Alumna Journalist: Me Before You is no Wonderful Life

In the new film Me Before You, alumna journalist Katrina Trinko (’09) sees the inversion of It’s a Wonderful Life.

Writing for the Daily Signal, of which she is the managing editor, Miss Trinko regards the differences between the two films as a barometer of cultural decline. Whereas the Hollywood of Frank Capra made “movies that affirmed life’s beauty, even when it’s tough, even when things are dark,” Me Before You “wants the audience to believe that personal choice comes first, even if it means leaving that ‘awful hole’ in loved ones’ lives.”

Thus, in It’s a Wonderful Life, we see how George Bailey’s loved ones would suffer without him. Me Without You, on the other hand, attempts to make the case that life is better for all those still living after the protagonist (a quadriplegic) commits suicide.

“But,” Miss Trinko observes, “it doesn’t work.”

Try as the filmmakers might, they are unable to put a happy face on a tragedy, and the movie concludes with an unintended, but undeniable, tone of sorrow and despair. Contrast that, Miss Trinko urges, with the ending of It’s a Wonderful Life — “an exuberant George Bailey kissing his kids and wife” — and there can be little doubt which Hollywood world view is not only good and beautiful, but also true.

The full review is available via the Daily Signal.