So obviously The Lost Boys is inspired by Peter Pan. And there is so much room to debate which of them is which and so much fodder to play with story elements and metaphors.
The easy casting is David as Peter with the other Lost Boys as duh, the lost boys. And Michael, Star, (and Laddie) can function as the Darling children who ultimately leave Neverland and return home (become human again). And Max would be Captain Hook. Plus in the play and many films, Mr. Darling is double cast as Captain Hook so him being the looming father figure is a fun Easter egg for Max too.
Personally I’ve always cast Max as Peter Pan. And while Max is everything Peter hates, being an adult and all; they’re both charming and, intentional or not, know how to use that to their advantage. Peter Pan is quite the malevolent character and it’s one of the reasons I love the book so much. It’s all very dark and light Fae vibes, especially with the whole stealing away children thing. Peter is ruthless and thoughtless, both intentionally and unintentionally. It’s a huge thing in the book that he forgets things he’s done and even people if they don’t suit what he wants in an adventure. He also replaces the lost boys and forgets about them when they die... Max also decides how people can best serve him and tries to manipulate them into the image he wants. Peter is also very controlling of the lost boys in the book and they follow him without fail, out of fear and out of loyalty.
And Peter wants Wendy to be the lost boys’ mother and he only takes her brothers, John and Michael, because she insists they come along too. The other boys all got themselves lost from their families and Peter finds them and takes them away (or so we’re told). But the Darling children are taken from their home. So Lucy is Wendy and Michael and Sam are akin to John and Michael. Also unrelated to the flow of the story but Nanook is totally Nana.
Personally I find it interesting to mix and match these characterizations because there is so much fodder for it and so much overlap for multiple characterizations. I also read a very sweet and loving fic by @mermeg0913 that casts Michael as Peter Pan. They also pointed out after one of my comments that David can also be seen as Peter’s shadow which is just also excellent!
But earlier today I remembered another thing. This quote from Peter Pan: “Fairies have to be one thing or the other, because being so small they unfortunately have room for one feeling only at a time.” It’s often argued that vampires don’t have souls and so the idea of human emotions overwhelming them into feeling only one thing makes so much sense to me. Very primal instincts. The way David and The Lost Boys flip on a dime so quickly is exactly how the fairies are. Tinkerbell is jealous and ruthless but also loving and brave but never at the same time. She is loyal to Peter but a slave to her own emotions for good or for ill because it takes over her whole person. She tries to kill Wendy despite knowing Peter will hate her because her jealousy is too strong. But then she dies for him later when her love overwhelms her and she drinks the poison to save him. They flip from boyish fun to unbridled violence on the hunt. David is all rage at the Emerson house until he flips to asking Michael to join him, putting his anger aside for his want of brotherhood. And then when Michael kills him all we see is heartbreak on David’s face as he’s run through. No anger, just betrayal. It’s not a perfect metaphor but I do think I’m onto something with this. Oh and the lost boys exploding into glitter in the film is very pixie dust.
But also drinking vampire blood is basically pixie dust because it lets you fly though you don’t have to believe or think lovely thoughts to get it to work.
The clock in the crocodile is all very time catches up to us all and even the vampires don’t live forever.
Anyway I adore Peter Pan and The Lost Boys and I just love playing in these sandboxes. I’d love to hear other musings and thoughts too!
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