The Best Years of Our Lives
...continues his drinking binges to drown his troubles. Fred, having no money, resorts to working at a drugstore for low pay. His wife not satisfied that he cannot afford her way of lifestyle, tells him she wants a divorce. Al and Fred argue about him and Peggy being in love with each other and Fred is forced to call her and tell her it is over. Homer and Wilma eventually overcome his insecurities and are married and Fred and Peggy reunite and express their feelings towards each other. And they all live happily ever after! The film raises some important issues that many men had to deal with upon coming home. Rebuilding relationships with friends and family was often awkward and uncomfortable. The film showed this in ways such as Homer thinking Wilma would not want to be with him after the loss of his hands, and Fred’s relationship towards his wife. Many men married right before going off to war, and found once they returned they were not such a match to this person and often were divorced. Finding work was often hard also. Men came home to find there jobs no longer there and had to find work that was not quite ideal and paid less then they were used to. Some also found there wages stayed the same at their jobs, when others who had not left and were in lower positions got raises. I believe the filmmakers goals were to make people aware of these issues and how the service members had to go about dealing with them. Choosing three men in very different situations helped achieve there goals by giving people a new perspective of the diversity of problems men returning home were faced with. The film was made in 1949 post World War II. It portrays a fictional story set in the time when men were trying to resume their lives after years of being away during World War II. Since coming out about one year after the war ended, it brought about issues that dealt with the timeframe. These issues were lack of jobs, readjusting to home life, the GI bill and numerous others. The time of production was very relevant in that it dealt with the current issues America and its service members were going through. Many men dealt with similar situations as the characters and could easily relate to the film. The film is educational because of what it was trying to get across to viewers. They had one scene about the GI bill in which Al had to decide whether to give a man a loan to buy a farm. The man had no collateral but Al gave him the loan anyway from his own personal decision. The GI bill was very important because it gave service members a sense of hope. It helped them with getting loans to buy homes, farms, and businesses. Helped them find jobs and acquire education and training. Although the film does not cover tho...