The Values of Willy Wonka

   

    My children love the Johnny Depp version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and many of the characters have taken on 'family' meaning for us. I can guess that for those who don't know the impact this movie has had on the girls they would be slightly confused, if not concerned, upon hearing Evelynn say "Please don't put me in the trash" or "Please don't make me a blueberry" or "I don't want to be shrinked." But what it comes down to is when they are misbehaving selfishly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer, or being disrespectful, I have only to tell them that they are behaving like Veruca Salt or Violet Beauregard or Mike Teavee and they completely  understand the seriousness of their offense.
    To be threatened with Veruca Salt, they know that because she was an ugly brat, she was pushed into the garbage chute. Her repetitive 'I wants'  were too much and the squirrels took care of the problem that her father would not.

    When the girls do not listen to me, I ask them if they want to be a blueberry. Of course the answer is always no and Evelynn, at least, says she does not want to be like Violet Beauregard. Evelynn calls it a 'Bloober' because of the British accent of Charlie Bucket. She insists the British know how to say blueberry more than I do. Oh, well. She neither wants to be a blueberry nor a bloober.

 

  For rude, hateful and disrespectful behaviour (I thought about correcting that 'British' spelling, but maybe Evelynn is rubbing off on me, so I left it), the culprit would be Mike Teavee and Evelynn does not want to be "shrinked".

 

   This is serious business, folks. As of yet, we have not used the lesson of gluttony that Augustus Gloop fell into (chocolate, if you remember). Of course, Charlie Bucket is the more disciplined character here and Evelynn thinks he is 'so sweet' and who could argue with that? The lessons that can be drawn from this movie are priceless. So if you hear my children beg not to be shrinked, turned into blueberries or thrown in the trash, it's not that I would literally do that. But as long as they get the point, I have no probem running with the concept.