|
I just watched it again. The first time I saw it was in my immediate post-college years, 1983, when the economy was pretty damn bad too, and it's no less relevant to me today than it was then.
At that time I was a frustrated young person with a bachelor's who was afraid no one would hire me for a job ever because I lacked experience, and I lacked experience because I couldn't get a job. I could relate so well to Fred Derry's character. He used to be a soda jerk, but in the Air Force during World War II he learned to drop bombs cleanly and accurately and received medals for meritorious service. But he comes home to find out that the old drugstore he worked for has been sold to a chain and they have no interest in hiring him for a job higher up the corporate ladder than his old one because he didn't work during the war in areas like "procurement." They have no use for a guy who "just dropped bombs." So he ends up working a floor job that requires him to go back to the soda fountain part time, and ends up losing it after fighting with an opinionated dickhead he overhears calling his service in the war a waste because he was "fighting the wrong enemy."
Jobless and frustrated and with his selfish, frivolous wife having dumped him after he proved to be a stateside "flop," he makes plans to leave town and start over--anywhere. It's only when he comes across a huge graveyard of old fighter planes at the airport that his plans change. He learns they're being converted into tract housing, and asks the man doing the work for a job. "Got any construction experience?" he's asked. "No, but in the Air Force I learned one thing," he says. "I learned how to learn." He gets an offer.
Then you have Al, the banker. He goes back to the savings and loan where he worked and gets a promotion that will involve approving loans to veterans. When he starts approving them, he's challenged as to whether he isn't taking chances with the bank's money. Luckily, he's a man of integrity and his war experience has taught him something, and he fights back, saying that yes, the bank IS taking a chance--on America's future.
I once watched it as a young person worried that I'd never get a job. Now I watch it as an older person with no job, afraid I'll never get another one (and I can't afford to retire). And I identify with the same things, and more. The bought-out employer that won't give Fred a chance at a better job than he once had because he doesn't have the right experience. That considers the experience he does have worthless. The current employees looking askance at him (he, who served their country) merely as someone who might steal their jobs. The way he has to sell himself to another employer by saying "No, I don't have experience, but I have learned how to learn." That employer takes a chance on him. How many did in 1983? How many do now? How many will say "You know how to learn; we trust that if we give you this job, you will learn it"?
And the bank scenes have resonance with me today that they didn't back then. Now, Al's savings and loan reminds me of the big banks of today. They both got help when they needed it (Al and his fellow vets were responsible for ensuring they even had a country left to operate in), but when it comes time for them to repay the favor by loosening their pursestrings, what happens? "Oh no, can't do that, too risky." Well, apparently coming up with imaginary financial instruments and speculating on them wasn't too risky. Oh, no, wait...
Really, this movie is a classic, and like It's a Wonderful Life, rather than seeming like a period piece about postwar America, it only gets more relevant as time goes on. It doesn't really matter whether or not you were ever in the service, or whether you've ever faced a disability like Homer's that makes you wonder whether the people you love can get past it and help you move on to live a happy and fulfilling life. If you've never taken time to watch it, you should. I only wish it were required viewing for our politicians. Because the things said in it about the attitudes of employers and banks are still relevant to this day...and not just for veterans, but for average Americans.
If they want the country to grow, they have to take a chance on us. They have to trust that the investment they make in us will pay dividends, rather than treating us all like greedy pigs who will just take what they offer and leave them emptyhanded. They need to have faith and trust in us. Because without us, they're going nowhere.
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
