Fae-like entities in 2000s children's cinema
Transcription of my notes from that time I was really fucking high
- Willy Wonka and Cat in the Hat are two sides of the same coin
- Cat in the Hat is just chaotic evil
- Fegan Floop
- Deeply strange but Camus-adjacent
- Literal child endangerment
- Is he malicious? I can’t remember
- Big thumbs
- Count Olaf
- Aggressively malicious but in a rules lawyer way
- Camp and theatrical
- Androgynous
- Crossdressing
- Really murder-fae-like
Musings on Fae-Like Entities in 2000s Children's Cinema
2000s children's cinema was fucking weird. I remember watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) on my dad's PSP on one of those tiny disc things Sony created that never took off and thinking this is weird. Weird in a way that makes me feel unsafe, almost.
With many more fairytales, fantasy stories, and folklore under my belt, I have since realised that many of the characters in films I remember from the 2000s feel fae.
What do I mean by fae?
The fae, especially the Celtic Fair Folk, typically have certain characteristics in stories. They are often gender non-conforming, androgynous, or otherwise unusual in their beauty; they have a propensity for rules, deals, and language play; they operate upon logic and ethics that may appear opaque and inappropriate to us; they are associated with a fantastical realm or plane where typical assumptions become incorrect or dangerous. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but all-in-all, the Folk are liminal – they occupy the space between boundaries, whichever boundaries those may be.
Willy Wonka
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Willy Wonka invites five children and a guardian for each into his factory because finding an heir normally wasn't theatrical enough. Though the children meet unfortunate ends, save Charlie, that isn't necessarily Wonka's intention. Each child is warned of the consequences of their transgression and proceeds regardless. Their resulting demise is, therefore, the predictable result of contact with an environmental hazard.
Count Olaf
A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Count Olaf pursues the Baudelaire fortune, and by extension, the children and their guardians. The place in which the film is set is liminal, timeless, and locationless – suitably realm-like – and Count Olaf and his troupe continue the theme. They do not obey the typical rules of society. Olaf murders each guardian in such a way that their death becomes more than just a death. They perish dramatically. Their murders are stories. Remember the herpetologist who was envenomed by his own snake? The grammarian hermit consumed by leeches? They're fabulistic.
The Cat in the Hat
The Cat in the Hat (2003)
Cat in the Hat is the definition of chaotic evil. He is actively malicious, he is sleazy, disgusting, and does not have your child's best interest at heart. He is governed purely by that which he finds amusing. He is capable of manipulating reality, revels in deception, and has an associated realm where the assumptions mortals hold are no longer applicable. I am still bewildered this was released as a children's film.
Fegan Floop
Spy Kids (2001)
Fegan Floop is complex and therefore possibly the most fae. He isn't malicious, but neither is he safe. He shifts allegiances. He creates illusions in his virtual room. He transforms agents into Fooglies - bizarre creatures. He is androgynous and performative. He has an army of thumbs. Everything about him is dreamlike and impossible to anticipate through mortal eyes.
quadrantChart
title Behaviour Analysis
x-axis Deliberate --> Impulsive
y-axis Unsafe --> Malicious
"Willy Wonka": [0.25, 0.25]
"Count Olaf": [0.25, 0.75]
"The Cat in the Hat": [0.75, 0.75]
"Fegan Floop": [0.75, 0.25]