Movie: It's a Wonderful Life

"It's a Wonderful Life" is a movie that was released almost 70 years ago -- in 1946.  It's about an angel who helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.

At this time of year I show this movie for several reasons:

1. It's a good study of someone who has dreams of what they want to do but situations in life move them in another direction.
2. It's a good example of how finance in a savings and loan situation works.
3. It showcases the early part of the 20th Century in a small town, including:
1. How a small town can get caught up in a national crisis.
2. The banking crisis and a "run" on a bank.
3. It does a good job of showing how our great grandparents (and great-great grandparents) weren't really so different from us. Whether we [or they] are willing to admit it or not.
4. It shows how a good, intelligent, hard-working person can still suffer from depression.
5. It reminds us that we don't always know the difference we are making in others' lives.

There aren't a lot of requirements for this movie other than paying attention and completing a simple worksheet for the first and second halves of the movie.  If you would like another copy of the worksheet, you can download it. (Here)

I'll be showing it in class, but here's an online version that you can watch:

And now you know where this meme came from: