Like Alice

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Such nonsense from Lewis Carroll.

Or is it?

I just came home from watching Alice with my dear friend Rainy. Up until now I have never felt that poem made much sense {obviously}, but I can see it clearly now, thanks to Tim Burton. I am so glad that I saw the movie with my friend {really wish we could have seen it in 3D}. It seems that we both shared so much in common with young Alice {albeit for different reasons}. I wonder if you share things in common with Alice, too?

Tim Burton fills his world with color and wonder and deep dark demons {note: this is NOT a movie for children, like the 6 year old sitting next to me - good luck with bedtime tonight, dad}. The characters that populate his imagination are rich and filled with poetic reckoning, but also with a curiouser and curiouser stature. {I think that Mr Burton would be an interesting dinner date, don't you? My husband would disagree...he just thinks he is weird.}


As pure entertainment, it ranks right up there as a most visually stunning feast, or tea party, if you will. I found the sets, the costuming, the make-up and the fantasy world all winners. I enjoyed Johnny Depp's delightfully quirky performance as the Mad Hatter {seriously, who else could play that role?}, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen {she reads pathetically fearful at the same time}, Crispin Glover is perfect as the creepy Knave of Hearts {with a twisted penchant for big things}, and all the animated characters who truly came alive from what I had wished every other version had looked like.


However, I did not care one wit for Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, and I really like Anne Hathaway. I was distracted consistently with her huge black eyebrows, dark lips and nails and the strange way she posed with her hands. {It seemed as though she were unsure of who her character was supposed to be.}


I have read some reviews which labeled Mia Wasikowska ineffectual as Alice, because she was so naive and stiff at every turn. I happened to like her portrayal because she wasn't the sentimental wide-eyed child that we have come to know from any of the other Alice renditions {like the animated Disney classic, which is much too saccharine}. I think that it was important for her to be on the verge of becoming an adult, with her eyes wide open and her inability to see this 'Underland' as anything but a dream. Children naturally accept the Wonderland. This Alice has lost the ability to delve into her unconscious dreams, as she stared into the precipice of what her adult life would hold. I found that more believable, not less.

This quest that Alice embarked upon started with a day that should be something celebrated, but was rather dreaded. A day in which the culmination of a life of pleasing others came to an abrupt halt. When Alice took a moment to follow the White Rabbit, she took back her life.

After tumbling down the rabbit hole, Alice encounters a world at once strange and familiar. She is told that she is most certainly not the real Alice, although she swears she knows who she is. But who is she really? Or rather, what is she becoming?

Absalom, the blue huffing caterpillar {voiced masterfully by Alan Rickman}, mysteriously pronounces the grown-up girl as 'hardly Alice.' Indignantly, she insists that she is exactly who she says she is, but that she is not the Alice they want her to be. And thus ensues her quest to find the true Alice.

I think that I am quite like Alice. What about you?

Like Alice, I may be too often pulled in a direction that I don't want to go, as the Tweedles do to her.
Like Alice, I am told what I must do certain things and am expected to be happy with what I get, as her sister Margaret tells her.
Like Alice, I feel constricted by the ideals that society puts on me, as if wearing a codfish on my head would make any more sense.

And like Alice, there is a 'Wonderland' inside of me, waiting to be re-discovered.

There is also a Jabberwocky to slay in each of us. Has thou done battle with your Jabberwock?

My Jabberwocky may be different than yours...my Jabberwock rears it's ugly head in thoughts that I am not good enough that routinely throw me off track...self-sabotage that I heap on myself preventing me from fulfilling my potential...doubt of my worth that creeps in on Cheshire cat feet before vanishing in a pouf of regret at what I haven't done, what I have failed at.

As the White Queen says, it must be your choice to slay the Jabberwock and when you go you will go alone. Just knowing that you have the entire White army behind you and your own cast of wacky 'Wonderland' characters, including a Mad Hatter in your corner ready to take up a sword and fight beside you, should give you the courage you need.

"From the moment I fell down that rabbit hole, I've been told what I must do and who I must be. This is MY path. I'll decide where it goes from here."

At one point, Alice says that she charts her own path. That turning point sets her firmly toward her goals. And once her Vorpal sword slays her Jabberwock {we are told that the Vorpal sword knows what to do, as long as it is held steady}, she is given a choice: stay in 'Wonderland' or go back to the reality that awaits.

I am glad that Alice went back. She succeeded in challenging the dragons that were clearly ambushing her at the top of the rabbit hole because she knew that she would always have the 'Wonderland' inside of her. And that gave her the courage to dare to dream.

In the end, Absalom begins his own transformation, and proclaims that Alice has indeed found herself. She has become more complete now that she has vanquished her Jabberwock with a snicker-snack. She has regained her 'muchness' {muchness, n. physical magnitude or largeness}. She is about to become all that she can be. She is spreading her wings to fly.

I will take a cue from Alice and fight the battles that need to be won, with resourcefulness and confidence on the way to celebrating my muchness and vanquishing the impossible.

"This is impossible," laments Alice.
"Only if you believe it," replies The Hatter.

Are you inspired by this rendition of Alice in Wonderland?
In what ways are you like Alice?
Do you recall a turning point where you lost the ability to see your Wonderland?
Have you come upon a turning point where you regained your Wonderland?
What is your inner Jabberwocky to slay?
Do you have an impossible dream?
Who is your Mad Hatter, who believes in you, sees your true self and spurs you on? Do tell!

Check It Out::Alice in Wonderland featurette
Enjoy the day!