I know Iāve spoken about my issues with āPeter Pan and Wendyā (2023) before, both in my initial thoughts post about the film after it released and a couple of smaller comments since, but Iāve realised something this past week after rewatching the original Disney cartoon and the 2003 non-Disney live-action while sick, and I feel I need to talk about it.
Itās about Wendy Moira Angela Darling.
While I stand by that Ever Anderson was one of the highlights of the film and that she did a great job as Wendy, the Wendy in the film is not really the Wendy seen in Barrieās book, nor the one in the play and other films adaptations. Itās a very different character in a lot of ways, and while itās normal for characters to differ from adaption to adaptation - especially over the course of 70+ years - I feel like the Wendy seen in the 2023 is more like Jane, Wendyās daughter, from Disneyās Return to Neverland sequel in 2002.
Let me preface by saying that I actually love Jane in the sequel as a character - I see a lot of myself in her, and while the sequel in itself is not really my favourite, I do have some nostalgia for it because I grew up with it and itās a cute little story. I like that Jane is actually different from Wendy in a lot of ways; sheās a lot more headstrong and more of a tomboy, and while sheās also a storyteller at times like her mother (mostly to her brother Danny), she is a lot more practical I think and seems to be opposite to Wendy in that sheās trying to grow up too fast. Wendy believes in Peter Pan and doesnāt want to grow up, meanwhile Jane believes Peter Pan to be silly childish nonsense, that she has to grow up quickly and be more adult due to the war/her father being away - Wendy says to her, āyou think youāre very grown up - but you have a great deal to learnā.
Obviously the 2023 Wendy doesnāt want to grow up, thatās still the same, but in terms of personality, temperament and the way she treats her brothers after the broken mirror incident (blaming John for it), she reminds me more of Jane than Wendy. Like Jane, she also doesnāt seem to have a good time going to Neverland (at least not at first?) and she seems to take on a lot more action than Wendy did in the animated film.
Of course, itās not the first time that weāve seen Wendy wielding a sword and fighting pirates - the 2003 Wendy was shown to play with wooden swords and use real ones, even remarking, āwho are you to call me āgirlieā?!ā. Iām not saying that Wendy canāt be a sword wielding girl and fight because she can, itās one of the additions I love the most about the 2003 film.
The problem with the 2023 version of Wendy is not her being a main character (she has always been a main character), nor her sword fighting and being generally bad-ass - itās the erasure of the other qualities that make her Wendy Darling.
One of Wendyās primary character traits is her mothering nature - she is very motherly to her brothers, and when she hears that the Lost Boys donāt have a mother, sheās aghast and agrees to be their mother. The whole āPeter is father, Wendy is motherā idea is clearly a reference to how kids in the playground will play games like āmummies and daddiesā - kids imitating what they see around them. Itās all a big pretend game in Neverland for fun. Itās also undeniable that Wendy pretending to be the Lost Boysā mother is clearly reflective of her own mother, who she adores and is portrayed as the loveliest lady ever, and how sheās imitating Mrs Darling in a lot of ways during this āgameā - singing to them, telling them stories, medicine etc.
Some would argue that Wendy is āforcedā into being the āmotherā and that while all the boys are off having fun, sheās left playing house, which I understand. But what a lot of modern audiences and filmmakers donāt understand these days is that motherhood is NOT an anti-feminist idea - there seems to be this view that portraying a girl wanting to be a mother or expressing the wish to be married/have children is some old-fashioned misogynistic notion, which is absolutely bizarre to me.
As a feminist myself, I believe that there is no clear cut definition of āwomanhoodā or what it means to be a strong woman with autonomy. Some women want to have careers and not have children, and thatās fine; some women want to have children, thatās fine; some women want both, and thatās fine. What matters is that itās the woman who is deciding what she wants.
For me, Wendy has always been this remarkable and extraordinary character to look up to because she chooses to grow up - and for her, that means having her own children to tell her stories to. Thatās what she wanted, thatās why she went back to England, and thatās part of her character arc, realising that by growing up she has things to look forward to.
For some reason, when 2023!Wendy thinks āhappy thoughtsā to make herself fly when being walked off the plank, her vision for the future that she looks forward to involves piloting automobiles that havenāt even been invented yet and then dying alone? Whichā¦ I mean, if thatās how someone wants to live then fair enough but thatās not Wendy. Thatās not the Wendy Darling I grew up loving.
A lot of my issues with the 2023 version of Wendy do in fact link with other issues of the film in general: the Lost Boys including girls, for example. Like I get wanting to be inclusive, and I 100% wanted to be a Lost Girl growing up, but the Lost Boys are boys for a reason (āgirls are much too clever to fall out of their pramsā), and when Wendy arrives itās a huge deal because theyāve never actually lived with girls before, and the only concept of girls they have is their memories of āmotherā, which is why Wendy becomes their mother figure - because they literally donāt have any other female figures in their lives to compare her to other than the tiny scraps they remember of their mothers.
Thereās also the issue of the thing prompting Wendy not wanting to grow up being changed; in the original, itās because itās her last night in the nursery and moving from the nursery - aka the room she has spent her entire life thus far in - to her own room is a HUGE transitional worry that a lot of kids probably go through (usually itās in the form of moving from toddler beds to big kid beds but still). In the 2023 version, sheās being sent off to boarding school for some reason which doesnāt really make sense to me because the Darling parents a) are so poor they have to have a dog as a nursemaid and b) love their children so much that they would never do that to them. Iām not saying that being shipped off to boarding school ISNāT a worry for a young girl or a huge deal, but it isnāt one that I think necessarily fits with the story.
Thereās the fact that Wendy is no longer the storyteller; in most versions, the reason Peter visits the nursery is because he likes her stories. Instead, the reason he comes to the nursery is not because he likes her stories but because he used to live in the house? And instead of bringing her to Neverland to tell stories, he comes to take Wendy away as he apparently heard her saying she didnāt want to grow up? It just doesnāt sit right with me, but maybe thatās just my opinion.
Also, for some reason, Wendy and Peter donāt actually seem to like each other at all in the 2023 version - Iām not saying there should have been romantic hints or whatever, but even just in a friendship way they really donāt seem to care in any way about each other. They just seemed rather indifferent towards each other, and itās kind of jarring to see.
In some ways, I feel like 2023 Wendy was made a little too bad ass and on the nose super feminist: āthis magic belongs to no boy!ā, slapping Peter across the face (which was justā¦??? Why?!?!), constantly criticising Peter/Neverland, having WAY more action and heroic moments than Peter Pan himselfā¦ maybe in a different story it could have worked but for this one, it came across forced at times, like they were intentionally trying to show ālook! Look how badass she is! She can fight off grown men all by herself! She doesnāt need a boy to help her! She can do everything by herself!ā
This is why I feel like the 2003 version of Wendy is the best one (so far): while they modernised her slightly by making her sword fight and express an ambition to write novels about her adventures, she was still a storyteller and motherly figure to the Lost Boys/her brothers. For me as a child, seeing Wendy be the storyteller and her journey of acceptance about having the grow up was really important to me because I could completely relate to it.
Of course, I recognize Iām very biased because this is the one I grew up with (along with the animated Wendy of course) so Iād be interested to hear other peopleās thoughts!
