I was posting in a Cafe Society thread about the Frank Capra classic Holiday movie It’s a Wonderful Life and then a little later I heard Biden’s speech in Georgia today and realized I view Joe Biden as a real life George Bailey. It was noted that a thread about a seventy year old movie was not a place for political postings.
It occurred to me since then that not only do I view Joe Biden as George Bailey, but I also view Donald J. Trump as Mr. Potter. In fact, they are both almost perfect real life examples of those two fictional characters in my mind. Does anyone agree?
(Here is my post from the other thread:
Shortly after posting in this thread, I was doing some chores and had the news on in the background. I was listening to Joe Biden give a speech in Georgia in support of the Senatorial candidates. It occurred to me that the reason I really admire Joe Biden is because he is as close to a real life George Bailey as anyone I have ever met or even heard of.
In my book, Joe Biden = George Bailey. From his family oriented approach to life, to his friendly attitude to all from lifelong friends to strangers, to his famous temper and sincere Catholic faith, Joe is the every-man hero this time calls for!)
I am going assume this discussion is fitting for this forum, if not feel free to move it or delete it.
Biden is the witty, compassionate Parish Priest, and Trumpo is the local Gobshite, who supports his slutty wife(?) and squalling brood of thieving brats by poaching, moon-shining & lying like Hell.
I have to go with Back to the Future. Trump is of course Biff Tannen. The question that remains to be answered is whether Biden ends up as Marty McFly (strong but not a bully) or George McFly (weak and ineffectual).
Given that 2020 is the year of the plague I nominate The Stand. Joe Biden is Mother Abigail and Trump is Randall Flagg. It’s your classic struggle of good against evil where good has to be very very good to win.
One difference is George Bailey had to give up his dream of the bright lights in the biggest cities to stay a local hero all the while others around him were moving on and up like his brother and Sam Wainwright. And by the end he finally was at peace with it all. I think Joe Biden would have been perfectly happy with life had he never became president of the United States but it’s a job he first sought 30 years ago and he finally has it now. He did accomplish his dream.
I think with a Venn diagram there would be significant overlap between Mr. Potter and Trump; Narcissist? check. Opportunistic? check. Selfish? check. Vindictive? check. Oblivious to others’ suffering? check.
However, the two differ in some significant ways as well. One doesn’t get the impression, for instance, that Mr. Potter is not moored in reality and creates his own. Mr. Potter also exudes a sense of efficiency, depth of knowledge, and competence that Mr. Trump clearly lacks. In short, the few virtues Potter possesses, Trump lacks. Trump admittedly has a certain charisma and is well liked at least by some people. Potter, on the other hand, seems to be universally reviled.
These are all great replies and expanded the concept beyond what I imagined (I was locked into the It’s a Wonderful Life universe, I had not considered other works.
It seems to me that Biden always (and especially recently) wanted the job to be of service. He wanted to help others and sought the office not for personal glory but because of his discipline in using his abilities to raise others up and create opportunities for the down trodden. He was fully retired until Donald Trump looked like he could win a second term- then Biden stepped up despite his age to save the country from that. In that sense he is Baileyesque.
Well this seems to be a perfect analysis!
For the entire last year I have been applauding Trump’s incompetence and small mind. His limited view of the world was his own undoing however much he blames things on others. (He still does not understand how a guy as ‘popular’ as he is can lose an election!!) Also, Potter can read and with Trump there is some doubt.
One more similarity your post brought to mind- when Potter was in the board meeting after George’s father died, he tries to abuse his power to close the B&L for good. So abuse of power is inside the Venn in my opinion too.
This is pretty much what I was going to say. Also, Potter knew how to make money. His businesses in the alternate reality Pottersville seemed to be doing well, unlike trump’s casinos.
It occurs to me that the concept of Biden as George Bailey and trump as Potter could make a good SNL skit.
Joe Biden is nothing like George Bailey. Bailey is a small town guy working in his father’s business, while pining for the bigger world. Joe Biden is a guy who has been one of the most powerful men in the country for almost years.
Potter and Trump are both old and rich. I don’t see any other similarities. Potter does not appear to care about publicity or fame and there is no indication he is particularly hedonistic.
Trump is slightly more like George Bailey because they are both in the real estate business, but that is it.
