Let me just start off by saying that Tim Burton is a genius and Johnny Depp is making himself a legend playing classic characters with a modern (and slightly dark) twist. With that out of the way, I saw Alice in Wonderland tonight, a MUST SEE for adults and children alike. Tim Burton (along with partners in crime Johnny Depp and wife Helena Bonham Carter) eloquently emphasizes the madness of this tale without losing the moral lessons that Lewis Carroll (author of said classic) so creatively wrote about.
"Have I gone mad?" asked Alice.
"I'm afraid so," replied her father. "...you're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are."
Without coming out and saying it Mr. Kingsley reassures precious Alice that it's okay to dream, to think outside the box. The very next scene is thirteen years after that reassurance and being a dutiful member of society has taken priority over dreaming the impossible. Though the story was written over a century ago not much has changed. As children we dream big because we are too young to believe that we cannot have the makings of our dreams. Then we grow up and what we perceive as our limitations set in, it's almost as though the bigger we get the smaller we dream.
"You used to be much more..."muchier". You've lost your muchness." the Mad Hatter
And it's a true danger for all of us, that we would go from dreaming impossible things to dreaming realistic things. Growing up has a potential side effect of losing our "muchness". Oh if only we all had our very own Mad Hatter, someone who sees the world slightly differently, someone who reminds us of the "muchness" we used to be made of.
The world Alice belonged to was wound tightly in being proper about everything. Yet the world Alice found herself in (after chasing a rabbit down a hole) was all about being true to yourself. The White Queen couldn't put her sister to death because it went against her vows. The Hatter never felt more himself then when making hats. Absolem challenged whether or not Alice knew who she was not because he needed to believe in her, but because she needed to believe in herself.
"Sometimes I've believed in as many as six impossible things before breakfast." Alice Kingsley
As she listed off six former impossibilities Alice made room for six new dreams she could make come true. And so should you.
"This is impossible." Alice Kingsley
"Only if you believe it is." The Mad Hatter
We can have the safety of doing the dutiful thing, or we can have the confidence to believe in ourself. In front of all our friends and family we will have to choose and then stick by our decision. In a way SGP was my 'Mad Hatter', I hope the rest of you are so lucky!
