I LOVE the new Wonka Movie. Like LOVE it. And I am not a huge Willy Wonka fan - I think most
of Roald Dahl is creepy and trippy and I usually don't like how his books turned into movies make me feel. But, in trying to find a movie that would please my kids (10, 11, and 16) - we stumbled into Wonka. Not knowing it was a musical until the first "After seven years of life out on the ocean" belted out by Timothee Chalamet, I quickly glanced at my wife and son - who both hate musicals...to gage their reactions. Eyes rolled, they settled in for the movie, we'd already paid for it and had our arms loaded with snacks. Remarkably, my 16 year old put his phone down and actually watched the entire movie!
I'm not sure what it was about the entire movie that made me love it (and my son not hate it), could be the catchy songs, the uplifting message, the comical villains, the heartthrob lead - but something about that movie transported us all into a "world full of imagination," and allowed us to escape our lives for a few hours.
I am not a very mindful person. The number of times in my life when I have been able to honestly step back and notice enjoyment or happiness are few and far between. But, when Wonka got to a scene where a young orphan sings, "For a moment, life doesn't seem quite so bad. For a moment, I kind of forgot to be sad." - I did. I also forgot all of the things that are clouding my life right now. I forgot about the oldest son, estranged and prison-bound, the other child in a psychiatric facility, the grandfather in a nursing home, the thankless job, the piles of laundry. All of the things that bring a heaviness and sadness to by every day life. And for a moment, I was able to escape and enjoy.
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