Brave Writer

The most recent version of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” features Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. It’s just been released on video in the last month. If you’ve not seen this movie, it would be a good one for kids who don’t mind fantasy and who can tolerate weirdness. (I mention this since as a kid, I couldn’t handle either very well.)

One of the benefits of a newer version of the film is that there is an older version that can also be viewed for comparison! The 1970s version of the same story (which is a novel by Roald Dahl) is called “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and stars Gene Wilder.

If you read the book and watch both versions, you are now practicing a principle that I like to call “multiple exposures.” One of the best ways to increase your facility in the ability to analyze literature, art, music, even nature is to encounter the same story, song, style or setting in multiple interpretations.

How is Johnny Depp’s interpretation of Willy Wonka different than Gene Wilder’s? Which is truer to the book? What characteristics do they each choose to emphasize?

Now consider the actors who plays Charlie in each film. What choices do these actors make in how they portray Charlie that work? Which don’t work?

Which movie is more faithful to the original novel? Do you prefer one to the other? Why does either (both) of them alter the story for the sake of the movie? Does it work?

Notice the artistic conception of the factory and the costumes and Charlie’s home. What do the films have in common with each other and what is different? Do you like the Oompa Loompas better in one than the other?

Don’t turn this into a report. Simply converse using some of these questions as dialog openers. This is the kind of questioning that lays a foundation for skills like compare and contrast. It helps to be intentional about noticing the choices both writers and directors make in telling the same story. Over time, these skills translate into comparing and contrasting ideas, and making critical judgments in writing.

It’s always a good idea to read the novel on which a film is based too. And just so you know: I don’t think it matters one whit if you see the movie before reading the book or not. I never cared to read the LOTR series or any Jane Austen until I had seen them in film. My enjoyment of those books was not diminished at all.

Sometimes film catalyzes an interest in reading and sometimes reading catalyzes an interest in viewing. Both are good.

“A Muppet Christmas Carol” is one of our favorite Christmas movies.

If you’ve read Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” the Muppet version will be that much richer. Still, no prior acquaintance with the story is necessary to enjoy this film and it may be just the foundation necessary for watching other versions of it later. Since “A Christmas Carol” is such a staple at this time of year and since the characters are a part of our cultural literacy, I highly recommend getting this version and enjoying it with your kids.

The Muppets have a way of neutralizing the frightening quality of many of the original versions. Michael Caine is fabulous as Scrooge. A bit of trivia: this is the first movie that featured a Kermit voice that was not Jim Henson’s.

There is a bit of “scariness” toward the end with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, but fortunately our narrators warn us and even leave the movie while that scene occurs. You can certainly do likewise, if need be.

Archetypes
Dickens’ Scrooge has long been associated with greed, simply by the mention of his name. We even see the name transformed into a verb on occasion: She was scrooged out of her money. When a literary character becomes wedded to a distinguishing characteristic, the character rises to the level of archetype. A literate person will recognize the use of the character’s name as an allusion to the characteristic.

So for instance, if someone says that your brother is such a “Scrooge” about serving desserts, you instantly think of his hoarding the desserts for himself, or at the least, that he is miserly with the desserts, giving tiny portions.

Another archetype from “A Christmas Carol” is the character, Tiny Tim. Tiny Tim represents innocence that is threatened. We don’t attribute any bad qualities to Tiny Tim. He is the figure that reminds us that there is good in the world that deserves our attention, protection and care.

And so on. See if you can recognize how the characters in this movie/story suggest larger qualities that we all recognize. How do we understand the “Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come”?

Enjoy! (Certainly deserves popcorn and hot chocolate for the true home movie viewing experience, I think.)

Some conversation starters for movie viewing:

Pause the film and ask: What do you think will happen next?

As you are viewing, identify the main character by saying, “I’ll bet Bambi is the protagonist, that is, the main character.”

Ask: “What do you think he wants? Who’s going to stop him?” (plot=a main character who wants something but has to overcome an obstacle to get it)

In Bambi, Bamib wants to lead a natural, animal life that includes maturing, being raised by his mother, falling in love and having a mate and babies.

The obstacle to getting what Bambi wants is MAN. (“Man is in the forest.”) Each crisis advances the plot. In this case, you can notice when Man becomes a problem for Bambi (when is he first aware of Man?). Then you can trace how many crises lead up to the climax (the biggest crisis).

To identify the climax, figure out which scene is the one that you are waiting for – the one that will make or break the protagonist’s goal. Can you figure out what the climax is going to be at the beginning, partway in, or only right before it happens? Is there a mini climax before the ultimate climax?

The climax is usually the last big event (conflict) right before the end where everything is neatly wrapped up. So even though there are always mini crises throughout a good plot, the climax is the event that everyone is worried about that happens right before the story resolves itself.

For instance, in Bambi, the climax comes when there is a fire (started by man) in the forest and Bambi must escape. The climax does not occur when Bambi’s mother is shot. That crisis is called a “complication.” A complication adds problematic mass to the story so that it drives to a climax. Bambi’s mother being shot by “man” is one in a series of times that Bambi encounters the problem that is central to this story: namely, man is in the forest and is a threat to the well-being of animals.

So the climax is that moment when the clash between these two worlds is so threatening that we wonder if Bambi comes out of it okay. I’ll leave you hanging for how it all turns out.

See if you can deconstruct the plot of a favorite movie. I highly recommend anything by Disney. His plots are simple and the climaxes are clear.

Yesterday, we returned to early childhood for our afternoon movie. Johannah (15) is studying French. Caitrin (8) is catching up to her older siblings by watching all the old Disney movies, some for the first and second time.

Here’s how it played out…

J: “Oh let’s watch The Little Mermaid. It has French in it. Caitrin, want to watch?”

C: “Sure.”

J: “Shoot. I always forget that you have to rewind video. I hate that.”

Rewinding, rewinding.

C: “No wait stop there—that’s the beginnning.”

J: “Oh, the color is terrible.”

Me: “That’s because it’s VHS. We need the DVD.”

J: “Yeah that’s true. Every Disney is on DVD now.”

C: “Did you know Bambi is on DVD? And they changed everything. All the colors are changed. It’s so vibrant now!” (Look of amazement on my face at use of quality word.)

J: “Bambi is the stupidest movie. I mean, everyone says they like it. But it’s so boring. No one really does.”

Me: “Mmm. I love it. When you have toddlers, you’ll love it.”

J: “Mom, did you know that in real life deer and rabbits chill? They really do.”

Me: “Chill?”

J: “Mom – they hang together. They chill.”

Me: “Oh! They chill. Kewl.”

The movie starts. Sisters chill in real life too.

If you haven’t yet discovered the Pride and Prejudice mini series by A&E, now’s the time to do so.

Read this enticing description from the A&E website:

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is the story of the lively and rebellious Elizabeth Bennet, one of five unmarried daughters living in the countryside of 19th-century England. In a world where obtaining an advantageous marriage is a woman’s sole occupation, Elizabeth’s independent manner threatens her family’s future. Will her romantic sparring with the mysterious and arrogant Darcy end in misfortune–or will love’s true nature prevail?

One of the benefits of watching this series is that Jane Austen is a master of the English language. Her puns, witticisms, invectives and descriptions enrich the hearer’s appreciation for and use of English. These actors handle the language masterfully so that you and your kids will hear the intended inflections and nuances, sometimes missed in reading. Austen’s characters are each sharply defined and fortunately for us, the actors chosen to represent them in this production have formed the uber-cast, making them each the archetype of Lizzie, of Mrs. Bennett, of Darcy and Wickham.

We’ve got rain today and a house full of sick children. I think we’ll pop in the DVDs and enjoy this six part series… again… for the hundredth time.

–julie