the rix mix

Winter solstice was this morning, & it is winter. Very much so. Some years it isn't winter weather. I think of the winter solstice as the real New Year. Nights will not become longer, although we won't take much notice of them becoming shorter until the end of January. Nearly all the traditions we now associate with Christmas are about the solstice. The sun appears to stop for a few days at its lowest, southernmost position, which must have been quite alarming to ancient people. What if it decides to stay there? So they had to perform all the rituals to bring back the sun they did last year, & the year before, etc., because those ceremonies always worked.

Check out Wendell Jamieson's appreciation of It's A Wonderful Life, It’s a Pitiful, Dreadful Life..

Not only is Pottersville cooler and more fun than Bedford Falls, it also would have had a much, much stronger future. Think about it: In one scene George helps bring manufacturing to Bedford Falls. But since the era of “It’s a Wonderful Life” manufacturing in upstate New York has suffered terribly.

On the other hand, Pottersville, with its nightclubs and gambling halls, would almost certainly be in much better financial shape today. It might well be thriving.

Jamieson thinks that the alternate timeline characters are authentic personalities repressed by the culture of Bedford Falls. Were they bound to come out eventually? Is there really a violent, undisciplined cop lurking inside Bert. If so, as an aging provincial police chief he probably flew into a rage & killed some insolent but harmless hippies hitchiking home from Woodstock.

Labels: holidays, movies