Vs.
Hollywood has once again hoodwinked us with these movie titles, in much the same way they did with, say, “Man On Fire” -- imagine my disappointment when I discovered they didn’t actually set anyone on fire! In this case, the 1971 “Willy Wonka” is in fact centered on the adorable little Peter Ostrum, who went on to star in such classics as, um, Child Stars: Then and Now and After They Were Famous, whereas the 2005 “Charlie” centers inexorably on Johnny Depp’s latest experiment with basing a character on fake teeth.
In both versions, the children represent my favorite mortal sins: Mike Teevee, Anger; Augustus Gloop, Gluttony; Violet Beauregard, Pride; Veruca Salt, Greed; and of course Charlie Bucket, Lust -- poor boy learned it at home, what with the grandparents carrying on a four-way right in front of the family night and day. (Best geriatric innuendo since “Cocoon: The Return”!) Both movies also feature chocolate rivers, ineffectual parents and Oompa-Loompas, although the modern version seems to establish Oompa-Loompa Land as being in India, probably because they’ve got the Bomb now and can demand equal representation. (Look for the cast of the upcoming Smurf movie to be entirely North Korean.)
Where the two films diverge, of course, is in their Wonkas, and the mutated cockroach civilizations of the future will be able to tell much about the human race by smearing their sticky antennae over these differences. In the original movie, Gene Wilder had an unfortunate strain of humanity under his insanity; Johnny Depp’s character, as written by John August, has no such foible. When he returns home for a thoroughly out-of-character reconciliation with his father, played by Christopher Lee, we suddenly feel ourselves thrown back to some 1960’s Hammer Film, waiting for the two of them to drive stakes through each others’ hearts. Sadly, no such thing happens. (Nor do they set each other on fire.)
On the other hand, we do get to enjoy watching Depp bring out the Michael Jackson subtext in Wonka’s pasty-faced perve: “Here’s a golden ticket...” (read: out-of-court settlement), “...come to Neverland and suck on my lollipop!” And therein lies the key difference between the idealistic 1970’s and the new post-moral millennium: Tim Burton’s film mirrors a culture in which the Rich go free and the Poor only inherit the Earth in the sense that they have nothing else to eat. In the end, everyone -- good and evil -- goes away with a lifetime of chocolate, and the “bad” children are all thrilled or unfazed by their so-called “punishments”, ultimately subverting the aim of Roald Dahl’s moralistic tale. The message of this film is: “Indulge yourself. Hell isn’t so bad.” Amen to that!
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