there was something about violet’s elimination in the unused 2001 script that rubbed me the wrong way and i think i finally put my finger on what it was: violet’s motivation for trying the gum is treated like she’s failing to resist an addiction, but it’s actually a defining character moment for violet because she’s rejecting her mother’s expectations and instead of being rewarded for this in the narrative she is punished.
for context, 2001 violet is the classic ‘gifted kid with a “good” relationship with her mom’ character type. this means her mother is constantly placing her at a moral high point compared to the other kids because of how “mature” violet is, which means violet is under constant pressure to behave pretty much like an adult. alongside this, it is stated that violet used to chew gum (as stress relief for the amount of pressure her mom placed her under), but her mom promised that she would stop smoking if violet stopped chewing gum. it is stated that violet misses chewing gum, and is struggling to quit.
this leads us to the inventing room. violet, willing to do anything for a piece of gum, steals the three-course-gum and turns into a blueberry as karmic retribution. the end.
but here’s the thing: gum chewing is never condemned in the script. in fact, the only reason violet quits is because her mother thinks chewing gum is “unattractive” and makes violet quit. in addition, when wonka is showing the group the gum, ms. beauregarde lowers her voice and complains to violet about how childish the tour is and how dull the candy is. violet quietly agrees, but as soon as her mom leaves the room she recklessly starts pursuing the gum with new determination.
we see ms. beauregarde pull this move in other parts of the script, but the inventing room is the first time we see violet rebel against it. in the dessert desert, veruca, mike, and charlie get into a sugar fight. instead of joining in, violet and her mother stand to the side. her mother says, “kids.” and violet says, “yeah. kids.” ms. beauregarde is using her implied expectations (violet is too mature to be like other kids) to stop violet from doing what she wants to do (join the sugar fight). in the inventing room, ms. beauregarde’s condemnation of the candy makes it so that violet is expected to not be excited about the one thing she lets herself be amazed by the entire tour: a stick of gum. but this time, violet finally lets herself enjoy something for once, and in an act of rebellion, ignores her mother’s expectations and chews the gum. it’s a moment of character development for her - she spends the entire tour acting above the other kids because of her mom’s expectations, and by chewing the gum she is finally letting herself be a kid. she should be rewarded, allowed to enjoy the gum and continue her progress towards freeing herself from her mother’s expectations, but instead she is turned into a blueberry in what honestly sounds like a horrific and painful process. and afterwards wonka is like “she learned the lesson she needed to ☺️” WHAT LESSON??? THAT SHE SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO HER MOM?? violet didn’t even need to learn a lesson, her mom did! but there’s no way ms. beauregarde isn’t too dense to realize that her parenting was the issue.
i am so glad that violet has actual characterization in the script, but it’s a little upsetting that the script writers gave her character development that culminated in a reckless rebellion against her mother but instead of addressing it as such they were like “actually she was in the wrong because um. gum addiction” and then they never show what lesson she was supposed to learn or if her mom changed anything about her behavior. justice for violet.
romaincrisis
pixelskylines
titsay
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