So tonight, I was reading Peter Pan to G/Son.
G/Son, who asks "Why" so many times a day that no one, not even a genius w an abacus, can count how many times said:
Nonna, why Peter Pan haz a short sword and Captain Hook haz a long sword?
I threw off a quick, smart-ass answer about Freud and youth and old age and heh, heh, the old man has the long sword but the young man makes better use of his short sword, but I walked away wondering:
What IS that story about? It's more than just the tale of a puer. And Wendy, forced into the role of both madonna and whore, all the while having to mediate between youth and adulthood -- who's SHE in that story?
And the crocodile, who's the hand-devouring, time-sensitive crocodile; who's that? And, most of all, why is the Nana a big dog?
Picture found here.
12 comments:
I never much liked this story because who the hell wants to be Wendy?
But clearly Nana is a big dog because both nanas and dogs are pure love.
What was Captain Hook called before he lost his hand?
When you are finished with the book, I heartily recommend the Mary Martin video of the stage play--- a bit un-PC but the music and the dancing are so fantastic. Cyril Ritchard will kill you. I really love this tape in spite of the trouble with Wendy...
--report from the heartland
Peter Pan is a faerie. He doesn't even need a sword. Eternal childhood sounds pretty tempting to me, actually.
As for Wendy, she's caught between youth and adulthood in an era when girls had few options.
brownbuffalo,
According to Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson in their recent Peter Pan trilogy (good books!), he was originally called Black Stache...
"And the crocodile, who’s the "hand-devouring, time-sensitive crocodile; who’s that?"
The meaning behind the clock swallowing hand devouring crocodile seems to fit a certain mythical theme I find interesting, so I wrote a post abut it. :)
Have you ever read about JM Barrie? The guy was seriously messed up when his brother died as a child and his mom never recovered. He literally tried to remain a child in order to please his mother. Sad and a little creepy.
Thanks Eric & mahud good stuff all around. Black Stache? Who knew?!
a few years ago, i was asked to contribute a coming-of-age song to a local project. i wrote a song from wendy's point of view, 'wendy's song,' and if i had a good recording of it, i'd post it! maybe later this week...
the girls and i have watched every version of peter pan available, and we've read several versions, as well. they all have something to offer, but the movie version i like best is this one. it does the best job of showing that the story is really a coming of age story for wendy. at our house, we call this version 'handsome hook,' 'cause the actor, jason isaacs, who plays mr. darling/captain hook is, yes, handsome.
'peter pan' is not a fantasy story for boys about a place where you never grow up -- that's true to life for the male of the species! it's a fantasy story for girls about making a life work in a patriarchy!
(and all this before coffee. good morning!)
"that's true to life for the male of the species!"
Ratber a sweeping condemnation, don'tcha think?
I always thought that before Captain Hook "grew up" (and did he, really), he was Peter Pan. Hook and his pirates were also Lost Boys who never figured out how to both grow up and hold onto themselves.
Blogger Erik said...
"that's true to life for the male of the species!"
Rather a sweeping condemnation, don'tcha think?
it had to be sweeping, otherwise it wouldn't have been funny. jokes are like that sometimes.
Post a Comment