Every year at this time, it has become more or less of a tradition for me to read Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol and watch the movie It’s a Wonderful
Life at least once. They have become an integral part of the season for me. Over the past few years, however, and especially this year, it seems to me
that the negative protagonists in these stories, Ebeneezer Scrooge and Mr. Potter, could be mainstream individuals in this day and age, and might even
be praised by some.
Charles Dickens makes no secret of how Scrooge is viewed in A Christmas Carol. He goes to great length to paint Scrooge as, to say the least, not a nice
guy at all. In fact, it’s safe to say he’s universally reviled, and for good reason. And yet, I can’t help but wonder how Scrooge would come across in
this day and age. I’ve seen modern-day individuals who act very similar to him get glowing write-ups in Business Week and Fortune and get glowing profile
treatment on CNBC and FoxNews. Much of what he did is now considered simply “good business”. I could very easily see him lauded as someone who “single-mindedly
sticks to the business model”. Scrooge’s attitude toward the poor, exemplified in his encounter with the men who came into his counting house soliciting
for charity, is sadly indicative of the attitude of many today toward the poor. And, so far as I know, Marley’s ghost is very scarce these days.
Much of what I said regarding Scrooge could also be said about Mr. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life. Less than ten minutes into the film, Henry F. Potter
is labeled as “the richest and meanest man in the county”, and he subsequently proves the point throughout the film. Yet, if the same movie were made today
by some, Potter would be the right-thinking man of business, and George Bailey would no doubt be portrayed as a pie-eyed idealist who doesn’t understand
the real America and is probably a Socialist besides. In the last scene of the movie, where the whole town is gathered joyously in the Bailey’s living
room, I could see Mr. Potter bursting in and saying “hey, what about that $8,000?”
I don’t know if overall perception has shifted that much, or if I’m way off base. I suppose both could be true. Whatever the case, I’m going to continue
with my tradition and enjoy the book and movies in the true Christmas spirit. Merry Christmas and happy holidays.
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