Alice In Wonderland

Yes - I know I'm late to the feast.  I finally plucked up courage and watched Disney's 'Alice in Wonderland'.  This is, it should be said, Disney's 'Alice', only.

Watching it reminded me of an encounter, many years ago, in a Tunisian cafe, outside Sfax.  I explained to the waiter that my friend wanted a vegetarian dish. He nodded and made all the right gestures that indicated he had understood my French.  When he came back it was with a large bowl of steaming food, out of the center of which protruded the limb of some animal, possible the hind quarter of a goat. I pointed out that this was not vegetarian.  Outraged, he poured some of the mix onto a plate and, using his fingers, pulled out a small greenish thing. 'There!' he declared, 'There is a vegetable!'

The same thing is true of Disney's 'Alice', which has about as much in common with Lewis Carroll as … well, you get the picture.

But if I had to single out one truly disturbing aspect of Disney's cruel co-opting of a story, it would be to point out that the young Alice is routinely presented in the process of falling out of her clothes, or growing too big for them, which allows the film-makers to show a lot of her skin in a sort of thinly-veiled strip-tease. Since she's - well, what age is she? - and what age is this movie aimed at?  Suitable for young children and adults, says the screening guide. I found it disturbing that an actress of about 13 was presented in this way, when the (remixed) plot announced she was playing the role of a 19 year old; not 10 as the original Alice was.

Confused?  So was I. Child exploitation, or worse?  Oh yes.