time, a therapist (or coach, friend, or spouse) can help them see the invisible impact they’ve had on others.
Many of us can feel, as George did in the film, that we’re suffocating due to small-town life, sandwich generation obligations, a bad job or marriage, or just the midlife disillusionment that comes when we realize we’ll never realize some of our childhood dreams. In George’s case, it was the idea of becoming a millionaire in the big city, but he gets stuck taking care of the ill-fated family building and loan business in Bedford Falls. He can’t seem to “shake the dust of this crummy little town” and feels stuck. Bedford Falls is George’s ball and chain. He’s told by Old Man Potter (patron saint of Donald Trump) that “you’re worth more dead than alive” due to his family insurance policy so George heads to the bridge above the raging river to jump.
At this moment, his guardian angel, Clarence, jumps into the river in order for George to save him rather than taking his own life (“I saved you by you trying to save me”) and helps George disavow what he’d said earlier that day, “I wish I’d never been born.” Clarence reminds George what his community would be like if George didn’t exist. For example, George saved his brother’s life, who in turn saved a whole platoon during the war. He stopped a grief-stricken pharmacist (who’d just received word that his son had died in the Spanish flu pandemic) from inadvertently poisoning a customer. He saved the soul of his town by preventing a run on the bank.
Without George Bailey, the lovely Bedford Falls would have become the dark Potterville, named after the stingy, local aristocrat who owned much of the town. Clarence’s bit of magic helps George see that each person’s life touches so many other lives, even if we don’t recognize the effect we’re having. By the end of this dark section of the film, George realizes his current life is so blessed and he shouts to his angel, “Help me, Clarence, get me back, please. I want to live again.” This reminded me a bit of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz reminding herself, “There’s no place like home.”
-Chip
P.S. If you love films as much as I do, I hope you’ll join me and a couple dozen others for my Film Fest in Santa Fe Dec 17-22 on the ranch (given this is more of a film fest than a workshop, the pricing is less expensive than a workshop). It’s the perfect season to drink some hot chocolate (or hot toddies), eat popcorn, and watch three films a day enriched by deep, rich conversations afterwards. It’s also a glorious time of year to be in Santa Fe especially with the Christmas Eve Farolito Walk on Canyon Road.
