First of all, I can only rave about Gene Wilder. He gave us a virtuoso performance in this movie. So many of his facial expressions offer comic relief. His portrayal of Mr. Wonka is just genius. The delivery of his lines were masterful. My favorite part is the psychedelic trip on the boat. Weird!
The next day I was coming back upstairs from my basement, and lo and behold! There he was, my son, lounging on a bean bag in the family room…reading!
He had picked up Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the library (yes, the book's title differs from the movie's) and was reading it. Whoa. This is big. Especially for a youngster who doesn't pick up a book on his own very often. Way to go, little guy.
Meanwhile, my daughter was continuing to read at her own torrid pace, devouring books by the minute, returning to the library almost weekly to load up again. She is very different from her brother, to say the least.
Now for our trip on the Wonkavator. What would it be like if Willy Wonka (as portrayed by Gene Wilder) were the dad of my house, instead of me?
Well, I would imagine dessert would be eaten before the meal. A Wonka-bar precedes those mashed potatoes.
Child misbehavior would not be tolerated. In fact, an Oompa-Loompa would likely escort each of them to their rooms when they are not behaving well. Mr. Wonka has a very short fuse.
My son would get strange looks from his teammates when Mr. Wonka shows up in full costume at his Little League games.
My wife would grow weary of constant literary quoting, particularly of Shakespeare. It gets to be a bit pompous rather quickly.
The shower would be retro-fitted to include a "chocolate" option with the faucet.
And hopefully, Mr. Wonka would recite almost daily: the book is always better than the movie.
Hopefully, my son is learning that right now.
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