Sugar & Spice, De Damned
How Tim Burton Made Alice in Wonderland a Feminist
Rebecca Miller
Issue date: 3/5/10 Section: Can You Hear Me Now
Just to get it straight, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is not the trippy animated romp you loved to watch as a kid. Part Chronicles of Narnia, part Wizard of Oz, Disney's latest take on Lewis Carroll's classic is filled with dark computer-generated imagery and stunning visual effects. Though it has been criticized for straying from Carroll's original story and losing the tale's trademark nonsensical surrealism by adding a new linear plot line, the film succeeds on at least one level, by giving us what few Disney movies have delivered before: a female role model who's actually all about girl power.
Leaving all plot qualms aside, Alice in Wonderland is a relief for all women who have been recently bombarded by Bella Swan or annoyed by any character played by Amy Adams.
We know Alice is a different breed than her contemporaries when she chooses to not wear a corset and stockings because she classifies them as absurd social constructions. As a member of London's aristocracy in the mid-19th century, Alice is bound by the social expectations of a system whose rules suppress passion, madness and defects. Her mother, sister and peers try to make all decisions for her, choosing everything from her life partner to her panties. This makes it all the more remarkable that Alice transgresses her social structure in myriad ways, culminating in her shocking refusal to accept a public marriage proposal.
Yet despite her small rebellions, once in Wonderland, Alice is accused by the Mad Hatter of losing her "muchness." Alice is really not-so-much, paralleling women both in Victorian England and modern day: unsure of their own power to make decisions and to fight for what they believe is right, and bound to expectations that dictate what they must care about. "Muchness," has the same flavor as female empowerment, and we follow Alice's journey to rediscover how much she can be as the movie unfolds.
By placing a woman in the hero's shoes, Burton has hijacked a role traditionally filled by Disney princes (dragon-slaying Stephan from Sleeping Beauty, anyone?). In this movie, it's Alice who does the rescuing - both of herself, and of Wonderland. And if anyone stands in her way, or tries to stuff her in a teapot, she refuses to let them set her back. Disney's latest heroine has a voice, and isn't afraid to use it, whether to tell off the Wunderlandians for pushing her around, or to stand by her personal desire to go home instead of stay after slaying the Jaberwoky. That's what's so cool about Alice: she knows what she wants, and she gets it - boyfriends and fathers and sugar and spice be damned.
Another important element in the film is the dynamic between the Red Queen, played by Helena Bonham Carter, and the White Queen, played by Anne Hathaway. Let's just take a minute to appreciate the fact that the ones ruling this wonderland are all WOMEN! No other movie, especially a Disney movie that children watch, present this kind of world. There's no all-powerful King Trident controlling the entire ocean, there's no bumbling Sultan sharing the throne with creepy Jafar.
Both queens, however, represent the simplistic ways society, and the classic Disney movie, presents women: either sugar or spice. The toothache-sweet White Queen is pretty close to the typical Disney princess. Reminiscent of Snow White, except maybe a little smarter, Hathaway's character is pure, the epitome of "everything nice." The Red Queen, in contrast, is similar to the evil stepmother in Cindarella (or the evil stepmom in Snow White, or the evil fairy in Sleeping Beauty, or Ursula in The Little Mermaid). She is obsessed with how men perceive her, how she looks and how many material things she has. Exerting her sexual power over the Knave, Carter's character develops enormous political power predicated on fear and violence. She is also vain, cruel and dishonest-all traits traditionally associated with the "evil" woman intended to scare little girls away from being too spicy.
Despite upholding this dichotomy, we must give Disney props for creating an image of a woman who fits neither mold-Alice. Unlike the queens, Alice couldn't care less about what people think of her, or how many people like her. She isn't demonized like the Red Queen, nor does she exude love and healing like the White Queen. In fact, Alice saves Wonderland by violently slaying the Jaberwocky, an act the White Queen swears is "against her vows." Alice spends time with both women and has the opportunity to subscribe to their ideology, but always seems to find each extreme peculiar-almost as if she can tell that they are figments of the same male gaze that continuously tries to shape her own behavior throughout the film.
It does not matter how Alice dresses, how much she sweats, how her stomach looks without a corset or how many people like her. The big problem in her life is that she's stuck down the rabbit hole, not that something's getting in the way of her marrying a Prince Charming. Her goal is to get home, and she does it without a man to save her, a father to protect her or a sappy song about how alone she is to console her. Alice is truly guiding her own path and living life on her own terms.
In the end, Alice shapes her own identity: she is a woman who slays monsters, but isn't all about killing, a loyal friend and daughter who refuses to sacrifice her dreams for the expectations of those around her, a budding entrepreneur with ambitious plans and a dreamy social outcast who won't act any way just because it's the proper way to behave. She chooses to be a woman whose power - whose muchness - is not determined by her gender. Finally, Disney gives us a role model who teaches girls (and women) to use as much of their muchness as they've got.
 Media Credit: Google Images Tim Burton Sees A Feminist |
We know Alice is a different breed than her contemporaries when she chooses to not wear a corset and stockings because she classifies them as absurd social constructions. As a member of London's aristocracy in the mid-19th century, Alice is bound by the social expectations of a system whose rules suppress passion, madness and defects. Her mother, sister and peers try to make all decisions for her, choosing everything from her life partner to her panties. This makes it all the more remarkable that Alice transgresses her social structure in myriad ways, culminating in her shocking refusal to accept a public marriage proposal.
Yet despite her small rebellions, once in Wonderland, Alice is accused by the Mad Hatter of losing her "muchness." Alice is really not-so-much, paralleling women both in Victorian England and modern day: unsure of their own power to make decisions and to fight for what they believe is right, and bound to expectations that dictate what they must care about. "Muchness," has the same flavor as female empowerment, and we follow Alice's journey to rediscover how much she can be as the movie unfolds.
By placing a woman in the hero's shoes, Burton has hijacked a role traditionally filled by Disney princes (dragon-slaying Stephan from Sleeping Beauty, anyone?). In this movie, it's Alice who does the rescuing - both of herself, and of Wonderland. And if anyone stands in her way, or tries to stuff her in a teapot, she refuses to let them set her back. Disney's latest heroine has a voice, and isn't afraid to use it, whether to tell off the Wunderlandians for pushing her around, or to stand by her personal desire to go home instead of stay after slaying the Jaberwoky. That's what's so cool about Alice: she knows what she wants, and she gets it - boyfriends and fathers and sugar and spice be damned.
Another important element in the film is the dynamic between the Red Queen, played by Helena Bonham Carter, and the White Queen, played by Anne Hathaway. Let's just take a minute to appreciate the fact that the ones ruling this wonderland are all WOMEN! No other movie, especially a Disney movie that children watch, present this kind of world. There's no all-powerful King Trident controlling the entire ocean, there's no bumbling Sultan sharing the throne with creepy Jafar.
Both queens, however, represent the simplistic ways society, and the classic Disney movie, presents women: either sugar or spice. The toothache-sweet White Queen is pretty close to the typical Disney princess. Reminiscent of Snow White, except maybe a little smarter, Hathaway's character is pure, the epitome of "everything nice." The Red Queen, in contrast, is similar to the evil stepmother in Cindarella (or the evil stepmom in Snow White, or the evil fairy in Sleeping Beauty, or Ursula in The Little Mermaid). She is obsessed with how men perceive her, how she looks and how many material things she has. Exerting her sexual power over the Knave, Carter's character develops enormous political power predicated on fear and violence. She is also vain, cruel and dishonest-all traits traditionally associated with the "evil" woman intended to scare little girls away from being too spicy.
 Media Credit: Google Images In Search of 'Muchness' |
It does not matter how Alice dresses, how much she sweats, how her stomach looks without a corset or how many people like her. The big problem in her life is that she's stuck down the rabbit hole, not that something's getting in the way of her marrying a Prince Charming. Her goal is to get home, and she does it without a man to save her, a father to protect her or a sappy song about how alone she is to console her. Alice is truly guiding her own path and living life on her own terms.
In the end, Alice shapes her own identity: she is a woman who slays monsters, but isn't all about killing, a loyal friend and daughter who refuses to sacrifice her dreams for the expectations of those around her, a budding entrepreneur with ambitious plans and a dreamy social outcast who won't act any way just because it's the proper way to behave. She chooses to be a woman whose power - whose muchness - is not determined by her gender. Finally, Disney gives us a role model who teaches girls (and women) to use as much of their muchness as they've got.
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