Don't Care How...I Want it NOW!
“Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (not to be confused with that movie where Johnny Depp seems to be channeling Michael Jackson) is one of my favorite movies of all time. What’s not to like? Okay, that acid-trippy portion on the boat…but needless to say, it’s a great flick!
I used to believe that I enjoyed it for all the candy and songs and the Oompa Loompas. But as I grew older, I realized that my like for this children’s classic was far deeper than that. When the truth hit me, I felt guilty at first. I mean – my reasoning was purely selfish! How could I think that way? Then the idea started to sink in. I started to rationalize. And then it all made sense. So, why did I like it so much?
Well, apparently, I enjoy the movie a lot because all those bratty kids get shafted!
Those little self-righteous, whining, sniveling snots! They all annoyed me. Each time they lost a kid I’d be relieved! And while Augustus Gloop, Violet Beauregarde, and Mike Teevee get their comeuppance in pretty comical fashion (And I’d like to point out, no one got killed – they would just be hating life for a few days), my absolute favorite part of the movie is when dear Veruca Salt gets dumped into the factory’s trash incinerator after singing:
“I want the world
I want the whole world
I want to lock it all up in my pocket
It's my bar of chocolate
Give it to me
Now!
I want today
I want tomorrow
I want to wear 'em like braids in my hair
And I don't want to share 'em…”
Each and every one of those kids (and yes…Charlie too) shared the one trait that was their downfall. They all possessed this trait long before they got to Wonka’s chocolate factory. It was behavior that was nurtured by each of their parents and only enhanced by finding those precious Golden Tickets. And unfortunately, it’s a flaw that we are increasingly seeing in both children and adults today: Self-entitlement.
Dave White (NO RELATION!) wrote about the culture of entitlement that has sprouted in our society today. In his article “The Manners Revolution Starts Here,” he points to society’s fondness to emulate what celebrities are doing as part of the problem. While it’s good to aspire to be like your favorite celebrity, it also means you aspire to be live like them. However White points out that this dream “is also to aspire to be alpha dog, to be first in line, to not have to pay attention to anyone else’s rules. To do whatever you feel like doing as long as you get your way…it’s a stupid trap and we all fell for it.”
Having worked with teenagers for the better part of ten years now, I can’t agree with White more. As a Speech and Debate coach, I have seen countless kids try to short change themselves in the process of learning public speaking. The result? Talented kids who get pissed off, disappointed, and quit/sulk because “I’m not winning any trophies.” And they expect the trophies just to be handed to them without experience, practice, or even good work ethic. I have had kids tell me that they should have won competitions simply because “I’m just that good.” These are the same kids who get all bent out of shape when we pick our traveling team in January and find themselves without a plane ticket to Boston.
But don’t get all high and mighty, grown-ups. We are just as guilty of the self-entitlement. The modern workplace is a bastion of this behavior. Many work places are no longer cooperatives of teamwork and feel goods. Instead, they are cesspools filled with people so wrapped up in their own supposed talent and insight, they’re willing to undercut, backstab, and undermine others on the road to success.
Not enough examples for you? Let’s take the simpler approach. How many of you have ever worked a job in retail or the service industry? Whether you have or haven’t, you’ll want to check out Mr. Entitlement Dimwit. I think that story says it all.
But regardless of the situation or example, the road to self-entitlement is now well paved and well traveled in today’s society. Gone are the days where hard work was it’s own reward. Humans have the need to get things faster, better, and shinier than before.
It kind of makes you wish you could conjure up a trap door to a trash incinerator for every modern day Veruca you meet, doesn’t it?
posted by Lillian T. White @ 10:10 PM
1 Comments:
I LOVE WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. But I'm going to say somethign and everytime I say this people look at me crazy... but there is one MAJOR part of the movie I hate....actually it's one character. I've been called cruel and all kinds of other names for not liking this character but I thought they were the BIGGEST PHONEY in the whole movie.....I hate the part of the Grandfather. There I said it!
I mean come on. The whole beginning of the movie he's all laid up in bed can't walk can't do sh*t for himself. But the second Charlie gets that golden ticket he's up jumping around like he's on acid. GIVE ME A BREAK! What a crock of sh*t! Then the kicker. Charlie is a good boy. I mean he tries to do the right thing. He's got kind of a hard life. Grandparents who can't take care of themselves (or can they????) and a mother who has to work all hours to make sure there is food on the table. And what does grandpa do to teach Charlie morals, he coerces him to drink the fizzy bubble stuff...ALMOST SENDING HIM TO HIS DEATH! And it would have been a nasty death if grandpa didn't have gas! And after all this he thinks when Wonka gives Charlie the Chocolate factory (oops sorry to anyone who hasn't seen it....but shame on you it's a classic) Grandpa thinks his life is made. No more faking it for him...now he has Oompa Loompas to do his dirty work!
I mean come on. They man was a fake. Couldn't stand him and to this day I fast foward the whole beginning part when he's in bed apparently "sick" too d*mn sick to do anything connected to work but not too sick to eat candy!
(can you tell it REALLY bothers me?)
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