It's A Wonderful Life

So the other night I'm sitting at the bar flipping through channels for something to watch while the staff was finishing up. Eventually I ended up with "It's A Wonderful Life." Now, I have seen the movie countless times before but apparently not in a number of years, either that or I apparently always missed the beginning. When I turned to it it's fairly close to the beginning when George returns home after realizing the money is gone. That's when my problem started. I simply could not believe nor remember George being so incredibly mean to his wife and poor children. Did I somehow block it out? Did I just not realize how awful he is to them because I myself was a child watching it? Now I know the whole scene is necessary to the plot, that's not my issue...my issue is how did I not remember or rather, why? Perhaps my framing of reference is just so different now as an adult because I was so angry at him for making those sweet children cry (remember the little piano playing daughter and the son just wanting to spell correctly?) Not to mention the screaming and throwing things. Hapless, sweet George Bailey did that?
Oh well. How do you forget such a thing or at least view it in a totally different light? Is it like reading a book years later and getting another meaning from it? Weird. Just weird.