Staff Writer

I think we’re starting to lose the roots of our nationally celebrated holidays, all under the commercializing of products, decorations, and traditions that appeal to 21^st century audience’s view of “fun.”

Stephen king, the definite king of horror; Tim Burton, the king of twisted, dark imagination at its finest; these two legends work under the man. Both spurring from horror, their creative zest also spurs as loyalty to the Halloween Holiday. Now I don’t think that the “Nightmare Before Christmas” or “It” recognizes the Christian celebration of honoring the saints.

As a Catholic, it’s an obligation to recognize the meanings of the holidays im celebrating through the catholic church. The church holds celebrations of all saints day, and a mass is fully focused on the saints.

When I was a kid though, my obligations were focused on, candy. Yes, candy. Going door to door with my witch costume or my Tinker Bell costume. Just having matching tights and color coordinated sparkles made the holiday special. But now I’m old enough to realize what it all means, and yet I come across movie pieces like “It” or “Friday the 13^th.” So what do you do when you can’t find the origin of a holiday? Well, the sensible thing to do is Google it. I know I do.

I had to scroll through different websites just to get something credible on the saints. Now if I have trouble finding something on Google, we have a serious problem here people.

Same goes for Christmas. It’s even been absorbed into our lives outside of the Christmas time. Teenagers like to joke about Santa, elves, just the Christmas holiday is amusing, bright, and inspiring. And most will owe it to the decorations and the presents.

Woah guys, we’re forgetting something. A world-wide figure; Jesus, the nativity story, why we’re celebrating this in the first place. Though the roots of Christmas aren’t buried as deep as what of the Halloween holiday, it’s all about the commercial market these days.

So what are we doing this for? Is it the tradition of the commercial market that’s setting us apart from our true origins? Or is everything ok.

I don’t think it is. Don’t get me wrong. I love Halloween parties, celebrations getting dressed up. And as a HUMAN, I think it’s pretty cool when I get that new dress I wanted or instrument. But I would be just fine without it.

So I just want to get a message across that we need to pay attention to what we’re celebrating. You can enjoy the fun commercial part of it, I mean we kind of have no choice. Fun is fun; we don’t like stepping away from that. Just take some time to recognize what it’s all about.

I can say with relative assurance I know quite a bit about Alice in Wonderland. Beyond it being my favorite book, I’ve also been working on a 4,000-word extended paper this year as one of my assignments, requiring research and understanding of the novel as a whole. Therefore, when I heard that Alice was going to be made into a movie, that too by Tim Burton, a director creepy enough to maintain the original twisted plot of the novel, I was beyond excited.

However, after returning from my trip down the rabbit hole, none of the positive sentiments I had anticipated were left behind. Besides being lackluster and original, the previous, cartoon Disney version of the film seemed to be more confusing and frightening than the one created by Burton, the man specializing in dark films.

While my dislike for the movie may be somewhat unfounded, since many of my assertions are based off differences with the book, there are some major attributes drawing me away from it. For starters, the very cliché “good vs. evil” plot surrounding the entire movie was not only typical of any alternate world movie, but draws away from the main appeal of Wonderland – its apparent lack of order.

Many are quick to judge Wonderland as an acid trip because of its seemingly mad characters and random occurrences. (I might add that it is not, notably since Lewis Carroll’s previous and following novels are all focused around rather logical subject matters, such as math and chess, along with the fact that Carroll did not indulge in any drugs.) This lack of order is created to symbolize how in a world of chaos, also known as the “real world” or the adult world, the most logical person is a child. Alice is, in fact, a satire on the delusions and propriety of society.

The movie, however, fails to follow with this theme. By providing a definite plot and sequence of events Alice [Mia Wasikowska] is to follow, Wonderland now takes on a more logical stance and is not as chaotic as before. The building tension towards a final war scene is common and overdone in many movies, and serves the same role within this one.

Yet another blatant similarity within the movie can be seen during its ending. A kiss from the ‘better’ sister, a wish to go home and leaving friends behind despite their urging and then returning to see characters reminiscent of those in the alternate world – similarities The Wizard of Oz are bitingly evident. And while these two novels can be comparable at points, the twist of the Alice movie to fit the end of The Wizard of Oz is simply unnecessary and another aspect changed from the book.  

Another overplayed idea shoved into the movie is the romantic tension between Alice and the Mad Hatter [Johnny Depp]. While this said romance is not blatantly brought forth, several scenes between the two characters were often surrounded by a more gentle tone than that which was focused upon in other areas of the movie.

Since that the characters are so different, it is obvious that no romantic affair would be produced, however, if they were to be placed in any other, less fantasy-like setting, the building romantic tension between the two would appear much more obvious. While I’m just as much as a sucker for love as any other moviegoer, the relationship between Alice and the Mad Hatter seems to have more of a basis on Burton wishing for more of Depp’s presence on screen, rather than character similarity.

That being said, the extended amount of Depp on screen proves to be one of the better facets of the movie. While his acting is usually impeccable, it reaches its peak within Alice, and I found myself craning for another glimpse of the Mad Hatter and whatever new façade he was to put on next. Alongside him, Helena Bonham-Carter, playing the Red Queen, also does a fantastic job within the movie, evoking the emotions of both fear and pity from viewers.

Perhaps the best part of this entire movie that had me hooked, despite my somewhat distaste for its plot, is its graphics. Since the release of Avatar, 3D animation and design is taking movie-watching to a whole new level, and Alice has clearly risen to meet the challenge. All of the creatures depicted seem to reflect the images I’d have of them in my mind, and the dazzling scenery of Wonderland – from the dark, twisted areas to the flowery, white ones – is intensified by magnificent imagery.

While I’m no connoisseur of digital animation, I can say the effects within this movie served to surpass almost all other features. The idea of a slithering fish servant or frog butlers may seem a stretch to many, but these unusual characters are featured brilliantly within Alice.

However, my personal focus when going to watch a movie is more on the plot, with digital effects only used as support – and despite the glimmering visuals presented, the lackluster theme still stood out strongly within Alice. While the movie on its own could stand for something relatively decent, in comparison to the intended effect of Wonderland, it barely met standards.

Maybe simply because it is rated PG, and therefore obviously directed towards audiences of younger ages, the plot line was reduced to something so basic. Regardless of the fact, my trip to Wonderland, instead of continuing to get “curiouser and curiouser” rather turned out to be wholly predictable.

On Sept. 9, the Tim Burton movie 9 was released. I was skeptical when I watched the commercial and saw the release date. It seemed to me like someone just wanted to make a movie on that particular day.

Voiced by Elijah Wood, #9, from left, #7 (voiced by Jennifer Connelly), and #5 (voiced by John C. Reilly) face peril in Shane Acker's epic adventure fantasy "9," which Focus Features releases nationwide on September 9, 2009. (Courtesy Focus Features/MCT)

Surpirsingly, many people I’ve talked to told me the movie was much more than a gimmick. 9 is actually based off of a short-film directed by Shane Acker that won an Academy Award.

I have now challenged myself to see this movie before I judge it on its opening day. Hopefully, I will be surprised.