Amazing Parallels Between Charlie Kirk and George Bailey From 'It's a Wonderful Life'

[00:00] Friends, the Charlie Kirk Show team

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[00:45] >> We got pitched this idea and uh Blake

[00:47] and I talked about it and we're like,

[00:48] man, that sounds really cool. It just it

[00:50] reached out. So all almost all of you,

[00:53] I'm sure, are familiar with the film

[00:54] It's a Wonderful Life.

[00:55] >> One of my Christmas alltime Christmas

[00:58] classic, amazing story. And we got

[01:01] pitched over the weekend uh by a friend

[01:05] of ours who said, "Hey, this this guy

[01:07] has an interesting take comparison

[01:09] comparing Charlie to George Bailey, the

[01:12] hero of Bedford Falls in that film." And

[01:15] so we're joined now by uh Titus Tekka.

[01:18] He is a distinguished fellow at

[01:20] Hillsdale College and he's also the

[01:22] executive director of the American

[01:26] Cinema Foundation. You're a big film

[01:27] buff. So, I don't know where exactly

[01:30] you're going to go with this, but lay it

[01:32] out for us, Titus.

[01:34] >> Hey guys, thanks for having me on. Uh,

[01:36] glad to be on the show. So uh I'm a

[01:39] distinguished fellow at Hillsdale and

[01:41] just uh in the first couple of weeks now

[01:44] in December I recorded a course uh on

[01:47] cinema and civilization for Hillsdale

[01:48] and one of the movies I was talking

[01:50] about was it's a wonderful life it's

[01:52] Christmas men leadership and God and

[01:55] prayer big parts of the story and then

[01:58] also for Hillsdale I did a number of

[02:01] Christmas lectures uh in Connecticut I'm

[02:03] not sure anybody knows this but in

[02:05] Connecticut there is a replica of

[02:06] Montichello or Jefferson 's home.

[02:08] Somebody just up and built that for his

[02:10] centennial birthday. And now it's uh

[02:12] Hillsdale does lectures there. And so I

[02:15] talked about this movie and um and you

[02:18] know there are hundreds of people there

[02:19] and I thought about how do we talk about

[02:21] leadership in in uh in contemporary

[02:24] terms not the movie from 8 years ago and

[02:26] that's the guy I thought of Charlie Kirk

[02:28] and I have to say that the audience

[02:30] responded very very warmly and that's

[02:32] what made me think I should talk to you

[02:34] guys about this. So um the the story of

[02:39] uh it's a wonderful life is a story of

[02:41] uh community and leadership. Uh George

[02:44] Bailey is an astonishing guy from youth.

[02:47] He is a boy who saves lives. Uh I'm not

[02:49] sure how seriously people take that when

[02:51] they see it in the movie, but it's very

[02:53] important. And then he ends up saving

[02:55] the community he's part of as well. And

[02:58] uh it's not uh trivial. It's a story

[03:02] about how America needs leaders and

[03:04] what's what's difficult about that sort

[03:06] of leadership. George Bailey is not a

[03:08] nice guy. Uh George Bailey is a tough

[03:12] guy. He's and he has much more in common

[03:14] with Hemingway heroes than with um

[03:17] sentimental stories. He grows up wanting

[03:20] to conquer the world, go on adventuring.

[03:23] He wants to see the world by himself. uh

[03:26] his his idea of property is to buy a

[03:30] sturdy piece of luggage so that he can

[03:32] get uh through the world with it and

[03:34] each stand he says on that piece of

[03:36] luggage will prove that he has achieved

[03:39] something that he has measured himself

[03:40] in something much bigger than the small

[03:42] town in which he lives but then uh you

[03:45] know he has a sense of duty to and he

[03:47] can't abandon the family business or the

[03:49] community and he ends up making his life

[03:51] there in Bedford Falls you know an

[03:53] idyllic small town community but uh not

[03:56] so idealic uh that it's uh unrealistic

[03:59] about what it takes to make a community

[04:01] work. The kinds of things that uh Jimmy

[04:05] Stewart George Bailey faces are the

[04:07] kinds of things we're dealing with now.

[04:09] And his major issue is housing. He wants

[04:11] people to be able to buy a house so that

[04:13] they can make a family and and you know

[04:15] make a life for themselves and the

[04:17] community or else of course none of this

[04:19] lasts. There's no future without it

[04:21] because owning property first of all for

[04:23] your home, your family uh is the basis

[04:25] of self-respect and therefore the basis

[04:27] of self-government.

[04:29] >> And I love that comparison. I love that

[04:31] comparison. the big

[04:33] >> for those who don't remember in the film

[04:35] the the big problem is there's that uh

[04:37] that banker Potter and he's trying he's

[04:40] basically trying to buy out all the

[04:41] housing in the community

[04:43] >> and his the whole the whole thing is

[04:46] Potter trying to take this small portion

[04:48] that George Bailey's family have done

[04:50] through the savings and loan

[04:51] >> this small portion of lending through

[04:53] the community and making you know

[04:55] self-sufficient members of the community

[04:56] and Potter just wants to have them all

[04:58] live in squality control

[04:59] >> he wants them he wants to take over all

[05:00] of the housing And Bailey is constantly

[05:03] fighting to make sure everyone still

[05:04] owns their own home. Uh that is

[05:06] >> which is very Charlie.

[05:07] >> Wow. That is very Charlie. That's

[05:08] actually remarkable. But

[05:10] >> continue Titus.

[05:10] >> The movie clearly gets this opposition

[05:12] between small towns and the big city. In

[05:15] the big city, everybody's a stranger and

[05:17] everybody is out there trying to rent

[05:19] and it's not really working out for most

[05:21] people or or you know suff not

[05:23] sufficiently at any rate to have kids.

[05:25] And isn't that happening all the time in

[05:27] big cities nowadays? Isn't it the case

[05:29] that uh massive corporations are now in

[05:31] the business of buying up homes? A lot

[05:33] of crazy stuff is going on and uh it's

[05:36] all right there. These are the problems

[05:38] of the big cities. This is the challenge

[05:39] of modern America is Capra sees it. And

[05:42] it's it's better to face it than not to

[05:44] face it. And he might also be right that

[05:46] if you want to face it, you probably

[05:48] need men like that to face it. Again, uh

[05:51] it's not like the problem didn't happen

[05:53] before Charlie Kirk noticed that uh

[05:55] homeownership and marriage for young men

[05:58] is is uh in crisis now. It's just that

[06:01] not so many people talked about it.

[06:04] That's the need for leaders.

[06:08] >> Yeah. I mean, Charlie was a I mean, the

[06:10] more you talk about it because Charlie,

[06:12] it's interesting you you mentioned that

[06:14] George Bailey was a tough guy.

[06:16] >> Yeah. Yeah. Tough, not nice. Like

[06:17] Charlie actually was quite kind, but he

[06:19] also

[06:20] this bluntness to it.

[06:21] >> He had a fire. He had a He had a spirit

[06:22] that was uh sort of indomitable.

[06:24] >> And I've seen, you know, because we have

[06:26] to look at the email inbox now. He read

[06:27] every email and some sometimes he could

[06:28] be very blunt in responding to people.

[06:30] >> Oh, he was very blunt. You're wrong.

[06:32] You're wrong. He just say you're wrong.

[06:33] >> You're wrong. And he would argue with

[06:35] people and he Yeah. I mean, so I I and I

[06:37] love this story because we are in the

[06:39] Christmas season. We got a lot going on.

[06:40] We've got uh things in the news. We've

[06:43] got terrible news over the weekend, but

[06:44] we are in Christmas season and it's it's

[06:47] it's a really fascinating way to think

[06:50] about Charlie's life

[06:52] >> as a leader of a community that ended up

[06:55] you know, you think about in death.

[06:58] >> Um the the you know, I guess the other

[07:01] central theme of it as I'm thinking

[07:03] about this, Titus, is that you know, you

[07:06] the whole story revolves around what if

[07:08] George Bailey never existed? And that's

[07:12] a I mean, you think about when you see

[07:13] all this outpouring of love for Charlie

[07:15] at the memorial, all the things that

[07:16] he's accomplished, his massive legacy

[07:18] and imprint on the world. Imagine if

[07:20] Charlie Kirk never existed.

[07:21] >> Yeah. Like that's that's the thing when

[07:22] he has that vision. There's, you know,

[07:24] his kids don't exist, his brother

[07:26] doesn't exist anymore because he drowns

[07:28] and all of that. And I think about we

[07:30] had that call during the AMA a few weeks

[07:32] ago where those people they had a child

[07:35] because Charlie motivated them to do it.

[07:38] and or you think of the people who say,

[07:40] "I finally proposed to my girlfriend.

[07:42] Maybe they'll have kids later who

[07:43] wouldn't have existed without Charlie's

[07:45] example." It's it's really something to

[07:47] think about.

[07:47] >> It he left an impression and an imprint

[07:50] and a ripple effect that is will be

[07:51] impossible to ever calculate and that I

[07:53] think that is one of the through lines

[07:55] of It's a wonderful life. Correct,

[07:56] Titus?

[07:58] >> Yeah. So uh you know I was just uh now

[08:02] uh talking to a friend of mine a pastor

[08:04] from Indiana who told me as I think many

[08:06] other pastors have noticed that uh week

[08:09] after week since Charlie was

[08:10] assassinated uh men come to church. He

[08:13] says some of these people come back but

[08:15] all of them at least stayed for a long

[08:17] conversation and I think you can see how

[08:20] even that makes the difference but he

[08:22] says you know one of them is now a me a

[08:24] member of his church about to become

[08:25] he's in the process of joining and uh

[08:28] you know that's one soul that may be

[08:30] saved which I think the business pastors

[08:32] are in. Uh there there's a lot of this

[08:35] stuff happening um throughout America,

[08:38] lives that are being changed and uh and

[08:40] and it's not just the life Charlie lived

[08:42] but after his death too still makes a

[08:45] difference and that I think points you

[08:47] to something like the power of religion

[08:48] like the movie is trying to tell you uh

[08:50] men like that although they're

[08:52] impressive they still need prayer they

[08:54] still need to look up to divine

[08:55] providence above them and uh you see

[08:58] that in the effect their lives have even

[09:00] after they pass and I and I also thought

[09:02] you know uh at the end of the movie when

[09:05] uh his wife tries to call all the

[09:08] community together, Mary Bailey brings

[09:10] everybody together, tells the kids,

[09:11] "Yes, you should be praying for your

[09:12] dad." And uh then all the community

[09:15] comes to help out. That's not one like

[09:18] the the vigils for Charlie. How many

[09:22] people went out of their way to show not

[09:23] just solidarity, but love, uh a sense

[09:27] also of the loss, what was lost with uh

[09:30] with his death. And uh presumably a

[09:33] resolve to make for a better life so

[09:35] that uh it was not all in vain. I think

[09:39] uh that's part uh maybe that's the part

[09:41] that we don't talk about as much. How

[09:42] many people resolve themselves to do

[09:44] better so that everything he did and his

[09:46] death would not be in vain and that I

[09:49] also somehow fit for a for a Christmas

[09:51] movie because it gives you hope resolve

[09:54] for the future.

[09:55] >> We got an email here from Elizabeth who

[09:57] says Charlie had many similar

[09:58] characteristics with Jimmy Stewart. They

[10:00] were both rather tall and humble and

[10:02] they were both Republicans. Uh Jimmy

[10:04] Stewart was a Yeah. a lifelong

[10:06] Republican Christian. You used to have

[10:08] those slightly more.

[10:08] >> Yeah. No, Jimmy Stewart uh went to

[10:10] Hollywood Presbyterian. I know that

[10:12] because they were still talking about it

[10:14] years later and he came every every week

[10:16] with his family and um actually

[10:18] Henrietta Amirs uh used to run the the

[10:22] sort of high school and college ministry

[10:24] at Hollywood Presbyteria Presbyterian.

[10:26] Henry Adams is famous for helping bring

[10:28] Billy Graham to faith. Wow.

[10:29] >> So, Hollywood Presbyterian was quite the

[10:31] >> They were different in a big way. They

[10:32] did not talk anything like each other.

[10:34] >> No, Charlie didn't talk at all like

[10:35] Jimmy Stewart, I will say. But, yeah,

[10:36] they were both awful tall. Hey, so

[10:38] Titus, just while we have you here, uh,

[10:40] as kind of a a question out of left

[10:42] field, but we did lose Rob Reiner uh

[10:44] over the weekend, another American film

[10:47] legend as a director. Uh, you know,

[10:50] minute and a half, you know, your your

[10:51] reflections on his his body of work.

[10:55] >> Uh, yeah. Um, was an impressive guy. had

[10:58] great career especially in the 80s. But

[11:01] let me say one more thing about uh the

[11:03] it's a wonderful life before we drop

[11:05] that uh you know uh there's something

[11:08] about what you know to understand

[11:10] somebody like George Bailey to

[11:11] understand that kind of ambitious man uh

[11:13] it takes this counterfactual what if he

[11:15] had never lived that and and and so what

[11:17] is the worst thing he can imagine and uh

[11:21] as a community it's Pottersville.

[11:23] Pottersville is now run by the greedy

[11:25] banker and uh what is that all about? Uh

[11:29] it's uh it's not a community. It's a lot

[11:31] of people there, but there's no

[11:33] community. There's no solidarity.

[11:34] There's no sympathy. There's quite a bit

[11:36] of cruelty and brazen indifference. And

[11:38] instead of family life or home ownership

[11:40] or uh what you might call suburbia, what

[11:43] you get instead is a lot of gambling and

[11:45] some prostitution and obviously

[11:47] drinking. And again, that's a lot like

[11:49] the America today. M

[11:51] >> there's way too much uh like sports

[11:53] heroes out there trying to corrupt young

[11:55] men advertising betting apps. There's a

[11:58] lot of you know just think about

[12:00] horrible stuff like Only Fans. Uh that's

[12:03] what he's afraid of and I think that's

[12:05] what we're all afraid of and I think

[12:07] that's what uh Charlie was afraid of and

[12:09] why he was trying to help uh young men

[12:12] build lives for themselves, not become

[12:14] drug addicts or or addicts to like Only

[12:16] Fans.

[12:17] >> Yeah. Uh, Titus, thank you very much for

[12:19] having on. Everyone watch It's a

[12:21] Wonderful Life this year. Maybe spare a

[12:23] thought.