Children’s movies have received an abundance of media attention since Disney came out with its first animated film. Websites are constructed, reviews are printed, and some movies have garners an almost cult-like following. One film in particular has caught the public’s eye more than others, and it is based on a popular, though highly controversial, children’s book by Roald Dahl.
“Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” was released in 1971 and it was loosely based on the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Dahl. The book itself has been used by schools nationwide to teach children literature, politics, economy, and more, but what does the story really teach our children? I think Mr. Wonka deserves a closer look.
Roald Dahl wrote the book in 1964, when major world events were determining the fate of thousands of lives in the political arena- the Gulf of Tonkin incident between the United States and Vietnam launched the infamous Vietnam War; China was testing its first atomic bomb; Martin Luther King was meeting with Malcolm X and speaking out about civil rights; and Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for opposing apartheid in Africa.
Yet nobody seemed to notice, nor was concerned by, the obvious political, racial, and economic references in the seemingly innocuous children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
According to the story, mysterious eccentric Willie Wonka, owner of the ever-looming Wonka Chocolate Factory, has brought in Oompa Loompas to work for him. As a result, the surrounding village has been impoverished by this bourgeoisie attempt to stifle the proletariat, as evidenced by Charlie’s poor mother, who must slave away all hours of the day doing other people’s laundry in order to feed her son and his four bedridden grandparents. Eventually Wonka sees the need for someone to inherit his “kingdom” and devises a contest to choose the lucky winner. Five children of various ill morals and character find the Golden Tickets that have been hidden in the wrappers of chocolate bars, and thus begins an incredible journey behind the gates and walls of an enormous candy factory that resembles a maximum-security prison. Oh yeah, this is great stuff sure to appeal to children- candy, oompa loompas, kids we can all relate to, bright colors, and more.
Wonka, however, begs for a closer inspection of the hidden agenda behind his seemingly innocent motives. Why does he hire outside help to work in his factory when there are plenty of able-bodied people in his own community? He takes all the potential for capital away from people who are, in effect, his main customers, leaving them jobless and penniless. They are reduced to the status of peasants, forced to eke out whatever meager salaries they can performing menial labor for other, more well-to-do people.
When Dahl wrote his book, he portrayed the Oompa Loompas as “black pygmies imported from the deepest part of Africa where no white man had ever been.” In 1964, when African-Americans were working hard to achieve equal rights, this was an extremely risky venture. David Wolper, director of the 1971 movie, understood the need for political correctness and changed the Oompas into dwarfish creatures with green hair and orange-brown skin, but let’s face it folks- they were still slaves. According to Wonka, he saved the poor creatures from a nightmarish existence in Loompa Land, where they were eaten and abused daily by terrible and fearsome Horn Swagglers, Rooten Vermicious Kinids, and Swangdoodles. (Sound like politicians to me.) He brings them to his factory to replace all the villagers currently working for him, with the caveat that oompas work for free, minus all the candy they can eat. Wonka is nothing more than a smart and resourceful plantation owner.
During the sixties, people were experimenting with many drugs. LSD was a favorite of the so-called hippie set and this is hinted at via Wonka’s psychedelic boat ride through the tunnel of hell. Punctuated by images of turbulent colors and massive insects, it is a bad trip, literally. Wonka himself alludes to this fact with his cryptic poem about rowers who don’t know where they are going although they keep rowing faster and faster without slowing down. A metaphor for life?
The 1971 movie does soften the impact of the book, especially when four of the children are systematically eliminated for bad behavior. In the book they meet with very questionable demises, such as when Augustus Gloop is turned into fudge (in the book he merely exits the factory through the fudge tube), and when Veruca Salt is dumped down t he garbage disposal to either live out her life or be chopped up (in the book she is deposited down the ‘bad egg’ receptacle where she is later retrieved by her father). An element of gleeful cruelty remains in the movie version, however, as each child is forced to endure a little torture before being released, as in the case of Violet needing to be stomped back into shape after blowing up like a huge blueberry, or Mike Teevee being hauled off to the stretching room after being shrunk. Makes you wonder, did Mr. Dahl even like children?
Children frequently watch movies without really thinking about the underlying messages- they enjoy the songs, the colors, and the amusing antics of oddly-shaped people or creatures. As adults, however, we are blessed (or cursed) with critical-thinking ability- takes all the fun out of innocent imagination, doesn’t it? Maybe Roald Dahl was an ahead-of-his-times political commentator cleverly disguised behind children’s literature. After all, who would ban a children’s book?
