# Question about "It's a Wonderful Life" (not Christmas related) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426 "2016-08-20T18:28:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/1 "2016-08-20T18:28:10Z")
In the extended flashback of George Bailey’s life, when Mr. Potter is trying to talk George into hiring onto the Potter organization, Potter makes disparaging references to both Bailey Park and to the people who have bought their homes there. The particular disparaging remark he makes is to refer to them as “garlic eaters.” Now, besides the fact that it makes clear that Potter is bigoted against Italian-Americans, it also seems to show Potter taking it as read that eating garlic is a bad thing. Now, as has always been universally acknowledged among decent people, garlic is DELICIOUS. This fact has also always been universally acknowledged among people who are not decent, so I don’t know why I brought up the decency characteristic. I also don’t know why Mr. Potter would make such an ignorant gaffe as to use the term “garlic eaters” as a pejorative. Does anyone know what the ACTUAL fuck? Was Frank Capra a man who had no taste buds? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/2 "2016-08-20T18:37:45Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > In the extended flashback of George Bailey’s life, when Mr. Potter is trying to talk George into hiring onto the Potter organization, Potter makes disparaging references to both Bailey Park and to the people who have bought their homes there. > > The particular disparaging remark he makes is to refer to them as “garlic eaters.” Now, besides the fact that it makes clear that Potter is bigoted against Italian-Americans, it also seems to show Potter taking it as read that eating garlic is a bad thing. > > Now, as has always been universally acknowledged among decent people, garlic is DELICIOUS. This fact has also always been universally acknowledged among people who are not decent, so I don’t know why I brought up the decency characteristic. I also don’t know why Mr. Potter would make such an ignorant gaffe as to use the term “garlic eaters” as a pejorative. > > Does anyone know what the ACTUAL fuck? Was Frank Capra a man who had no taste buds? It was a different time. Check out this tribute to Joe DiMaggio from “Life” magazine Actual quote: “Instead of olive oil or smelly bear grease, he keeps his hair slick with water. He never reeks of garlic and prefers chicken chow mein to spaghetti” > **[LIFE](https://books.google.com/books?id=qEkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA69&lpg=PA69&dq=%22he%2Bnever%2Breeks%2Bof%2Bgarlic%22&source=bl&ots=kWue_8H4bJ&sig=oftaApNccDk33ybu0th1lEjXBVQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUmp3H0dDOAhUCmR4KHRAfC2IQ6AEIITAB#v=onepage&q=%22he%20never%20reeks%20of%20garlic%22&f=false)** > > LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. It now lives on at LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the internet. Users can browse, search and view photos of today’s... ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/3 "2016-08-20T18:45:33Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > It was a different time. Check out this tribute to Joe DiMaggio from “Life” magazine > > Actual quote: “Instead of olive oil or smelly bear grease, he keeps his hair slick with water. He never reeks of garlic and prefers chicken chow mein to spaghetti” The mind boggles… ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/4 "2016-08-20T18:54:29Z")
I can’t find any relevant citations at the moment, but garlic only became generally accepted as a significant part of American cuisine within my lifetime (and I was born in 1952). Apparently it wasn’t common in the U.K. either before then. From about the sixteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, garlic wasn’t very common in Northern European cuisine, although it was in Southern European cuisine. There’s a little bit of a mention here: > **[Garlic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garlic)** > > Garlic (Allium sativum) is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeastern Iran and has long been used as a seasoning worldwide, with a history of several thousand years of human consumption and use. It was known to ancient Egyptians and has been used as both a food flavoring and a traditional medicine. China produces 76% The word garli... ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/5 "2016-08-20T18:55:12Z")
World War II ended in 1945. It’s a Wonderful Life was made in 1946. The Italians were the USA’s enemies. We were fighting the German Nazis, Japanese Empire, and the Italian Fascists. Italians and their garlic eating ways were seen as our enemies. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/6 "2016-08-20T18:55:18Z")
Disparaging Italian (and other immigrant) food was definitely a thing in the early twentieth century, and yep, people believed that bland, processed “American” foods were superior. There’s some discussion of it [here](https://classracegender.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/assimilation-nation-immigrants-food-and-cultural-politics/). ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/7 "2016-08-20T18:59:54Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I can’t find any relevant citations at the moment, but garlic only became generally accepted as a significant part of American cuisine within my lifetime (and I was born in 1952). Apparently it wasn’t common in the U.K. either before then. From about the sixteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, garlic wasn’t very common in Northern European cuisine, although it was in Southern European cuisine. There’s a little bit of a mention here: > > [Garlic - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garlic) “Blackadder” and “Yes Minister” were using garlic as a signifier of foreignness (Frenchness in this case) as late as the 1980s. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/8 "2016-08-20T19:04:08Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > It was a different time. Check out this tribute to Joe DiMaggio from “Life” magazine > > Actual quote: “Instead of olive oil or smelly bear grease, he keeps his hair slick with water. He never reeks of garlic and prefers chicken chow mein to spaghetti” He also refused to eat any garlic dish. A few years ago, one of Marilyn Monroe’s cookbooks (yes, you can go back and read that again) came up for auction, and at least one of the recipes had a note in her handwriting: “No garlic.” ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/9 "2016-08-20T19:18:21Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > He also refused to eat any garlic dish. A few years ago, one of Marilyn Monroe’s cookbooks (yes, you can go back and read that again) came up for auction, and at least one of the recipes had a note in her handwriting: “No garlic.” Hey, now, maybe that note was for Arthur Miller’s meals instead, who’s to say? ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/10 "2016-08-20T21:06:43Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > Hey, now, maybe that note was for Arthur Miller’s meals instead, who’s to say? Don’t know about the cookbooks (although apparently DiMaggio thought Monroe would give up the movies to be his wife…guess again) but anything I’ve ever read about DiMaggio stresses on how much emphasis he put on his appearance and public image…and garlic can leave one with bad breath. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/11 "2016-08-20T21:28:51Z")
I’ve heard “beaners” used as a derogatory term for Hispanics. I’m sure that many people who use that term also think refried beans are delicious. It’s actually rather commonplace for people to refer to an ethnic group pejoratively by naming the group’s allegedly-preferred food. Here’s a [short essay](https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,,348802,00.html) from the _Guardian_ on that topic. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/12 "2016-08-20T21:40:33Z")
I always assumed it was a relatively mild slur to replace a much bigger one. Like how curse words were also replaced by more innocuous ones. I also didn’t pick up on it being an anti-Italian slur, since there’s only one stated Italian. I assumed it was more about how garlic was a cheaper food, and was more of a classist statement. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/13 "2016-08-20T23:38:13Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > Disparaging Italian (and other immigrant) food was definitely a thing in the early twentieth century, and yep, people believed that bland, processed “American” foods were superior. There’s some discussion of it [here](https://classracegender.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/assimilation-nation-immigrants-food-and-cultural-politics/). There’s a lot of truth behind that. Back in the 80s, I read a Mike Royko column about how first and second generation Italian-Americans were complaining about how pasta was the hot culinary trend among their Yuppified offspring. To them, pasta was poor man’s food–cheap crap you had to eat because your parents couldn’t afford anything else. Once you started earning real money, you ate real American food (i.e., meat and potatoes) with nary a bit of garlic, red pepper, or onion mixed in. The fact these people had spent several decades working hard just to make sure their children didn’t have to eat the same garlic-laden slop they had to only to have their kids willingly return to it was especially galling to them. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/14 "2016-08-21T00:30:16Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > There’s a lot of truth behind that. Back in the 80s, I read a Mike Royko column about how first and second generation Italian-Americans were complaining about how pasta was the hot culinary trend among their Yuppified offspring. To them, pasta was poor man’s food–cheap crap you had to eat because your parents couldn’t afford anything else. Once you started earning real money, you ate real American food (i.e., meat and potatoes) with nary a bit of garlic, red pepper, or onion mixed in. The fact these people had spent several decades working hard just to make sure their children didn’t have to eat the same garlic-laden slop they had to only to have their kids willingly return to it was especially galling to them. This one probably [Herald-Journal - Google News Archive Search](https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19920914&id=VD0fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C88EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6563,4903747&hl=en) ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/15 "2016-08-21T03:24:08Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > This one probably [Herald-Journal - Google News Archive Search](https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19920914&id=VD0fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C88EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6563,4903747&hl=en) That’s it. 1992? I thought for sure I read it during the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/16 "2016-08-21T04:35:44Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > This one probably [Herald-Journal - Google News Archive Search](https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19920914&id=VD0fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C88EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6563,4903747&hl=en) Holy crap, look at that TV schedule! Afternoon to late night, and it only takes up half a page! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-its-a-wonderful-life-not-christmas-related/763426/17 "2016-08-21T11:57:29Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Holy crap, look at that TV schedule! Afternoon to late night, and it only takes up half a page! :eek: With some episode descriptions, too (I remember that episode of “Quantum Leap”)