Mary, George, and cute little Zuzu
You see, Mary Bailey is my hero (among fictitious heroes that is...). I wish I were more like her. She's beautiful, sweet, kind, and charitable. She is able to make the best of any situation. Here is a list of ways Mary sets an example for us all:
*She could have married Sam Wainwright. Her mother certainly wanted that arrangement. Sam was a big city fat cat with lots of success and a bright future in plastics. Her every material desire would have been taken care of had she chosen him.
*She chooses George and consigns herself to a life of pinching pennies and supposed small-town boredom. Traveling, nice fur coats, pearl necklaces, fancy cars - all possibilities thrown out the window with that choice. And even more, she made the choice knowing those would not be options for her. In fact, making her even better of a person, those things aren't really even desirable to her in the first place. She would much rather have a large family and a man she can depend on than any of those things.
*She's charitable. On the day of her wedding, the market crashes and there's a run on the bank. Here they are, sitting in their taxi, being shuttled off to some exotic honeymoon when the news hits. Does Mary mope that her perfect wedding/honeymoon have been ruined? No! Instead she encourages George to get himself over to the "ol' Building and Loan" without a word of complaint. Who is it that steps forward with the monetary solution to keep the doors open until 5:00? Mary - selflessly offering up their honeymoon money to others in their time of need.
*She's frugal. While George dreams of "dusting off dirt of this crummy little town", Mary dreams of living in the abandoned mansion with a house full of kids. And she turns that dilapidated old house into a beautiful honeymoon retreat when she gave up all said honeymoon funds. Who isn't touched by the travel posters in the windows and the chicken roasting over the fire while a turn table plays romantic music and provides the rotation for the roasting spit?
*She's happy with her circumstances and makes the most of them. While Mary and George are out in Bailey Park helping yet another family move into a well-built, affordable home, Sam Wainwright and his gal pal pull up in their nice car and fancy digs. Mary has on a plain skirt and blouse with a scarf around her head, and looks like a real working-class wife. She doesn't bat an eyelash at the obvious difference between her and George and Sam and his honey; in fact, she's genuinely happy for the success Sam's had. When she and George get in their old clunker car to head home, George kicks the fender of his piece of junk while Mary looks truly happy.
*She sees the best in people. When George comes home all out of sorts after learning that Uncle Billy lost the money that's going to send him to jail, Mary doesn't criticize or yell, and George is a real jerk when he comes home - yelling at the kids and talking about their "drafty old house". Of course she is embarrassed when George yells at Zuzu's teacher over the phone, and then horrified when he yells at the teacher's husband, but she doesn't respond in the way I probably would. Instead, she's honestly worried about her husband and asks her children to pray for him - "pray very hard". I don't think that under those circumstances I would have any desire to pray for my husband.
*She's the one who saves George. Because she knows George is a good man, she's quickly able to see that something's not right. Instead of harp on the fact that her husband was just an absolute jerk to the entire family, she immediately inquires after what's wrong, gets Uncle Billy to tell her the sad story, calls up all of George's friends to help out, and then goes looking for him in the freezing cold. The whole scene at the end of the movie with everyone pitching in and helping George out of his bind would have never happened if Mary hadn't so selflessly tried to save him.
I am not that selfless. Instead, I find myself relating to George much better. George doesn't want what life has handed him. He dreams of greatness, or his definition of it anyway. He wants out of Bedford Falls, he wants to get away from the Building and Loan, he wants to travel and build buildings and buy nice things. Heaven forbid he turn into his boring old father. And yet he sticks around, because he truly is a nice guy, but he does it a little begrudgingly. He's jealous of his war-hero brother and his financially-successful friend. He even contemplates taking a job offer from Mr. Potter because it will secure him all those things he's always wanted - travel, a nice home, a fur coat for Mary. He eventually turns it down, but not before giving it serious consideration. He has a short temper at times and even in his times of selfless service to the town of Bedford falls through his Building and Loan, he's always looking for the way out. He's waiting for Harry to come back from college so he can run the business, or for someone else to take the reigns of the thing so he can walk away. This is how I am. I do serve others, but most of the time I do it grumbling under my breath. I do appreciate my humble life, but I can't help but be a little jealous at times of those that have more material things than me. I want to kick the fender of my little piece of junk sometimes when "what I could have had" waltzes in front of me.
And yet, people are moved by George. They are loyal to him. They love him. And they recognize that although imperfect, he's always been there for them. So maybe it's not so bad to identify with George after all.
But I can say this: Who would George be without Mary?
