Movie: Alice in Wonderland (2010)

[amedia]

There were some parts of this movie that I liked extremely well, and others that I didn't - overall, I would still say that I enjoyed it quite a lot despite the flaws. Some curious feminist issues going on. (SPOILER ALERT)

Comments

[chorale]

It sounds like a piece of work. *makes frowny face*

[amedia]

Some bits of it made me very frowny. But there were also some very enjoyable bits, and I love the un-soundtrack (Almost Alice).

[bulleteyes]

The film was too misogynistic for me.

The Mad Hatter was glorious when he slipped into his rough Scottish accent. He step would grow longer and his shoulders would hunch and he became quite fearsome.

I preferred Glitch. He was much more masculine ;)

[amedia]

The film was too misogynistic for me.

What irked the most, I think, was that the misogyny was disguised as a "girl power" message.

The Mad Hatter was glorious when he slipped into his rough Scottish accent.

Wasn't he though!!!

[derien]

Tim Burton movies seem to have not the greatest view of women - we just watched "Sleepy Hollow" the other night and all the women in that are witches, aside from the one midwife (and midwives were often classified as witches) and a maid who was portrayed as kind of... easy. Still, I also liked the Mad Hatter - funny I didn't think of Glitch, but you're right, I can see that! (Oh, and if you haven't seen "Sleepy Hollow," though I'm sure I was almost the last person on earth who hadn't, Johnny Depp is playing almost exactly the same character, only with less makeup.)

I had a similar mixed reaction to "Alice In Wonderland," for most of the same reasons. I had to decide that Alice's "Real World" was another level of fantasy, a different Victorian England, maybe an alternate universe.

But the pig - they didn't kill it, did they? I thought they just made it lie upside down. :(

[amedia]

But the pig - they didn't kill it, did they? I thought they just made it lie upside down. :(

Oh, no, they didn't, you're quite right. It was just the foot-warming thing that made me think of the other story. Of course, the pig was probably in there as a nod to the original stories, but since they didn't show its transformation from an ugly baby into a handsome pig, it lost a bit in translation.

I like your AU Victorian England explanation! Makes that part of the movie easier to swallow.

I haven't seen Sleepy Hollow - sounds intriguing/disturbing!

[mellifluous_ink]

Yes but if the prophecy isn't going to be fulfilled, then why have a prophecy at all?

I didn't see that Alice was a girl at all. Alice is a transboy, that was really obvious to me. It was... it was nice, having a film with a hero that was my gender, for once. Especially someone who is my gender and also shares personality traits with me, like being kind of out there and having weird ideas.

Also I don't know where you placed this in the 19th century, but I placed it before Victoria's reign, before the first Opium War (so, c. 1835), since Alice talks about trading with China and implies no one has before. And how is trading with someone exploiting them, exactly? Is that just an assumption on your part because of the period? Because I don't recall anyone talking about exploitation.

[amedia]

Yes but if the prophecy isn't going to be fulfilled, then why have a prophecy at all?

It seemed to me that the Underland inhabitants might be misinterpreting the prophecy, since the scroll showed the figure facing off against the Jabberwock on the Frabjous Day but didn't actually depict anyone killing it. Or, I thought, perhaps "killing it" was meant to be taken metaphorically; if Alice befriended the Jabberwock, then the enmity between it and the other Underlanders would be "killed".

Alice is a transboy, that was really obvious to me. Okay, that puts a whole different light on the film! I thought Alice was strangely attractive in armor; it looked more natural than several other costumes they put the character into. *thinking, thinking* It seemed that Underland was a metaphor for Alice's life; Alice was able to take on much more autonomy because of the belief that this was only a dream, and thus the Alice we see in Underland is more truly Alice's essence than the Alice we see in the world above. If we take the character's apparent

[mellifluous_ink]

The costuming dates the movie pretty precisely, actually. The men are only a little past Regency--maybe a generation or two at most--and the women are not in the bustle era yet, but not quite in the hoop-skirt era either, which puts this before Victoria by a few years. Combined with the fact that trading with China is considered a far-fetched idea, that puts the film squarely in the 1830s, before the First Opium War and Victoria's ascension to the throne

[amedia]

As far as exploitation, I assumed that being a dreamer, having been to Underland, and also fighting back an oppressive regime in Underland, Alice would of course be more empathic to other cultures.

So it could be Alice's participation in the introduction of England to China that results in an alternate universe that is more appreciative and less exploitive of diversity.

I have a friend here who does research on trans issues (she's the one who came and talked to my class last semester). I bumped into her yesterday and shared your suggestion for reading the character as a transboy and how much I liked that perspective. Turns out she hadn't seen the movie yet, but now she's planning to!

AIW film review, & a little OT

[kitkat307]

Love your review! I haven't seen this film yet, (except for a small part) but now I'm looking a bit more forward to it. And something just a bit OT I'm going to mention, because I know you like RP fic. I don't know if you've discovered it yet, but there's an RP/AIW crossover fic (called "Happily Ever After") on fanfiction dot net. I would never have thought of RP crossing with AIW, but I'm loving her story thus far. But again, liked the review (& several others of yours that I've read in the past). Jen C

Re: AIW film review, & a little OT

[amedia]

I'll have to look for that crossover!!!! Sounds like fun. Very glad you enjoyed the reviews. *hugs*