Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Bucket Vs.Salt By: Karen Pilarski

"Cheer up Charlie" sang Charlie Bucket's poor and disheveled mother. Viewers wept with him and rooted for the impecunious Bucket family in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

The weak grandparents laid in bed holding onto hope that Charlie would win the prestigious golden ticket.

As it turned out for Charlie, his generosity put out the fiery competition.

Augustus Gloop, Mike Teevee, and Violet Beauregarde succumbed to temptation.

Who could forget bitter and greedy Veruca Salt?

When all the sugary dust settled, Mr. Wonka made Charlie sole owner of the factory. Credits rolled as bottled up fuzzy warm feelings exploded like syrupy fizzy soda.

Veruca was a snotty and privileged young lady. Most of the film was Veruca shrieking at her defeated father and making outrageous requests.

I am yet to fully comprehend what exactly a bean feast is.

I can relate to Charlie and even sympathize a bit with their plights.

Charlie Bucket was poverty stricken and I identify with growing up with little to eat. My large family ate food that could be compared to gruel.

As an older girl, it was my responsibility to tend to the younger children and help my mom. There was a candy store in my neighborhood to buy cheap treats.

Veruca Salt lived the life of luxury. Her father had a staff of workers unwrapping candy bars and wasting perfectly delicious chocolate.

She held her daddy in the palm of her bony hand.

The aspect of her that I admire is her assertiveness and eagerness to make things happen. Somehow the determination was weighed down with the greed.

Her journey went askew and she was labeled a bad egg.

Charlie's grandpa riled him up by saying he deserved the golden ticket "because he wanted it more." However, didn't all the children want it equally the same, albeit for different agendas?

Certainly the 'stage' parents were bad influences. Even saintly Grandpa Joe talked Charlie into goofing around in the bubble room.

At times I can act restive and irritable like Ms. Salt. I feel compelled to retrieve my own damn golden ticket. I have waited and worked hard my whole life.

 I just want a win.

On more than one occasion I have been hushed with a "You need to learn some patience." However, behind the towering shadow of impatience is fear. I'm scared of turning gluttonous and lazy. Most of all, I don't want to be sedated from accomplishing my goals.

It has been said patience is a virtue. A high level of goodness human beings should attain. My short stature doesn't allow me to reach that far up.

Similar to the character of Charlie, I also am the bearer of a heart of gold.

The reality is an imperfect world I dwell in with cracks in sidewalks and crooked smiles. Within me is a Bucket and Salt.

I ponder what happened a decade after the glass elevator burst through the windows of the factory.

Charlie and Veruca probably matured into adults. One day there was a sudden spark of attraction. Veruca pushed Charlie to have some assertivenss and he taught her kindness.

They were wed in a lavish ceremony complete with cream buns and doughnuts. Also served was fruitcake with no nuts and gourmet gruel for the Bucket side of the family.

Veruca wore her chocolatey brown hair in long braids per her request. Charlie wore one of Grandpa Joe's jackets.

Willy Wonka himself officiated.

The couple drifted down the chocolate river with bells ringing and tears of happiness flowing.

Charlie hired Slugsworth to manage the factory while he and Veruca settled down in a modest home in the outskirts of town.

A short time later they had their own Bucket/Salt. The blissful couple welcomed a daughter, Josephina (after his grandpa Joe). Josephina was a mixture of sour and sweet.

The baby was even tempered but her anger would get the better of her. 

The steam from her ears was hot enough to melt wax.

Ironically she was sweet to those less fortunate then her.

Like any normal person, she had sincerity but also a pinch of salty assertiveness to pave her way to what she wanted. That is the hidden message of the movie.




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