You're missing Peter Pan

[ms_ann_thrope]

That's sexist. Or homophobic. Or I don't know what it is, but it's something and you should be ashamed.

Good thing I didn't say Eddie Murphy or you coulda called me racist too, you ass.

 

[lemonbread]

I've never read the book. Is that how he's described?

He isn't really described in the book, except for still having all of his first teeth. But in most plays and movies, that's how he's portrayed.

 

[marshalt]

Good thing I didn't say Eddie Murphy or you coulda called me racist too, you ass.

Well, he did have that thing with the transexual a few years ago...

 

[Setanta84]

True, but that doesn't explain much.

Child labor laws explain why it became the convention on stage. With a stage production, you need someone who can do a starring role several times a night. After modern child labor laws went into effect, that entailed jumping through a lot of hoops. Jumping through hoops = increased production costs.

If you can get around that by casting an adult actor who can "pass" for a young boy, why not?

For the televised versions of the play, I think they're just sticking with the convention--and NBC knows and is on the joke that people hate watch these things.

 

[marshalt]

Child labor laws explain why it became the convention on stage. With a stage production, you need someone who can do a starring role several times a night. After modern child labor laws went into effect, that entailed jumping through a lot of hoops. Jumping through hoops = increased production costs.

If you can get around that by casting an adult actor who can "pass" for a young boy, why not?

For the televised versions of the play, I think they're just sticking with the convention--and NBC knows and is on the joke that people hate watch these things.

Now that makes sense.

 

[CandiCame]

All the fuss about insulting caricatures of Native Americans, and nobody goes to bat for the Pirates.

It's hard to be offended by Christopher Walkin.

 

[CandiCame]

He isn't really described in the book, except for still having all of his first teeth. But in most plays and movies, that's how he's portrayed.

And being a crazy motherfucker. Since he "thins out" the lost boys who get too old. Via murder. That's really all you need to know, I would imagine.

 

[Kitty]

Okay, but there is a Wendy in the story right? She's the female presence. I still don't get why Peter Pan is played by a girl.

Because the character is dedicated to Wendy. Stop being obtuse.

 

[marshalt]

Because the character is dedicated to Wendy. Stop being obtuse.

Stop being... acute.

So if Wendy is Peter Pan, who is Wendy?

 

[Lorilei]

Because it's about Wendy. You need to see it to understand, it's the biography of the author of the original play.

He met Wendy, a struggling single mom who fell ill. But he often visited her though married because he LOVED her kids, who are the Lost Boys. In the cartoon they are brothers to Wendy. In real life, the kids are her children. But that's too stark for Disney.

When J.M. Barrie played by Johnny Depp visited Wendy, more ill everyday, he saw her struggling to hold onto life through the happiness she found playing with her children in imagined adventures. He dedicated Neverland to her because when she died, she found it.

Well. That's depressing as hell.

 

[Kitty]

Stop being... acute.

So if Wendy is Peter Pan, who is Wendy?

Peter Pan is symbolic of the children chasing youth.

Wendy is Wendy.

 

[Kitty]

Well. That's depressing as hell.

*shrugs and walks out*

 

[marshalt]

Peter Pan is symbolic of the children chasing youth.

Wendy is Wendy.

I guess I'll take your word for that.

 

[CandiCame]

Well. That's depressing as hell.

If it makes you feel any better, many literary scholars believe the character Peter Pan was based not on Wendy herself, but on a street urchin who had been driven mad by life in homeless desperation. His father had been a soldier who had died and his mother had abandoned him. The kid confessed to killing small animals and stuff. I know that Peter Hollindale has written a couple books about that kid and his attachment to the Peter Pan series. You wanna cry, read that shit. It'll fuck you up.

Edit: I think that maybe everybody's been taken in by the Disney corporation. Peter's supposed to be a cautionary tale. If you wander off, you'll be taken in by rapey, murderous gangs who will put you in dangerous situations and eventually kill you is the bullet point to take away from the story. You gotta remember that Peter was introduced in Little White Bird in the early 1900s, when getting abducted was a huge problem and kids were way more hardcore with their storytelling than we are today.

 

[lemonbread]

Now that makes sense.

I stand by my theory that it's just because girls are cuter.

 

[pointless]

Why is Peter Pan always played by a girl?

forget the labor laws bullshit. it's just a pantomime tradition. that's all. nothing more.

 

[Kitty]

I stand by my theory that it's just because girls are cuter.

We are. But that's not it. There's a real story behind it .

 

[Kitty]

I guess I'll take your word for that.

Smart move. And watch the film, don't you love Johnny?

 

[Lorilei]

If it makes you feel any better, many literary scholars believe the character Peter Pan was based not on Wendy herself, but on a street urchin who had been driven mad by life in homeless desperation. His father had been a soldier who had died and his mother had abandoned him. The kid confessed to killing small animals and stuff. I know that Peter Hollindale has written a couple books about that kid and his attachment to the Peter Pan series. You wanna cry, read that shit. It'll fuck you up.

That does not make me feel better.

Except about not watching it. I do love Christopher Walken, though.

 

[marshalt]

Smart move. And watch the film, don't you love Johnny?

Eh, he's had his moments, I suppose.

 

[marshalt]

That does not make me feel better.

Except about not watching it. I do love Christopher Walken, though.

Yeah, that's pretty awful.

 

[CandiCame]

That does not make me feel better.

Except about not watching it. I do love Christopher Walken, though.

I just predictably enjoy theater. Robin Williams is my favorite Peter Pan. Because I like character development and that actually gave the character some. Showed that people can mature and whatnot.

 

[marshalt]

And being a crazy motherfucker. Since he "thins out" the lost boys who get too old. Via murder. That's really all you need to know, I would imagine.

I thought they didn't age. How would they get older?

 

[Kitty]

Eh, he's had his moments, I suppose.

Hmm. I think he did his best with Jack Sparrow. Or is that overrated?

 

[CandiCame]

Yeah, that's pretty awful.

Well, in the book we had to read for school, I think the article was called "A century of Peter Pan" he does talk about how that kid's shitty life has been polluted by Disney to become entertainment for children and that therefore he's left a legacy. Something that he wouldn't have had otherwise and that it's therefore kind of a good thing. If I'm remembering right, he make a bunch of weird parallels tho, like the thinks that ET is a retelling of Peter Pan with ET in Wendy's position. Which is... well it struck me as bullshit. There's no nice way to say that. So Idk how much stock I would put in his opinions.