Write about one of your favorite movies/TV shows that reflects some portion of present day culture.

The movie I chose that reflects some portion of present day culture is my favorite semi-Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. To give a quick summary: the movie is about a well liked man, George Bailey, who has big dreams as a kid and ends up having to come back to his small hometown to take over his dads business. He is not happy with the way his life turned out and is thinking about killing himself. Right when he is about to jump off the bridge his angel jumps in; being the good man he is, George jumps in to save him. The angel then shows George what his hometown would be like if he died early on in his life. Although the movie is set in the early 1900s, we see a lot of the movie reflected in today’s culture.

You can see the culture portrayed in some of the characters; for example, Mr. Potter, is the villain of the movie and resembles today’s big corporations that keep taking more and more while the lower working class gets left behind. He is the richest person in town and owns pretty much every business. Mr. Potter provides very expensive but poor living conditions to the people in his town. This shows how little today’s rich business men and corporations actually care about the general public. Another character that really resembles today’s American Culture is the main character, George Bailey. He has big dreams and aspirations when hes younger just like many young kids in today’s culture. What we really see is people going into boring professions for money nowadays instead of what they really love. George Bailey gave up his opportunity to travel the world for his dads business. He ends up being very unhappy with the way his life turned out. One part of the movie that really reflects my families culture is at the end of the movie; George is put back into his real life and they have a celebration because Georges wife got the money to get rid of his financial troubles. The scene is of George, family and friends all crowded in a room with lots of conversations and talk. This reminds me of every holiday meal at my grandmas house when the rooms are packed with my big Italian family. This is similar to a lot of Americans with big families and in general portrays the American Dream.