Matilda: A Story of Chosen Families

[Music] we're in the midst of the holiday season and i wanted to choose something that explores familial relationships in an unconventional way since the importance of families emphasized a lot around this time of year i know matilda seems like a random choice like maybe this other film starring mara wilson would have been more fitting but i feel this movie thoughtfully touches on the concept of different kinds of families maybe i've been discussing uncomfortable topics too much but bear with me this movie has a happy ending harry and zinnia wormwood lived in a very nice neighborhood in a very nice house but they were not really very nice people the 1996 film matilda stars mara wilson and was directed produced and narrated by national treasure danny devito who also plays her shitty dad book what do you want to book for to read to read why would you want to read when you got the television set sitting right in front of it in short it tells the story of a child prodigy who develops telekinetic powers in response to emotional trauma it's based on a children's book by roald dahl published in 1988. it was the last book doll wrote and like all of his books it's marked by wacky characters and bizarre experiences at times disturbing in his original draft matilda was supposed to be a wicked character who dies at the end while trying to rig a horse race with her powers wow so yeah the publishers turned that down and he rewrote the whole thing don't get me wrong matilda is still a strange story in movie but like i've iterated before on this channel strangeness can be an effective and compelling way to explore certain themes and i think it's a significant element in what makes doll's stories so lovable the principal is insane she threw a girl over the fence by her hair it would change your life too if you waxed yours i'm positive i do want to note there are a handful of instances where dahl's racism and misogyny seeped into his work though he was also an outspoken anti-semite and kind of an all-around terrible person to be honest something that's been noted as a contributing factor to the outrageousness and violence in his books which were already watered down at the insistence of his publishers well at least matilda ended up being played by a jewish actress so and i loved the book immediately i thought that this was great it was one of the first few books that really had a spirited young girl who was intelligent and brave and you know and willing to stand up for what was right and i i just i loved her immediately i adored these books as a kid and much like matilda i used books as a way to escape ordinary life and immerse myself in thrilling fantasies sadly however matilda specifically used them to escape her family the entire first act of the film serves to establish her abysmal home life you're a wormwood you start acting like one sit up and look at the tv now depictions of kids with neglectful and abusive families aren't unheard of in children's media think of cinderella harry potter rapunzel the hunchback of notre dame and countless other stories even dahl's book james and the giant peach these tales depict terrible treatment of children at the hands of those who are meant to care for them but how they differ from matilda is that they involve secondary families in some way families that were thrust upon the main character through some sort of tragedy even matilda's teacher miss honey is an example of this narrative and transport these stories also often employ the evil step parent trope a stereotype that's pushed too commonly in my opinion the real parents though the ones they were supposed to be raised by are always kind-hearted and loving often an idealized representation of what a parent should be and the opposite of what the kid has now it's something the child can obsessively fantasize about the life they could have had but matilda's experience is a notably unconventional narrative for a children's story these are her biological parents she was born into this horrid family there's no real family to pine over no alternate timeline where things could have been different were it not for tragic misfortune it's no wonder she turned to books as a form of escapism a way to join people on fantastical adventures with lives very different from her own sometimes matilda longed for a friend someone like the kind courageous people in her books it occurred to her that like talking dragons and princesses with hair long enough to climb such people might exist only in storybooks in the first act it's established that she's routinely neglected to the point where she became absurdly self-sufficient at a young age matilda already knew that she was somewhat different from her family she saw that whatever she needed in this world she'd have to get herself like i mentioned this led her to turn to reading as an escape and eventually she spent most of her time devouring book after book and absorbing tons of information at home however she's constantly belittled and demeaned especially by her father and instead of praising her intelligence her family felt threatened by it are you being smart with me if you're being smart with me young lady you're gonna be punished punished for being smart it's the first time i remember watching a kids movie that showed biological parents being outright terrible to their kids the most similar characters i can think of are helga's parents from hey arnold and sure all parents are flawed people who make mistakes or say the wrong thing sometimes but in matilda's case it's a consistent pattern of emotional abuse with no affection or concern listen you little wise acre i'm smart you're dumb i'm big you're little i'm right you're wrong and there's nothing you can do about it her needs input and emotions had absolutely no relevance to the way her family operated my school is a model of discipline use the rod beat the child that's my motto terrific motto you have brats yourself yeah i got a boy mikey and one mistake matilda they're all mistakes children filthy nasty things glad i never was one at crunchim hall elementary school matilda subjected to a new source of terror and emotional turmoil the headmistress miss trunchbull miss trunchbull's character is another manifestation of intolerant adults on a power trip she's a principal who idolizes the cruel and abusive headmaster from dickens novel nicholas nickleby my mommy thinks they're sweet your mommy is a twit the scenes at the elementary school led to some memorable incidents to say the least this chocolate cake scene in particular will never escape my memory [Music] [Applause] i'll admit this movie and book are a little bit all over the place but that's partly the point it's meant for kids after all it's likely an exaggerated version of doll's own experiences as a child his sister died at a young age so his grief-stricken parents sent him and his other siblings off to boarding schools where doll grew to abhor the violent tendencies of classmates and headmasters he touches on this in his troubling adult book innocence one volume of an eight book collection of dark short stories to put it plainly the adults in matilda's life make use of fear and aggression as a means of control they want to establish their dominance their power over others besides even if you didn't do it i'm gonna punish you because i'm big and you're small and i'm right and you're wrong and there's nothing you can do about it why else would miss trunchbull someone who clearly hates children take on the role of headmistress at a children's school why would matilda's father be angered by his own daughter's intelligence her honest desire to learn she kept right on reading and for some reason this infuriated her father perhaps his anger was intensified because he saw her getting pleasure from something that was beyond his reach how dare she he seemed to be saying with each rip of a page how dare she enjoy reading books when he couldn't these are extreme manifestations of the issue many of us have with other people which boils down to why aren't you like me why do you enjoy things i don't enjoy why don't you share my feelings or beliefs or do things the way i would do them this line of thinking rests on the tacit assumption that there's only one right way to live one right way to think and that way is usually our own that we alone have an objective understanding of the world and how it should operate it seems this disposition is particularly common in the ways adults interact with and respond to children especially their own children keeping this in mind it makes sense miss trenchbull and mr wormwood exerted their control over the most powerless sort of people they could but soon matilda developed her own form of control you're a liar and a scoundrel am i wrong i'm never wrong in this classroom in this school i am god so telekinesis as a childhood response to trauma wasn't a new idea it was actually a pretty popular theory in new age parapsychology during the 70s and 80s parapsychology is a field of study involving paranormal or psychic phenomenon including telepathy and psychokinesis i consider it pseudoscience but it makes for interesting stories this particular theory involving childhood trauma is paired with the idea that these abilities only reveal themselves in moments of high stress or rage think of stephen king's carry or 11 from stranger things thematically these characters use their abilities to regain some control over their lives lives which have been dominated by the whims of their abusive guardians in the book matilda's teacher miss honey attributes her powers to restlessness the fact that she couldn't use her big brain energy in a first grade class but i still feel her abilities fall more in line with the parapsychology theory especially since they first emerged in instances where matilda was being punished i'm smart you're dumb i'm big you're a little far from the tree there's something wrong i'm right you're wrong and there's nothing you can do about that you're a wormwood it's time you started acting i started acting like one as described in the book the anger and resentment towards her abuse continued to intensify until finally culminating into a psychic release of energy with this newfound potential matilda took back her power in a more tangible sense in a way that could ease her fears and remove the threat of violence i did it with my eyes watch i'll prove it to you it's wonderful you feel so powerful many people don't feel powerful at all agency is something most kids aren't afforded in that way the story of matilda serves as a fantasy of sorts much like how matilda used books to fantasize about a better life no more miss nice girl as she improved her abilities she asserted her will on more aspects of her life she's supposed to be in school young lady i really hope you have a search warrant according to a constitutional law book i read in the library if you don't have one you could lose your job or even go to federal prison i know my rights so you gon need a warrant for that she used her powers to help those she cared about to defend the helpless and to finally overthrow miss trunchbull however despite the fun antics and justified revenge i don't think her abilities are the most significant part of matilda's story a lot of times also they wouldn't remember the message of the movie which is allegorical they would just be like oh magic powers and i was like well it's guys it's more than that there's a little bit more happening yeah exactly after all there were plenty of instances where matilda exhibited bravery that had nothing to do with her powers at all i just thought you'd like to know it smells snake it's newt what did you say it's a nuke miss trench ball daddy you're a crook what this is illegal she played pranks on her parents she stood up for chocolate cake boy and she refused to snitch on her friend thanks for not telling in the end her new abilities simply gave her the confidence and agency to make a grand decision for her life to choose her own family get into karma linda matilda whatever i wanted to stay with miss honey oh miss honey doesn't want you why would she want some snotty disobedient kid because she's a spectacularly wonderful child and i love her adopt me miss honey throughout the film miss honey was the only adult who showed matilda compassion who validated her thoughts and feelings she protected and advocated for her made conversation with her and indulged her interests she's the antithesis of the neglectful and abusive parents who simply weren't right for her mr wormwood if you think watching some rotten tv show is more important than your daughter then maybe you shouldn't be a parent it's an unfortunate reality that sometimes the families we're born into aren't the ones we're meant to keep i don't ascribe to the notion that people must maintain relationships with blood relatives simply because they're genetically linked of course i'm not suggesting people should give up on relatives they care about or cut ties over minor disputes that can be worked through but if there's a consistent pattern of abuse or toxicity if all they offer to your life is grief and turmoil i don't believe people have some sort of moral obligation to tolerate it look i don't have time for all these legalities one second dad i have the adoption papers what hey where'd you get those in the library i've had them since i was big enough to xerox of course they're family in terms of dna but sometimes that's all they really are you're the only daughter i ever had matilda and i never understood you not one little fit who's got a pen ultimately when we're adults we typically have the agency to decide who our families are i think another message that is in matilda that is really great is if you don't have the best family circumstances you can make your own family nice and that is and that is something that i wish i wish people because i'm very lucky i have a great family but not everybody has that privilege and that goes to that sense of freedom as well coinciding with this theme while filming matilda mara wilson also found herself seeking solace with another family her mother had been struggling with breast cancer before later passing away a few months prior to the film's release danny devito and his wife rio pearlman who plays matilda's mom took her in in a way in her book where am i now she details some of the memories she shared with devito's family as they try to be a source of comfort for her devito dedicated the film to susie wilson and had even managed to prepare a special advanced copy so she could watch it before passing this is obviously a very different story than matilda's but i feel it's a noteworthy testament to how family is about more than blood it's about compassion and consideration the desire to make a person feel loved the film had a lot of heart and in some ways the main cast became a family of their own when i think about the movie on its own one of the messages there is you can make your own family and it's funny because i did sort of feel like on the set of matilda we were very familial you know i did feel like danny and ria were like my aunt and uncle and i think that's a really important message i think it's one of many important messages in the movie i've often praised media that isn't afraid to push ambiguity or discomfort or to withhold closure from its audience doll stories on the other hand are pretty black and white no gray area between the extremes of good and evil in the end evil is always punished while good always triumphs as adults we often grow bored of perfect endings wrapped in tidy bows we crave nuanced conclusions that leave us thinking about them for days perhaps even years but for kids this straightforwardness isn't nearly as tired or cliche and sometimes everyone just needs that happy ending we need the comfort of knowing things are going to be okay that things can be okay well they can learn that even though some your life may be terrible you can still be okay sometimes you should stand up for yourself matilda gained that assurance with her new family her real family and as a result in the book anyway she lost her telekinetic abilities she no longer felt alone in her own home or helpless or unheard no longer felt the need to have control or be self-sufficient in the end this isn't just a story about a brainy girl discovering superpowers all matilda needed was to be cared for and accepted for who she was something that her biological parents couldn't do the story serves to show that even if you're brought up by incompatible or uncaring people you have the power to choose your own family you were born into a family that doesn't always appreciate you but one day things are going to be very different as a final note i know kids can't develop powers or get adopted on the spot in order to escape abusive homes i've linked resources below for those who need help wherever you are and whatever you may be going through i wish you all the best and hope you have safe and happy holidays

Channel: Quality Culture

Views: 504,050

Keywords: matilda, mara wilson, danny devito, mara wilson matilda, danny devito matilda, matilda video essay, matilda analysis, matilda roald dahl, matilda book, 90s movies

Id: qPjNeBaOp7U

Length: 17min 38sec (1058 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 08 2020