I have cried during more movies in the past 12 months than I think I have the rest of my life. A Wrinkle In Time did it to me again.
I loved this movie for so many reasons. I loved Meg and Charles Wallace. I thought both of them were so well crafted, you didn’t need to read the books to understand them (I think, of course it’s impossible for me to be sure). I thought the Mrs.’s were superb and even though it’s not exactly how I pictured them, it’s exactly how I could have pictured them.
Madeline L’Engle is one of my all-time favorite authors; like so many others I grew up on this book and loved it. When I felt like an outcast, I looked around for my Charles Wallaces & Calvins in my life. When I looked for them, I often found them waiting for me with open arms; and this movie captured that love and acceptance and patience… perfectly.
The graphics in this movie were fantastic. They really thought through the descriptions of what L’Engle wrote and what they wanted it to look like. There were a bunch of times it bordered on cartoony, but not in the worst of ways – I accept it’s a kid’s movie and they don’t need to be realistic the way I would demand of something like Ready Player One (not the VR world, but their real world) or Avatar (*cough* failed *cough* oh sorry, I have been sick ya know…)
I didn’t like that they left out one of my favorite characters. I don’t remember him/her/it perfectly but that obscurity of gender is why that is one of my favorite characters in the book. That and he/she/it was one of the most accepting, gracious, and loving characters – which they tried to absorb somewhat into the Mrs’s but…. well it just isn’t the same. I understand why they did it (trying to make a movie for kids under 10 you don’t want to introduce a new, weird character 3/4s of the way through….) but I was looking forward to seeing the interpretation of him/her/it on screen and I won’t lie… if I have to critique this is probably it.
I also was very disappointed they cut the twins. There was an important element in the two boys being “adjusted” to their father’s disappearance while Meg & Charles Wallace sort of aren’t. Or at least, they both feel excluded from that adjustment which adds an important juxtaposition to Meg’s continued rage & lashing out. It also means they won’t be able to make any of the sequels – the twins rise in their prominence in later books. Despite cutting the twins, I did love the messages of an inter-racial couple adopting kids. The message that you can choose to love as well as “fall” in love.
I cried. I sniffled and snuffled and tears rolled helpless down my cheeks through so much of this movie. Just like Blank Panther & Wonder Woman. I am jealous of kids today who are getting to see movies with heroes & heroines that look like them. Hell, I would have just taken a heroine (and did – her name was Sailor Moon and she was still constantly having to be “rescued” by a damn man).
I want to live in the world where we aren’t color-blind, but we are color-kind. We don’t “ignore” color or race or heritage; but we treat those differences with curiosity and kindness. Movies like this – big budget which celebrate (or at least don’t denigrate) minorities might just help us move towards that world. Media – books, movie, music, art – can help people open their minds and their hearts. No longer are we limited to James Bond & Superman; now we can explore the plethora of possibilities…. and I am so excited I could – and did – cry.
We have a long way to go. There are a lot of lessons on manners when you encounter someone “breaking taboo” we need to construct and accept across our culture(s) – but these movies; these glorious beautiful movies…. I can’t wait for more like them.
Dream by Day 