Clarence says that he breaks a rule when he shows George Mary's new existence. She is a major part of the vision and message, so why is she originally planned to remain hidden?
shareI'm not sure she's supposed to remain hidden. I think the idea is that George must discover for himself what the results of his decision have done.
shareThank you, PaladinNJ. You're probably right, but that contradicts Clarence showing George everything else. Perhaps it is set that way to make George more concerned about Mary.
shareOh my God!!! She's a LIBRARIAN!!!
shareWell what he actually says is that she's "an old maid," and I think what we're meant to take from it is that because George wasn't around she ended up alone and lonely and frightened of the world around her, rather than the confident and fulfilled wife and mother that she was with George.
shareThat is right, PrimeMinisterX. However, as I have said on another post, I think that the alternate universe would be more effective if Mary had a different spouse. It might make George want to be a better husband to his wife since the two have had marital problems. He could feel a stronger connection to and desire for her if he sees her spending her life with another man.
shareI have actually thought of that. I think it could work either way. Though perhaps the screenwriters felt viewers might interpret that as jealousy being George's motivation for wanting to change and be reconciled with his wife, which is not consistent with the spirit of the film.
shareThank you. You are probably correct about the writers, and that view would easily stem from how George behaves as a kid. If the matter were portrayed in a mature enough way, though, then maybe it would be understood that George is trying to give life dignity rather than claiming everything for himself like he always has. However, what happens in the movie emphasizes darkness and emptiness, and perhaps the director has wanted to take a literal approach to the scene.
shareNo, Mary knows exactly what she wants and there's no man in town who could meet her standards (besides George). If George saw her content with another man, he'd be back on the suicidal path. There's only one man for Mary, and she knows it in both universes.
shareThank you, Arasaid. Certainly, but I'm not talking about a happy marriage. What if George were to witness Mary miserably wasting her life on a stranger? It might help him realize that his wife would have a more interesting and more comfortable existence with him, which could lend itself to George treating Mary better.
shareMary told George she only wanted him and she would have never married anyone else.
shareThank you, Keelai. Yes, but who knows if being unable to find George would push Mary in to marrying someone whom she doesn't truly want? George is a spoiled brat, so I have no idea why Mary wants him, but since she does, he might regret his behavior if he sees a radically different life for her. He would finally understand what he has always been missing, and that he is a big part of the problem.
shareI get the point the movie was trying to make about how George enriched everyone’s life but there’s no way that gorgeous woman who started as a precocious and ambitious little girl, would ever end up a frightened old maid without him.
shareYeah, I agree. As someone who is currently trying to get back out into the dating scene over 40, I can confidently attest that all the girls like her have already been snatched up by the time they get anywhere close to middle aged. If you do happen to find one on the market, she's already divorced with two kids.
To modern viewers, who are perhaps not used to the often broad storytelling of yesteryear, it's probably a little funny to see the film imply that the WHOLE TOWN would've been completely different if George weren't around. It's probably not realistic. But then again, we have to remember that it's not just George himself whose effects we have to consider, but by extension the effects of the Building and Loan, which was the lone entity that stood in the way of Potter and complete control.
Perfectly said.
If not for George's existence, she would have most likely married Wainright, a decent guy in his own right and *still* lived a wonderful life.
Thank you, liscarkat. Are you making a joke about how it doesn't seem as though there is a reason to cover Mary's other existence, meaning that there is not anything shocking about a librarian? Do you think that Clarence makes a fuss over nothing?
shareThe joke is the way that Clarence built it up. He makes us think she might be a witch in a cave making evil spells all day. Being an 'old maid' librarian isn't really a big deal or something to be frowned upon.
shareI think it's more that Mary is clearly lonely & unhappy in that alternate world, especially since it's Pottersville, where everything is cheap, tawdry, disillusioned, cynical—especially the people. George knows just how positive & caring & capable a woman Mary really is, and to see her living such an empty life in a miserable, miserly world is more than he can bear.
shareThere's a reason that we say "Hollywood Ending" to describe anything cheesy and clichéd, it's because Hollywood insisted that the only "happy ending" anyone's personal story could have was to get married, settle down, and breed. And according to Hollywood, women who didn't marry and breed invariably turned into Margaret Hamilton in midlife.
Of course if a real early 20th century woman like Mary didn't meet her soulmate in the small New England town she came from, she'd either settle for a husband who wasn't a soulmate but who could give her a home and kids... or she'd take off for Boston or New York. And that's why that's the one scene in the movie that doesn't ring true.