We were watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original 1971 movie...duh), when I realized it. For the remainder of this post I will assume some degree of familiarity with the film.
The four kids who got eliminated from the factory tour all got eliminated for disobeying instructions and for some other underlying sin that's part of the kids' basic personality. These aren't all seven deadly sins-types of things. Augustus' is, since he's a glutton. But Violet's sin (as explained by the Oopa-Loompas) was habitual gum-chewing.
To recap, Violet grabs and, contrary to explicit instructions, chews gum which Wonka has been developing, but which has not been perfected. Veruca throws a tantrum (along with a musical number) because she wants a golden goose. And Mike impetuously (and against instructions) miniaturizes himself via the modern miracle of Wonkavision. There are varying levels of wrongdoing here, and arguably the threat of death or major injury is a bit severe, given the nature of the crimes. It's fair to note that at the end of the movie, Wonka does say that these kids will all emerge none the worse for wear. So ultimately their punishment is removal from the tour and loss of their chance to win the grand prize. The key, though, is that each of those three broke the rules and is therefore getting his or her comeuppance.
But I view Augustus Gloop's case differently. His crime was drinking from the chocolate river. But when he did that, he had no way of knowing that it was wrong. Wonka brought everyone into the great candy room, telling them that everything in the room is edible. He never told them not to drink the river, so it seemed only reasonable to young Gloop that he could drink the river. So he should not have lost out.
In fact, Charlie should have been eliminated from the tour for stealing some of the Fizzy Lifting Drink. The fact that he, through a combination of luck and cleverness, avoided injury doesn't change the fact of the theft. At the end of the movie, he does appear to lose his prize as a result of the theft, but he redeems himself by returning the gobstopper -- even when an angry Grandpa Joe is swearing to give it to Slugworth. Now, I'm all for the concept of repentance and redemption. But none of the other kids were given a chance to redeem themselves. And Augustus didn't even do anything wrong that should require him to earn his redemption.
Fuck Willy Wonka.
In the clip you show, Wonka repeatedly asks Augustus to stop, and he doesn’t stop. So I would say that the refusal to stop drinking the chocolate is just as bad as the other kids.
ReplyDeleteBut you’re right in that only Charlie is given the opportunity to redeem himself. Maybe because he’s a nicer kid to start with?
Yeah, Mrs. Gloop and Wonka do tell Augustus to stop. But it seems to me that he's kind of in the zone, and with all the activity and conversation going on, it just didn't register in his brain that they're talking to him. Which may speak to his gluttony.
DeleteAs far as Charlie being a nicer kid, yeah...that's definitely part of it. When I went on an extended rant about this, Sharon (my daughter, BTW) noted that it's because Charlie is presented as a more sympathetic character. But I maintain that he shouldn't be allowed to steal soda simply because he's likable. Then again, maybe he should. It's Wonka's factory so it's his rules. Still and all, Wonka displayed some major cruelty to the parents.