Willy Wonka

[tevarin]

I saw the recent Johnny Depp version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and I liked it. I remember reading the book as a kid, and later watching the Gene Wilder movie, and this one is better.

Comments

[thisgirliknow]

I haven't seen the original in probably close to two decades. Gosh I'm old.

I like the new one. Were you around when mom was talking about the anti-semitism in the books?

[tevarin]

I remember Mom talking about it, and I'd agree that Dahl made some anti-semitic statements. And the book has some stereotypes in it that could be considered anti-Black, anti-Jewish, anti-German, anti-Indian, anti-rich, generally chauvenist against anybody not working-class English. But it's still a good story.

[anonymous]

Wilder's Wonka was..zany, silly. Depp's is a villain, a scary psychopath.*

Wilder had some scary moments in there. Mainly involving his callousness as to what happens to everyone else.

What kind of man would lock himself away in a factory for decades, surrounded by tiny people he uses as slave laborers and experimental subjects?

Well, the Oompa Loompas might _effectively_ be slaves, but they are paid -- in cacao beans -- and they did volunteer. Their problem is that they don't have a union.

My favorite change was Wonka's back story. Of course his father would be a dentist!

--josh

[tevarin]

The callousness is definitely there in the book. I'll have to go back and see Wilder again some time to look for it in the movie.

I think the Oompa-Loompas are in a pretty tight spot. They don't speak English. They have no currency that's usable in the outside world. Suppose you're a Loompa who wants to see the sky, or look at animals other than trained squirrels, go to college, meet an attractive midget who's not deeply inbred to your tribe, or whatever. You can't. Wonka might well murder escaping workers rather than risk their telling his accumulated secrets to Ficklegruber et al. Not that he would need to; by choosing workers who can't survive the local weather, he's got a built-in deathtrap. The Loompas do need a union, plus OSHA, basic schools, telephones and a chance to contact the Loompa-Land embassy.

I liked Wonka's back story as well. I thought the "I won't be here when you get back" part was pretty disturbing.