December of last year I was so excited to find out that Tim Burton had directed a version on Alice in Wonderland. I couldn't wait for it to come out in theaters. I'm usually not a big fan of these types of films, but Tim Burton usually produces pretty dark films which I love. Disney and Burton, what a combination, so I thought.
In March I was in Brazil, and since the wonderful folks in the country are twenty years behind most things. American movies cannot be seen until months later. I waited and became anxious to see this, what I thought would be brilliantly made film.
Finally, this past weekend I saw it. WHAT A FUCKING DISAPPOINTMENT! I'm sitting there looking at this huge White screen. REALLY?! I guess there were only white faces in Wonderland. Now, I'm not saying there had to be black people in this movie, but come on. Latinos...NONE! Asians... NONE! Anyone with a touch of melanin in their skin???
I can understand that maybe there were no people of color in England during the 19th Century. But in Wonderland? A magical place where we see talking animals,The Cheshire Cat who can magically appear and disappear, you can shrink and grow just by eating and drinking magical potions. All of this happens in Wonderland, but not even a whisper of a non white voice can be heard in this film.
And let's talk for a minute about the 19 year old hot girl who was actually supposed to be a child in the story. The way they tried to justify her age was not believable at all. "19-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny." PLEASE! I'm very interested to see what the original script looked like. This was just as bad as Uma Thurman playing a woman who kicked the asses of 88 Japanese men.
And people say that we have come so far as a country. Bullshit! Don't be duped into thinking that just because there is a Black Man in the Presidency there is no more racism in this country. Lies, all lies. Just look at your television, your movie screens, and your magazines. Sometimes it is better to believe your eyes, not what you are told. I just left a country that is infested with racism. It hurts my heart, but opens my eyes to see that the very same things are still happening here.
Maybe we all should be grateful. They could have made the Red Queen a woman of color.
