Obsessions: Still Chocolate After All These Years

[bugshaw]

Just been to see the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Which I enjoyed, but that's beside the point.

Postulation: Children's books mainly feature children as protagonists. C&TCF has a grown-up (Wonka) who we follow in some detail, more so than the rather one-dimensional mums and dads and grandpas and grandmas in other books. A man who has an interesting life, and who gets to think up things like "square sweets that look round." Young Bridget groks this, and thinks "Ah, that's how grown-ups are supposed to behave," and Wonka enters her subconscious as a primary role-model.

Oops!

(I bet he'd have a wall of animatronic chinchillas...)

Comments

[numbat.livejournal.com]

I never read any Roald Dahl books as I was growing up, indeed I'm not sure I have since then either. Something of a curious ommission given how many other highlights and lowlights of English fiction for children that I did read back then. Still, since I managed to avoid being coming sensible I suppose there is no harm done.

Aha

[dmsherwood53.livejournal.com]

That's how you got so fucked up