“Just remember this, Mr. Potter, this ‘rabble’ you’re talking about. They do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath? Anyway, my father didn’t think so. People were human beings to him, but to you, a warped, frustrated old man, they’re cattle. Well, in my book he died a much richer man than you’ll ever be.”
Something I will sometimes hear from new viewers of It's a Wonderful Life is a desire to see Potter caught or otherwise punished for his transgressions, an understandable desire for justice. But I view this as almost missing a core element of the film.
"You sit around here and you spin your little webs and you think the whole world revolves around you and your money. Well, it doesn't, Mr. Potter! In the... in the whole vast configuration of things, I'd say you were nothing but a scurvy little spider!"
That's why there's no comeuppance for Potter, it's because part of the lesson of the film is that ultimately he is not important. He fancies himself the biggest man in town, but has made himself merely a speck in the eye of higher ideals. For all his wealth and influence, he remains ever unable to crush the Baileys; His power is empty and the life he has led has made him small.
There's also no punishment because Potter is his own punishment. George is rewarded for his selflessness and good deeds with friends, family, and community. Potter's selfishness and misdeeds have left him bitter and alone, he has woven his own punishment.
“You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?” “I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.”
I was watching my favorite Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Mr. Potter, the film’s cranky, old, uber-rich villain serves as a fine representative of the oligarchs of the US mafia state.
In my favorite scene–one that may have helped shape my politics as a child–our hero George Bailey stands up to Mr. Potter, who is attempting to liquidate the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan, which would effectively put an end to affordable housing in Bedford Falls, the fictional small town where the story takes place. In pushing back against Potter’s mockery of the establishment’s policies, which have allowed a number of working class renters to become homeowners, Bailey delivers an iconic speech, saying:
What'd you say just a minute ago? They had to wait and save their money before they even thought of a decent home. Wait? Wait for what?! Until their children grow up and leave them? Until they're so old and broken-down that… You know how long it takes a working man to save five thousand dollars? Just remember this, Mr. Potter, that this rabble you're talking about, they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath? Anyway, my father didn't think so. People were human beings to him, but to you, a warped, frustrated old man, they're cattle. Well, in my book he died a much richer man than you'll ever be.
We could really use some of George Bailey’s energy right about now. Potter is similarly useful, in an emblematic sense. After all, the Grinch and the Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge were capable of redemption. To pretend that the oligarchs of the US mafia state can be morally redeemed would avail us nothing. They are our enemies, and they are attacking our very ability to survive. Elon Musk is a neo-Mr. Potter, operating at scale. To Musk, a warped, deluded, ego-obsessed man, we’re cattle.
While many people in the United States lack a coherent political analysis, they do understand that they are being screwed. The public’s reaction to Mangione and his alleged crime make that much clear. The public celebration of Mangione is reminiscent of the fandoms that formed around Depression era bank robbers like John Dillinger. Rather than condemning people for “bloodlust” (as though the indifference to bloodletting that typically defines life in the US is somehow morally superior to applauding a single death), it is crucial that we understand Mangione’s folk hero status as a flash of class consciousness. The outrage people are feeling at insurance companies should be encouraged and expanded to include the billionaire and corporate classes as a whole.
In fact, there is no better target for the public’s ire in this moment than the richest man in the world, who just used his multi-billion dollar social media platform to spread misinformation at scale, thwart pediatric cancer research, deprive workers of their paychecks, and make life less livable for people on reservations.
I am not advocating for violence, of course. I am not a violent person. I am an organizer. I want people to organize. Simply applauding the violence of outlaws, while potentially cathartic, will not save us (though I will admit to sharing Mangione memes with my friends, pretty much daily). What we need is a sharpened sense of who the villains in our stories are, and the will to mobilize in defense of our shared interests.
I’ve talked about a lot of different sorts of villains on Psycho Analysis. I’ve talked about serial killers, zombies, space emperors, supervillains, an antichrist who has the ability to fire lightning from his penis… A lot of crazy, over-the-top characters have been covered here. But sometimes great villains aren’t found in something over-the-top or crazy. Sometimes great evil is found in something simple, chilling, and realistic.
Meet Mr. Henry Potter. Mr. Potter is a miserable, miserly, greedy old bastard. He is thoroughly unpleasant and rotten to the core. He is the poster boy for capitalist scumbags everywhere. He has absolutely zero redeeming qualities. He cruelly antagonizes George Bailey and his family at every turn and even drives the man to the suicide attempt that kicks off the part of the film we all know and love. He’s just an utter, monstrous prick.
And boy is he all the better for it!
Motivation/Goals: Mr. Potter is a capitalist. All he wants is money, and to that end he wishes to bleed Bedford Falls and its citizens dry of their money. The bad future of the third act shows Potter’s endgame: Family-owned stores replaced with pawn shops and casinos, sleazy strip clubs where the cinema would be, slums filled with buildings made to generate him income rather than provide adequate housing… We see guys like him on the news all the time. He’s pretty easy to understand.
Performance: Lionel Barrymore was a man who was mostly known for playing kindly old grandpa characters in his later years. Potter is absolutely not that, and he still manages to kill it. There are few men as cold-hearted, cruel, and miserable as Potter, and Barrymore is clearly relishing in playing cinema’s biggest capitalist scumbag.
Final Fate: Unfortunately, the text of the film has Mr. Potter get away with stealing the $8000. This is all the more baffling because bad guys weren’t supposed to get away in films at the time, so Potter is something of a subversive villain, though I wouldn’t say in a great way. He was intended to die of a heart attack onscreen, with Clarence delivering him a speech about how much of a bastard he is, but it was cut for being too dark. I choose to believe it’s still canon, and that motherfucker got sent straight to Hell.
Best Scene/Best Quote: Well, since his death scene isn’t in the movie, there’s really only one scene that could even hope to compare. For most of the film, Mr. Potter is just a scumbag, the capitalist villain to end all capitalist villains… and then he steals a misplaced $8000 dollars that could lead to George being imprisoned and ruined financially, and then when George comes to him and begs him for help, he throws everything George has ever said to him back into his face and calls in a warrant for his arrest.
If that didn’t cement him as one of the most monstrous men in all of cinema, his gleefully smug “You’re worth more dead than alive,” which of course sets up the entire third act, absolutely does.
Final Thoughts & Score: Henry Potter is callous, manipulative, and thoroughly unpleasant, but that’s what makes him such a great villain. He’s so real that it’s almost insane, and what’s more, he’s still resonant even today. There are still manipulative capitalist bastards out there like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos who seem to be taking pages out of Potter’s playbook, and there are plenty of weirdos out there who miss the point and idolize Potter (such as everyone’s favorite manlet, Ben Shapiro). Like, these people straight up ignore his criminal actions and consider him a good capitalist because he’s a crusty, miserly bastard who wants to bleed Bedford Falls dry and leave it as a film noir wet dream where everyone is as cruel and miserable as he is. Like this guy is so transparently evil and cruel that it’s amazing people miss the point so bad.
But I don’t think that stupid people idolizing this dick makes him any less impressive a villain. Before there was Huey Emmerich, there was Henry Potter, the ultimate “love to hate” character ever created. Lionel Barrymore really gives his all to Potter, and the fact It’s a Wonderful Life is a Christmas staple means that Potter is always available to be discovered by new generations. Pretty much the only complaint I have is that the bastard doesn’t get any sort of onscreen comeuppance. Other than that, Potter is one of the easiest 10/10 villains ever, and the only reason he isn’t an 11 is because he hasn’t really inspired massive swaths of villains after him (most capitalist villains these days are inspired by reality TV star and conspiracy theorist Donald Trump). And no, I don’t count inspiring villains in real life. We’re supposed to have fun here, not remember how much life sucks.
