It's a Wonderful Life tells the story of a man who repeatedly sacrifices his dreams and reluctantly takes over the family business in order to save his fellow townsmen from Mr. Potter. George Bailey becomes depressed but before he commits suicide, an angel shows him how worse off people would be if he'd never been born.

Die Hard, made forty two years later and ranking John McClane 46th on Premiere's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time list, is about a New York City police officer who battles terrorists who overtake the Nakatomi Company and hold the employees hostage. John McClane must single-handedly defeat the thieves and save the hostages.

What do these movies have in common? Some similarities are pointed out below.

The protagonists of each film are also heroes.

George Bailey is the only man in a position to help Bedford Falls.
John McClane is the only man in a position to help the Nakatomi hostages.

Both men wish things had happened differently.

George Bailey regrets having been born.
John McClane regrets initiating an argument with his wife.

The cast of each movie are in tight spots and need help.

The people in Bedford Falls are under the thumb of Mr. Potter.
The people in the Nakatomi Plaza are under the terrorists' thumbs.

The main characters of both films ask for help and are initially denied.

George Bailey is own his own after getting hit in the jaw in answer to a prayer.
John McClane cannot count on help from the police because the phone lines have been cut.

Both plots are heavily reliant on money.

The problem in It's a Wonderful Life is based on $8,000.00.
The problem in Die Hard is caused by $640,000,000.00.

The main characters from each movie pray.

John McClane prays: "I promise I will never even THINK about going up in a tall building again. Oh, God. Please don't let me die."
George Bailey prays: "...show me the way. I'm at the end of my rope. Show me the way, God."

Both men have a supporting character that helps them in times of crisis.

Clarence is George Bailey's angel.
Al Powell is similar to angel for John McClane.

Both protagonists bleed.

George Bailey has a bloody lip.
John McClane has bloody feet.

Both movies have scenes involving broken glass.

George Bailey and Martha break windows with rocks to make their wishes come true.
The thieves shoot glass windows so John McClane has to run barefoot through broken glass.

The main and most important similarity between It's a Wonderful Life and Die Hard is that neither one is a "Christmas movie."

Die Hard is not a movie that comes to mind when listing holiday films. People don't get the Christmas tree down from the attic with the decorations, the Christmas books, and... Die Hard. It's an action film filled with murder; it just happens to take place on Christmas Eve.

It's a Wonderful Life is usually categorized improperly, included as a holiday classic among National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Mickey's Christmas Carol and A Christmas Story. It's a movie about a man who, on December 24th, contemplates suicide because of money. There's nothing festive about that.

Yes, it is a wonderful life, but not just at Christmas. Yippie-ki-yay.

It's a Wonderful Life: Liberty Films (II), 1946, directed by Frank Capra
Die Hard: Twentieth Century Fox, 1988, directed by John McTiernan
Source: imbd.com

For the entire movie, Jeff is bedridden and powerless, and reliant on the care from women, especially from Lisa. She wants him to be a domestic husband rather than a traveling adventurer, creating tension between the two. In the Thorwald apartment, Jeff sees a reflection of his own situation. Mrs. Thorwald is bedridden and a constant nag to Mr. Thorwald creating tension between the two. There is no sexuality in the relationship, but rather Thorwald is totally stripped of his power because he must take care of his sick wife. She mocks and belittles him to the point where he cannot take it any more. This is why he feels that the only way out of his situation is through murder. In both apartments, the men are desexualized by their circumstances.

This is why Jeff literally wants to see murder. He feels as though he is totally desexualized and powerless and wants to see the murder because it shows that there is a way out of this feeling. As Rushing states, “Jeff identifies with Thorwald who lives out of “the real deal of his desire” - killing the nagging wife who ties him down, freeing the male subject for further adventures” (317). Jeff wants to be free again as he was when he was a traveling photographer. Lisa, though, is taking this opportunity to tie Jeff down to domesticate him into a husband. “The woman represents a trap in this case the trap of domestic status” (Rushing, 316).

In the movie, all that Jeff sees is men who cannot pursue their own sexual wants and needs, amplifying his own fear of women and sexuality and his desire to see murder. In the case of Miss Torso, the scantily clad dancer, many men seem to desire her, but she ultimately holds the control as she thwarts every man's sexual advance. With Miss Torso, however, like murder, the audience and Jeff desires to see her become more than a tease. The husband in the newlyweds is literally sexually controlled by his wife and every time he comes up for air, he is called back for what the audience and Jeff presumes to be more sex. Ms. Lonely Hearts is unable to “trap a man” (Hitchcock, Rear Window) and when a man makes sexual advances on her, she does not like it, but wants to be in control herself. The couple with the dog is totally desexualized and there is no outward show of sexual emotion. When the dog is murdered however, it is interesting to note that the wife says the murder was done “because it loved you” (Hitchcock). This is interesting because in both Thorwald and Jeff's case, their significant others probably love them, and both men desire to be rid of them. In all of these cases, Jeff sees only negatives that go along with love and sexuality, making his own fears even worse. Obviously, the worst case that Jeff sees is Thorwald's and therefore, when Thorwald murders his wife, he sees himself through Thorwald. He does not actually see the murder, but can empathize with Thorwald's situation and can see why Thorwald would want to be rid of his wife.

Through the movie, the viewer can make the assumption that sex is dependent on love, but that love is a source of misery. We see this through the neighbors' various pursuits of sex or love. The people that have love are unhappy because they have become desexualized, either through sex acts, with the newlyweds, or through no sex acts, as is the case with Thorwald. On the other side, however, the people that do not have love (the pianist and Ms. Lonely Hearts) are unhappy because they do not have love and therefore, no sex. Jeff soon realizes subconsciously through what he thinks is murder in the Thorwald household that murder is the only way out of the misery of relationships. He is not sure of what he actually wants- does he want to be with the woman he loves and become like these other married men, or does he want to have no love at all?

Ultimately, the film relates murder and sexuality as the two things that the audience and Jeff presume occurs, but never actually sees. Jeff desires to see both sex and murder through his gaze and “window shopping” because he sees himself in his various neighbors' different situations, both in and out of relationships. He is able to identify the most, however, with Thorwald. Thorwald's wife is the source of his tension, just as Lisa is Jeff's source of tension. He wants to see the murder that he thinks happens because he is also desexualized, powerless, and in a tense relationship just as Thorwald is. Lisa is a trap to Jeff and he realizes this, but does not know how to deal with it and as a result desires to see the murder. This is how the film, Rear Window, relates love and sexuality to murder.