A world of pure imagination

[mad_maudlin]

LIBERAL RAGE. Damn, I like this guy, even if he does slip off into Jargonville sporadically. The Left needs to breed its own crop of zealots to combat the Right's batch; we could start with the ones who firebombed the SUV lot in Oregon a couple years ago, yes?

Just got back from seeing "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with hp_stlouis. Er...make that anemonerose and

Comments

[snoopypez]

I liked the newer version better than the first. I'm not entirely sure why, but part of it may be because as a rule, I don't like musicals. And yes, the Oompa Loompa's songs were SO much better. :P They were even the same as they were in the book!

Actually, that might be another reason I prefer this version; it follows the book closer.

I thought the squrriels were adorable. ;D Also, I found the whole thing funnier, which automatically makes everything better for me.

[mad_maudlin]

Now, see, I thought the squirrels were cute. And I totally buy them being trained, because they remind me of the squirrels on campus, who have been known to nut-bomb pedestrians. But when they attack Veruca and drag her off...::shudders:: That sort of thing just pings my squick meter. I thing I have a secret phobia of being attacked by a horde of small furry animals; I also freak out at the bit in "Ghostbusters II" where the mink coat comes alive on the lady.

[angel423]

Hmm. I agree with most of what you say, but I don't agree so much about Charlie not "earning" what he receives. I, uh, don't know fancy vocabulary like you do, so stick with me here. In "Wonka", didn't Charlie and his grandfather drink the fizzy lifting drink, thereby almost losing his prize at the end until he approached Wonka at the end and called him out? (Just to note, it has been a very long time since I have seen the Wilder version; I may get things wrong) In "Charlie" he neither gives in like the other children or approaches Wonka for his prize, but rather proves his worth by turning down Wonka's offer when Wonka demands he leave his family behind. Charlie shows the audience (and ultimately Wonka) that he is not after money, fame, or power like the other children by 1)wanting to sell his golden ticket so that his family can eat, 2)turning Wonka down at first, and 3)accompanying Wonka to his father's at the end. So, really, I think Charlie does prove to be a fleshed out character despite everything

[mad_maudlin]

I'm not saying that "Charlie" Charlie didn't earn the factory; I'm saying that he didn't do in the context of the Campbellian monomyth (I've read Hero with a Thousand Faces a little too closely) because the story wasn't structured that way. The tour through the factory in "Charlie" retains some of the motif of testing, but with the implication that the Oompa-Loompas and/or Wonka preplanned everything, so it's not quite the same; the ultimate test with the Gobstopper from "Wonka" is absent in "Charlie." Charlie doesn't have to prove himself to Wonka to earn his reward, he has to prove himself to the audience. They're just different sorts of stories.

And I suspect I adore Gene Wilder's Wonka for the same reasons that he scared you. Different strokes for different folks. :-)

[jux_ta_pose]

'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' hasn't started here yet and although I don't mind Johnny as an actor, when I caught the short for the movie I found him creepy and words like 'pedophile' were popping into my head, especially as my 5 year old was very excited about seeing it. So my paranoid parent thoughts are just that, completely unfounded?

[mad_maudlin]

Unfounded. Depp's Wonka is creepy, but he's also very childlike himself, socially inept and awkward relating to other people. I didn't get any pervy vibes off the movie at all. In fact, it kind of reminds me of "The Emporer's New Groove," if you've seen that cartoon--just make Wonka into Cuzco and Charlie into Pacha.