Al’s Post-Christmas Tea: Amazon Prime Butchers It’s a Wonderful Life. Why?
Welcome back in for Al’s Post-Christmas Tea. We hope you had a warm and wonderful Christmas.
Here are some stories of the season you might have missed.
Amazon Prime Butchers It’s a Wonderful Life
Amazon Prime has done the unthinkable: butchered It’s a Wonderful Life. And I don’t mean in the “let’s make a pointless remake” kind of way. The new release is an “abridged” version of the holiday classic with the entire “Potterville sequence” cut out. Yes, all the vignettes in which George Bailey sees what would have happened to his loved ones and Bedford Falls had he not been born. Instead, this version cuts from the point where the angel Clarence tells the suicidal George he needs George’s help to earn his wings to George dashing joyfully through the streets to get home to his wife after realizing the impact he has had on others and the wonderful life he’s led. In other words, Prime axed the most crucial and dramatic section of the movie.
This is like cutting the iceberg out of Titanic. Italians out of The Godfather. The Wizard out of The Wizard of Oz.
Why on earth would anyone do this? Prime has not explained its reasoning. However, as Metro.co.uk explains, it may have something to do with an old copyright battle involving the film’s use of a short story called “The Greatest Gift” as an inspiration for “seeing what the world would be like had you not been born” idea. Given that the movie came out nearly 80 years ago, nobody would even have heard of “The Greatest Gift” had director Frank Capra not come across it, so that seems pretty weak. Besides, any copyright fight is not Amazon’s, since it didn’t make the film.
Could it be because the Potterville sequence is dark and intense and Christmas movies aren’t supposed to be intense? (Never mind the fact that the original Christmas story feature a massacre of children.) Prime’s blurb for the abridged version celebrates the edited version for retaining the film’s “sweetness and wonder.”
Sorry, Prime. Even that misses the mark. While the movie has astonishing moments of sweetness and wonder, It’s a Wonderful Life is driven by George’s increasing frustration and anger as his own dreams get continually snuffed out in the service of others. In fact, Capra deliberately had the actors speed up their delivery of lines, and he edited the film to subtly build the tension and anxiety the audience would feel — hence the incredible emotional release when George’s desperate “I want to live!” prayer is answered.
The film is supposed to be intense.
Take away Potterville — the pharmacist-turned-pathetic drunken beggar Mr. Gowers, the spinster Mary, the cold Mrs. Bailey, the mean and decadent streets of what had been Bedford Falls — and you take away the power and depth of It’s a Wonderful Life. You turn one of the greatest movies ever made into a slightly above-average Hallmark Christmas flick. Worse, you sacrifice the lesson of how invaluable a life of service and sacrifice is to those around you.
A Turnaround: Thief Returns Stolen Jesus Figurine
On December 17, someone stole a Baby Jesus figurine from a Nativity scene in the Old Town Square of Fort Collins, Colorado. The cops asked for the public’s help in finding “This Grinch” who was responsible.
But like the Grinch of Whoville fame, the thief had a change of heart. On December 19, the Baby Jesus was anonymously dropped off at the Poudre Fire Authority Station, along with an apology.
“I am really sorry,” the thief wrote. “I made a dumb mistake in the moment, it won’t happen again.”
Gifts to the Children of Western North Carolina
For those in western North Carolina, which is still ravaged by Hurricane Helene, this would not be the jolliest of Christmases. However, thanks to the efforts of BeLoved Ashville, thousands of children awoke Christmas morning to presents left at the door of the hotels, RVs, and other temporary shelters where they are staying.
https://twitter.com/matt_vanswol/status/1871905521521000939
Trump Aiming for Entertainer of the Year
President-Elect Donald Trump celebrated Christmas by dropping an amusing video on X because … well, why not?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 25, 2024
He also suggested that hockey legend Wayne Gretzky run for prime minister of Canada — or “Governor of Canada” — because … well, why not?
He also continued his push to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal. Because … well, why not?
You don’t need to be prophetic to see that, despite all the serious business that needs to be done, this upcoming Trump term is going to be entertaining in a Thursday night “Must See TV” sitcom kind of way … not the WWE smash-chairs-over-heads kind of way he went about things in his first term.
On the Stream Menu…
Wanda Alger returns with a new video: “Stressful Year? Here’s What He Said to Do.”
Meanwhile, John and Lisa Bevere explore the question of “How to Know If You’re Really Saved.”
Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.