luminouslollies - Tumblr blog

luminouslollies · 2 days ago

Text

I love how on the one hand, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) is really good, but on the other hand sometimes it really confuses its messages. So here's my way-too-deep dive into the movie that noone actually asked for:

The parenting messages:

Showing that bad parenting will fuck kids up, with different examples for what counts as bad parenting and the respective different results of the bad parenting styles.

Showing that ultimately, the kids will be the ones to pay for the parents' mistakes in raising them. They are the ones who get punished, and if you apply it to real life, they are the ones who'll have to live with the ways they've been raised and how it affects them.

Showing that the parents are first and foremost the ones who need to learn, not the kids. In the end, the kids don't seem overly troubled or changed from the experience, but you can see the parents start to change their parenting.

Only half of the songs even mention that it's the parents' fault that the kid is like this. Mostly they just preoccupy themselves with shaming the kids.

The way Augustus gets punished makes no sense. That's mostly because they felt the need to push for a fatphobic message before anything else (more on that below). But being fat is not a character flaw. His character flaw is that he's greedy/doesn't know how to share. This is only shown very briefly unfortunately, but that's at least an actual flaw. Now, being greedy/unable to share doesn't necessarily mean not listening to anyone when they tell you not to do something, but that's basically how his punishment comes on. He doesn't listen to Wonka or his mother when told to go away from the chocolate river, falls in, almost drowns, gets humiliated for his body in front of everyone and sucked into a mashine that carries him off. Maybe instead you could have him wanting to try more and more of the things in the factory, wandering further and further along and getting lost. Or maybe he interrupts the Oompa-Loompas' work by selfishly putting the stuff they're reaping into his own pockets and is consequently punished in some way.

The way Violet gets punished makes sense because she's raised to be an over-achiever especially when it comes to chewing bubble gum. You can see after every action of hers she looks to her mother for approval, and her mother does cheer her on when she takes the gum that turns her into a blueberry. However, it also doesn't make sense because throughout the entire film until that point, Violet and her mother tried to make sure they were the best candidad for the special prize and they are acting against Wonka's repeated instructions here, which seems very counter-intuitive to reaching that goal. Also, once again the song completely misses the point and decides the punishment is for liking gum instead of their hyper-focus on Being The Best.

The way Veruca gets punished makes sense as a consequence for her upbringing. Her parents buy her everything she asks for, so she never learned how to deal with a No. So when she is faced with one regarding the squirrels, of course she ignores it, because she's used to eventually getting everything she asks for. Her being attacked is a logical consequence of that.

The way Mike gets punished makes sense. He has two fatal flaws: thinking he knows everything and extreme violence. His punishment is mainly for the former, not thinking through that if the chocolate bar gets smaller, he would too. However, I think the one that should have been the focus of his punishment would be the latter. Violence is a lot more harmful than being a know-it-all, and also he's actually correct about everything he says in the TV room. He figured out how to get a ticket with just Maths. I feel like he has a pretty good reason to think of himself as smart. The song here is once again unlogical, claiming that kids should stay away from TV and videogames because they make them stupid. But Mike isn't stupid. He's impulsive and aggressive (supposedly because of the videogames). That's not the same.

Wonka's position is contradictory in itself. On one hand, he seems to want to punish the parents so they get better at parenting. But on the other hand he hates parents who tell you what to do and do, you know, other good parenting stuff. None of the kids (except maybe Violet, who was not seeing that way) had a problem because their parents had too many rules or demanded too much.

After 4 depictions of how different forms of neglect of your child* have a bad influence on your child, the relationship of the Wonkas shows that the opposite (overprotectivness) can be just as bad.

(* Calling them all neglect is probably a misuse of the word, however I mean it in a way that there's always something lacking instead of too much of something. Augustus is never taught charitableness, Violetta is never taught how to deal with defeat or how to figure out what she wants herself (instead of just excelling in what her mother expects of her), Veruca is never taught how to deal with a No and never shown love outside of material possesions, Mike is never shown boundaries or taught how to deal with his aggression in a healthy way. Meanwhile Wilbur cares too much about what his son eats and is overly protective about Willy's dental hygiene.)

Depicturing capitalism:

The wealthy billionaire (aka Wonka) is completely out of touch with the real world.

The wealthy billionaire doesn't give two shits about destroying the property of people so poor they can barely survive, as seen by him just crushing through the Buckets' roof with his glass lift.

The wealthy billionaire employs cheap labour from workers who completely depend on him because it saves him money (in this case not (primarily) because he wants to keep workers' paychecks as small as possible, but because employing locals means his recipes might get stolen and if people can buy the same stuff from other stores, he doesn't control the market anymore and might lose revenue).

He doesn't care for the labour his factory provides. He used to have locals working for him, and by the size of his factory, a not small amount of the locals must have depended on their jobs there. He dismisses all of them overnight, single-handedly creating an explosion of unemployment in the area, without a care. Something that as we see with Charlie's family still has consequences even decades later.

It fuels into the narrative that billionaires deserve their wealth because they're actually geniuses.

It gives the illusion that billionaires actually give a fuck about the shit they produce. Wonka is really passionate about his sweets and even long after his succesfull take-off at the world market he still creates all the recipes. The only hint against this narrative is that he produces at least some products (like the bubblegum) simply for the money, despite not actually liking them.

He will test unsafe products on his workers and when there are unpleasant side-effects, they'll just have to live with it.

He's mad at Mike for cheating to get the ticket, but not at Veruca. That's because Veruca's way of cheating made him tons of profit while Mike's way of cheating gained him only one sold chocolate bar.

However, I think most/all of the points that actually show how bad capitalism is were unintentional in doing so. The movie doesn't try to say capitalism/billionaires are bad, it just happens to do so. Half of these points are either played for laughs, minor background moments or things you have to think about and put together to notice. Most noticably, the Buckets' poverty is framed as a hardship to overcome at best and a virtue that makes Charlie the most worthy of the children at worst. If the movie was actually trying to take a stance against capitalism/billionaires, I think this wouldn't be the case.

Other noteworthy stuff:

As mentioned above, the treatment of Augustus is insanely fatphobic. It starts with grandfather George predicting that the first winner will be "fat, fat, fat". The way he says it implies that fatness is moraly wrong - which it isn't. Also, what he actually means is that the first winner will probably really love chocolate, which does not need to correlate with body shape whatsoever. Then there's the scene in the factory where they make a proper pig of him, completely dehumanizing him, covering his entire face with food, putting him on the ground, even making him eat grass. And to really hammer home the fat hatred, he gets stuck in the tube and the Oompa-Loompas (at least in the German version of the lyrics, which are the only ones I've ever heared) sing about him being a "disgusting blob of fat".

The racism regarding the Oompa-Loompas. Of course their poor tribe just doesn't know how to make delicious edible food and has to rely on a random white guy teaching them better. Of course they will gladly do what's basically slave-work (as they are not paid except in cocoa beans), somehow made even worse because it's implied that if they ever wanted to leave the factory, it would be really bad for them because they can't deal with cold climate, so they're basically forced to remain in the factory. Paired with their love for singing during work it really seems like it's trying to portrait the slave trade through rose-coloured glasses.

It would have been nice to see what exactly makes Charlie's parents a perfect middle between too absent and too present, too uncaring and too controling. Because the way it's framed their parenting is good because... they're poor? I guess? Which is bullshit, poor parents are not automatically good parents.

7 notes · View notes

luminouslollies · 3 days ago

Text

So I found myself making that complete list of Wonka sweets, and for the sake of time, patience and possibly long-term mental health, I thought I'd put out a separate list for the ‘fanon’ candy. The canon list it's almost complete… I think. I don't know about counting the 2001 script. I don't really feel like reading it now and want to concentrate on other things. Right now I just want to finish ‘The Great Glass Elevator’ and get the list into English.

What's with the list, anyway? Well, in case you want to create your own Wonka sweets. With a list at hand you don't run the risk of accidentally creating something that already exists. I thought of a chocolate toothpaste when TWO already existed. So what to do? Try to make the paste edible and not so disgusting in the process. I don't think Mr. Wonka would like to pour good chocolate down the drain.

Why do I bother to talk about this if I only get 2 to 4 notes? Because all in all this is the only story where I've been able to develop fanon content and it makes me feel happy to be able to do so, even if it's nothing groundbreaking or remotely interesting. I'm just looking to have some fun and forget that there are flowers in Antarctica.

I'm going for sleeping pills.

#charlie and the chocolate factory #willy wonka and the chocolate factory #catcf #willy wonka #i'm so tired #but that's just me

1 note · View note

luminouslollies · 7 days ago

Text

๑ ✧⁠*⁠。 general willy wonka + charlie headcanons ✧⁠*⁠。๑

willy struggled with night terrors after the spy incident so he had a custom made lamp shaped like a strawberry to help him sleep better, it's absolutely necessary that he has it on before going to bed, if he gets bouts of insomnia the lamp will emit scented fumes into the air that will render him unconscious at just a snap of a finger (it may or may not be laced with chloroform)

willy accidentally left charlie on jupiter once, and it wasn't until later before settling in his private quarters when he realized his mistake, he got so paranoid that in a state of absolute frenzy--crashed his elevator through the factory wall. charlie will never live this moment down and mentions the hole where willy crashed the elevator through every day to remind him whenever willy forgets something important

charlie lost his right arm to the knids sometime during one of their space travels, wonka built him a bionic one to compensate, charlie seems to enjoy having a part of his limb mechanized, he uses it to its full capacity in the inventing room, leading to a lot of casualities (he needs to bind his time trying to manage it since it's still new, charlie broke several of willy's important vases already, one of them being his mother's urn, willy doesn't mind and has a backup for that specific scenario)

very clumsy, they both lack spatial awareness and will bump unto anything if it's out of sight

charlie likes fuzzy objects and can't help but stroke willy's soft sideburns whenever he has the opportunity to touch it

whenever willy tries very hard to concentrate on a problem he's stuck in, his hands will twitch and would find a way to do something on impulse, unable to sit himself in one place for an unregulated amount of time (fiddling something like a pen or a coin or lightly tapping the table, other times his muscles would flex involuntarily)

adjacent to wonka's, when contemplating, charlie drums his palms incessantly towards the nearest surface he can find. be it: willy's coat, arm, any desk or kitchen counter. charlie can also be heard sniffling, his nose twitching similar to a rabbit's

charlie has a bit of an oral fixation, meaning his mouth gets restless and he finds it very much comforting to chew or bite on something.

the way willy found out about this was when charlie picked up his hand (because they usually held hands everytime they ride the elevator) and bit it out of nowhere, this prompted a great reaction to the point willy instinctively pulls his arms out of reach, as soon as he gets the slightest notion that charlie is mildly irritated towards him or at something else unrelated, wonka layered a coat made of sourpatch gummies around the rim of his cane just for good measure

charlie prefers chocolate, but he has a certain fondness for peppermint flavored candies,

wonka was kinda stand-offish towards the buckets the following days after charlie moved in, baffled by the concept of a family just being so casual about their displays of affection (such as hugs or hair-ruffling). this is because he was never on the receiving end of this when he was growing up, so to him it seems like a complete mystery how the buckets can function so peacefully. but he got to experience first hand through his apprentice.

charlie gets clingy, he latches unto wonka's arm, sometimes even halting the man from moving, and slows him down (and willy likes to move alot, he's restless), willy has his own problems with procrastination and generally sluggish people, so when he gets slowed down like that he often nags at charlie for it, claiming the boy's too old to be carried around like a baby "who weighs like the icebarg that sank the mighty titanic."

but if disaster strikes, charlie is the first to reach for his hand, wonka's grown accustomed to this and just squeezes it in return, he'll shoulder the boy on his arms like a heavy burden through the ends of the earth if it meant keeping him safe.

wonka is very, and I mean very emotionally constipated without meaning to. charlie has to make an effort just to get him to sympathize to a situation (he thinks doesn't concern him) for a tiny while.

he also has an obsessive streak to push himself far beyond his limitations just to get his experiments to function effectively, though he'll argue against being a perfectionist, he is very much one when it comes to something he's very passionate about

like veruca, wonka does have a tendency to be very pushy and a bit stubborn when he wants something, he's used to the oompa-loompas not putting up a fight whenever he suggests an outlandish idea and doing whatever it is he tells them, but after a while charlie pushes back and wonka realizes just how much of a handful the small boy can actually be (it's honestly so amusing to wonka that he can't be mad at him for very long)

after the events of great glass elevator, charlie was a bit feverish during the whole debacle in the white house, wonka wanted them to head straight to the inventing room in hopes of showing charlie the ropes but since it's nearing midnight when they landed back in the factory (and understandably, the buckets were very tired as well), charlie passed, and headed towards his bedroom along with his parents. wonka, still lively despite the hour, tried to convince him to stay awake for a while, which lead to a back and forth banter. wonka was the first to walk away. the quarrel subsequently lasted for a whole week because it was charlie's first lesson and first quality time with wonka, the man really wasn't expecting any bad apples to turn up until that last moment. lots of conflict and avoidance ensued, but they settled it quickly either way.

wonka is a massive tease, he'll say a phrase that's deliberately flirtatious out of turn, just to get a reaction from someone, he especially likes to do this around charlie's parents, he thinks it's hilarious to watch them get all flustered, he also thinks it's especially funny how they think he's being serious (which isn't the case for grandma georgina, the woman actually made a move on him!)

charlie's pranks are done in a dry "told you so" kind of way, opposite to wonka's, he picks the worst timing to strike, so it feels insensitive in a supposed serious serious situation, even though he's only doing it to make the atmosphere less tragic, adding an otherwise, awkward endearment to him.

charlie sometimes feels as if the factory is eating him alive, though he'll never admit it. he expresses it very boldly though. usually he gets impulsive, and plays the world like his canvas with wild abandon. nobody expects him of all people to be selfish unless there's something wrong, but when there is, it shows as clear as day. charlie gets reckless, never seeing past anything and goes straight for the kill because he knows he can, charlie is extremely hedonistic when those dark times come. he drifts about, thrashing everywhere, like the very whims of destruction follows him. his creativity spikes too, when it comes to destroying things during a dark phase. It's wonka who's the leading head type within their dynamic, but when charlie gets like this he has these last minute manic ideas that are pretty ingenious. but this only applies when he's trying to think of a way to ruin.

this happens and wonka has to make sure charlie doesn't go off the deep end and they end up acting like two complete opposites and in a sense, it's a reverse of how they "normally" are

charlie wanted to leave town and see the stars, but that was before all the tales of wondrous stories of his mentor that grandpa joe would subject his little 10 year old mind to deflect the reality of the situation they're in

charlie is conscious of the fact that he never would've accomplished much without willy. and that idea could spark some argument perhaps, however the thing is he grew up in poverty, in a delapidated makeshift house built with leftover scraps of wood as if it will crash in on itself at any moment, surrounded constantly within a cold, drab environment. his health and his family's health isn't much better either. and he went to and from school with a near empty stomach. he even thought that he might not even survive for the next century what with the condition he faced, so he started to think less and less about opportunities, because at an early age he realized there's not much for him besides the junkyard where he often goes to recycle trash other people don't use. and started to focus on his dreams and imagination, because it's the only thing that he can have. so he clings to it tightly, and wishes, hopes, even if some part of him believes otherwise,

wonka has good intentions (in taking charlie under his wing), charlie is grateful for everything he's been given but wonka is unaware of how much of a large impact he had on his life. charlie has come to highly depend on him, he's come to hold him on such a pedestal (in his mind wonka is his literal, metaphorical savior) he's eternally indebted because he believes that wonka not only saved him, but also gave him purpose, he gave him a reason to live through another day.

however it does sting knowing that he would've had nothing, no point to his existence had it not been for wonka's help, that at some point he'd just keel over and starved, his death becoming a nameless statistic amongst other children who suffered terribly from extreme indigence and malnutrition

charlie goes to willy's room when he can't sleep, indulging themselves with a cup of hot chocolate, then they sit near the large bay window watching as time slowly passes by,

wonka keeps a stash of charlie's doodles inside his compartment drawer (starting from when he was still 10), and organized it into a mini photo album

wonka also posed for charlie's rendition of the mona lisa during his birthday. he has the boy's painting of him framed above his desk

they didn't stop at mona lisa. charlie did various renditions of classical paintings. and one of them is the birth of venus, but instead of the iconic aphrodite at the center of the portrait it's replaced with wonka standing ontop of the shell instead, fully clothed in his standard eccentric suit, holding a piece of cloth.

charlie has an eidetic memory and the ability to remember things down to the barest little detail. wonka makes fun of him for it, "I swear it's like your brain is a filing cabinet, my dear boy!"

willy puts attention on alot of things, even if some of them seem inconsequential, this absentmindedness distracts him quickly, and scatters his thoughts causing him to be forgetful on occassion.

6 notes · View notes

luminouslollies · 7 days ago

Text

hey ya'll! if there's any catcf enjoyers still present and are still posting wonka content, our server made a prompt meme on ao3 open for everyone so people can throw in their fic ideas, and others can write for them! there are rules still present despite everyone being free to join whenever, wherever. but y'all can read the rest of it on this link here!

charlie and the chocolate factory prompt meme

2 notes · View notes

luminouslollies · 9 days ago

Photo

I always wanted to read the third Charlie and The Chocolate Factory book, Charlie in The White House. I was interested to see if his affectionate banter about America in the first two books could work when Charlie was at The White House itself - it felt a little uncomfortable.

Sadly it was never written, only one chapter was written and is held in The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre. I must go and read that chapter one day.

There is a page on the museum’s site that I have transcribed:

Charlie in The White House - Roald Dahl

The President of the United States was standing on the lawn of The White House. He was surrounded by all the most important people in the country. They were wearing their best clothes and there was an air of tremendous excitement everywhere. The President himself was gazing anxiously at the sky. He was searching for the helicopter which was due to arrive at any minute. This helicopter, as everyone knew, was bringing to The White House the eight brave astronauts who only a few hours before had rescued an American spaceship when it was attacked by a swarm or Vermicious Knids.

So, standing on the lawn were:

The President of the United States, Lancelot R Gilligrass, the most powerful man on earth.

The Vice-President, Miss Tibbs, a gigantic and fearsome lady of eighty-nine who had been the President’s nanny when he was small.

Then we had the President’s Inner Cabinet. This consisted of five men. They were the President’s closest advisers and they were all immensely powerful. Together with the President and Vice-President, these five men ran the country. They were:

The Chief of the Army: General Horsebrass, who was wearing so many medal-ribbons they covered not only the front and back of his tunic but ran all the way down his pants as well.

The Chief of the Navy, Admiral Tarbuncle, who was all at sea on land.

The Director of Sewage and Garbage Disposal, the Honourable I. M. Ponky, who was standing all by himself because nobody wanted to come too close to him, even downwind.

The Director of Public Relations and Bamboozlement, Wilbur G Pocus, known as Hocus to his friends.

The co-ordinator of Hi-Fi and Hearing Aids, Mr. Bugsy Tape, who was hiding in a hollow tree and recordng every word that was spoken on The White House lawn.

There were lots of other famous and important people there, but there isn’t room to mention them all.

10 notes · View notes