The Wizard of Oz (1939) is the greatest movie ever made. No motion picture has had such a profound and lasting influence on culture, not even close.
I write fiction. My stories are books but the greatest movie ever made was based on a book. Though drastic changes were made, no book, no movie.
The Wizard of Oz was strange, adventurous and sometimes scary. Its plot was immersive and its characters endearing. The stakes were life and death. The protagonist was a heroine in the classical sense: She ventured into danger willingly and ultimately slew the villain.
Alice in Wonderland (1951) is inarguably a classic. It is a horror movie, despite its silliness. The protagonist is a little girl who falls into a fairyland of madness. The natives are maniacal and ramble nonsense. They eventually chase the girl, to chop off her head.
The movie was based on two books. I read them. Though the stories were as silly as that of the movie, they were not scary. There was never danger. Though the Queen of Hearts ordered beheadings, the condemned were always pardoned.
I grew up inspired by the adventure that was The Wizard of Oz (1939) and the
scariness of Alice in Wonderland (1951).
Their strangeness made it all the better. Though they were supposedly
ridiculous, I took them seriously. I still do. My own work is better for it.
https://www.deviantart.com/yellowplasma/art/The-Wayward-School-for-Girls-full-cover-1043500403
I feel like I read this before. It might have been on your journal or something differently worded. But those are still very good sources for inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI am getting senile in my old age. I still remember the good stuff, though I keep forgetting it.
DeleteTalking down to children is not likely to build them up. Keeping things safe does not prepare them for the real world. The movies tapped into something deeper in this respect.
ReplyDeleteThey outlasted the safe movies. They still do.
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