The Everlasting Gobstopper and the One Ring
It occurred to me this morning that, in a very significant way, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and The Lord of the Rings are the same story.
The wife and I recently enjoyed a vacation away from the kids at a great place on the Connecticut shore (http://innatmystic.com), and Amanda was adamant that one of the activities we’d take in would be a movie, the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Briefly, here are my thoughts on the remake sans spoilers but with some character details. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a well-made film, beautifully shot with impressive acting from Freddie Highmore, who plays young Charlie. The script has some interesting embellishments, expanding into Wonka’s childhood, and the film is fun, but I prefer the original for several reasons. Depp’s Wonka is mean, actually nasty at heart, and that made him less sympathetic than Gene Wilder’s wry but caring character. Danny Elfman’s treatment of the Oompa Loompa’s songs rock, but the big sound of the music obscures the lyrics, whose moralizing is so important to the movie.
But what’s missing most from the remake is the greatest redemptive moment in film. You might not have noticed it for what it is when you saw the original movie, but it’s there and it’s a wonder to behold. For those who haven’t seen the Mel Stuart, spoiler alert. Near the end of the film, Gene Wilder’s sly and sardonic Willy Wonka retreats to his office, where every item in the room is one half of itself, and he suffers a minor breakdown. The ever-in-control Wonka is broken up because his plan to find a successor has seemingly failed – a few scenes back Charlie stole a sip of one of Wonka’s wonderful creations -- and his desperation shows through. Wilder has previously succeeded in charming us with Wonka’s wit, and we now feel for the man’s anxiety. Then, just after he’s angrily dismissed Charlie and his Grandpa Joe from his half-office, it happens. Charlie carries in his pocket one of Wonka’s greatest prototype candy creations, the Everlasting Gobstopper, and he’s been offered a mint to sell it to Wonka’s biggest rival. After being ordered out, Charlie’s Grandpa Joe is all for making the sale. But Charlie walks to Wonka’s half-desk, removes the confection from his pocket and places it down. As he walks away, Wilder delivers the line that seals the moment, “So shines a good deed in a weary world.”
And that brings me to what Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory has in common with The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s ring symbolizes power and, more importantly, the corrupting influence of power. Frodo resists the power of the One Ring and carries it to Mordor where it was forged in the quest to destroy it. Charlie refuses to sell his Everlasting Gobstopper, instead leaving it in the factory where it was made. This realization makes, in my opinion, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory a more important film than I previously thought. Tolkien gave us one of the most important lessons, especially in our time when power can transfer more fluidly than the land-equals-power equation of the Medieval past, the lesson that power must be recognized as a corrupter and that corrupting influence must be rejected if we wish to remain good honorable individuals. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory gives us the same lesson, and does so with a grace and simplicity that even small children can understand.
The wife and I recently enjoyed a vacation away from the kids at a great place on the Connecticut shore (http://innatmystic.com), and Amanda was adamant that one of the activities we’d take in would be a movie, the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Briefly, here are my thoughts on the remake sans spoilers but with some character details. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a well-made film, beautifully shot with impressive acting from Freddie Highmore, who plays young Charlie. The script has some interesting embellishments, expanding into Wonka’s childhood, and the film is fun, but I prefer the original for several reasons. Depp’s Wonka is mean, actually nasty at heart, and that made him less sympathetic than Gene Wilder’s wry but caring character. Danny Elfman’s treatment of the Oompa Loompa’s songs rock, but the big sound of the music obscures the lyrics, whose moralizing is so important to the movie.
But what’s missing most from the remake is the greatest redemptive moment in film. You might not have noticed it for what it is when you saw the original movie, but it’s there and it’s a wonder to behold. For those who haven’t seen the Mel Stuart, spoiler alert. Near the end of the film, Gene Wilder’s sly and sardonic Willy Wonka retreats to his office, where every item in the room is one half of itself, and he suffers a minor breakdown. The ever-in-control Wonka is broken up because his plan to find a successor has seemingly failed – a few scenes back Charlie stole a sip of one of Wonka’s wonderful creations -- and his desperation shows through. Wilder has previously succeeded in charming us with Wonka’s wit, and we now feel for the man’s anxiety. Then, just after he’s angrily dismissed Charlie and his Grandpa Joe from his half-office, it happens. Charlie carries in his pocket one of Wonka’s greatest prototype candy creations, the Everlasting Gobstopper, and he’s been offered a mint to sell it to Wonka’s biggest rival. After being ordered out, Charlie’s Grandpa Joe is all for making the sale. But Charlie walks to Wonka’s half-desk, removes the confection from his pocket and places it down. As he walks away, Wilder delivers the line that seals the moment, “So shines a good deed in a weary world.”
And that brings me to what Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory has in common with The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s ring symbolizes power and, more importantly, the corrupting influence of power. Frodo resists the power of the One Ring and carries it to Mordor where it was forged in the quest to destroy it. Charlie refuses to sell his Everlasting Gobstopper, instead leaving it in the factory where it was made. This realization makes, in my opinion, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory a more important film than I previously thought. Tolkien gave us one of the most important lessons, especially in our time when power can transfer more fluidly than the land-equals-power equation of the Medieval past, the lesson that power must be recognized as a corrupter and that corrupting influence must be rejected if we wish to remain good honorable individuals. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory gives us the same lesson, and does so with a grace and simplicity that even small children can understand.
posted by Christopher A. Dellario at 9:19 AM
2 Comments:
I think the LOTR comparison is a bit belabored, but you do have a point about the Everlasting Gobstopper scene (although I must say I bridle at calling the Gene Wilder version 'the original'). I saw the film this afternoon, and I was struck by the fact that everything after Charlie finds the golden ticket is a victory lap, or, more precisely, once he enters the factory, Charlie ceases to be the main character and hands the reins over to Wonka.
Charlie in fact does nothing to earn his reward at the end of the book except not have a profound flaw in his character. He wins the factory simply by virtue of being the last man standing, and he accomplishes this simply by being relatively well-adjusted. We the readers know that Charlie is good and pure, but all Wonka knows is that he isn't vile.
In that sense, I'll concede that the Wilder version outdoes Dahl. I will point out that Burton deals with the problem by imbuing Charlie with more spunk and self-determination than Dahl's Charlie - he tries to sell the golden ticket in order to feed his family, and he rejects Wonka's offer to become his heir when that offer is made on disagreeable terms.
As for Wonka being nasty, that's exactly as it should be. Wonka is nasty. The entire book is nasty. Dahl's entire canon, adult and juvenile, is nasty. It's what makes him so much fun.
Your points are well taken, Abigail, but as I mention in my following post, Dahl wrote the screenplay to the first film and was on-set during its shooting, making it arguably as important as the book.
Post a Comment
<< Home