The creepy conclusion to the strange journey of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” series on ROX-TV

Welcome back to the end of the “Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory” series. In parts one and two we really took a hard look at the movie and examined points of interest that are usually glossed over rather cleverly through song and dance. Very often in life it is easy to accept things at face value but when we stop and really look at what we are viewing that can change with a little critical thinking. I guess as humans, we tend to move rather fast through life and when we are exposed to new ideas and flashy packages, it is simple to “take away” the idea that is being projected without questioning deeper connotations and hidden meanings. Are all things in life like this? No, I don’t suppose every thing that we come across holds some special idea or secret door, but sometimes there is more than meets the eye (thank you Transformers).

The whole idea of “Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory” is at first rather safe and easy to follow. The story first appears to be a “hard luck” story about a kid named Charlie Bucket. He comes from the poor side of the tracks and has a somewhat uncomfortable childhood. The money is short and his dad has passed on. His mom works some shit job doing the laundry for people that have cash to pay others to do it. Charlie does the best he can to support the family, which includes a rather strange group of grand parents, four in all, that have spent most of the last twenty years or so, laying in bed.

Grandpa Joe in particular is a rather strange character and is really the first person in the movie, to have other things going on. If you press on his life and do the math. Most of Grandpa Joe’s life seems to become a bullshit con job. By my own calculations in earlier parts of the series, Joe has been “bedridden” for the previous two decades, although the only real reason he ever gives is that the floor “is cold”. Since he was about thirty years old, he has been sleeping his life away, complaining from the mattress and eating cabbage water. Maybe he was a secret smack head, because only drugs could make a twenty year sleep possible.

Charlie is drifting through life, working at a newspaper stand, giving his money away to his mom and Grandpa Joe. He seems mostly unhappy and doesn’t seem to think good things are ever going to come his way. Sadly, unless things were to change for Charlie, his life was already laid out. Hopefully he would complete school and shoot for a better life but the sad reality is that when his mom could no longer work, he would no doubt have to quit school and find work to pick up the slack. Eventually, working hard to support five adults in a giant bed, Charlie would probably drift into a depressed state, boozing and using drugs to cope with the heavy burden of carrying his entire family on his back.

At a glance, things might be a little depressing and tough for the Bucket family, but certainly not exceptional. People deal with hard times all over the world and have so for thousands of years. Working to exist, with varying degrees of success and failure. As the story progresses though, there are things that start to happen that defy basic logic and yet, are so seamless, that a person might never catch any of it, if they were not keyed into the frequency. Obviously Wonka Mania had set in on the town, when eccentric owner Willy Wonka decided to launch a contest, giving the prize winners access to his amazing factory, which has been reportedly locked for many years. The idea seems safe enough and anyone could win. Or could they? By all accounts, all the winners of the contest have varying problems of their own. So anyway, we have come to the rest of the story and some final thoughts. So without further to do, lets jump in…

 

The horrific factory tour continues

Well as you all know from the ending of the last segment, Augustus had a terrible accident when he fell head first into the river of chocolate. Unable to swim, the little German boy sank like “The Bismarck” in 1941 and was sucked up into a giant tube. After blocking the chocolate flow, eventually enough pressure built up and shot the kid into the unknown. When the accident occurred, Willy was more concerned about his chocolate river and shouting that the chocolate could never be touched “by human hands”. I find this statement rather odd. Why could a product intended to be consumed by humans, never be touched by humans?

Augustus’ mom yells at Willy and says “don’t just stand there, do something” to which Willy seems entirely incapable of caring for the drowning boy. He looks tranquil and he mockingly says “help…police…murder” while looking at Augustus’ mother with the boy fighting for his life a few feet away. This entire scene has a dark cloud over it, although most people can’t see it. Sadly, to have six adults and four children stand by and do nothing, while a kid goes under is typical of our modern society (opinion). Most people just can’t seem to be bothered by anyone else and a scary view of “if it doesn’t affect me directly, I don’t give a shit” attitude has become the new normal. I don’t agree with this, I believe that if we have the power to help people, within reason, we better damn well do it. You never know…you might be on the flipside some day and begging for someone to help you. I believe in karma or at least the power of good and bad actions. If you put out bad shit and treat others horribly, the universe will fuck you someday, I guarantee it.

As usual, it seems that Charlie is about the only one willing to get involved and he should be commended. Even Augustus’ mom does nothing. Perhaps his over eating had become a burden on the family and she secretly wanted to be free of the little monster? That’s a scary thought, but humans are capable of scary ideas and actions, even if they keep them hidden away from public view. In the end Augustus goes under and the story rolls on.

Oompa Loompa’s Sing a Song

After a boy goes off to his great demise, the factory workers break into a song about the current events. They seem to blast on the boy and his eating habits. “If you are not greedy, you will go far” they say as the little fellows drop what appears to be milk and sugar into the chocolate river. They use theatrics while doing so and I can’t help but wonder, when no one is around, if they merely tip over the sacks of sugar and pour the milk in directly without the slide? Sometimes the world is nothing more than an elaborate play for others to view. If you want the real story, check shit out when people think no one is looking. I bet the view will be a lot different.

The Oompa’s sing about living in happiness but are they really happy? They work 24 hours a day in a bizarre funhouse candy factory, led by the eccentric and electric pimp Willy. They don’t seem to smile much and they all appear to be male. Where are all the Oompa Loompa women and kids at? What do they do for fun when they don’t have to work simple and never ending tasks around the factory? Do these people drink or party? The world may never know….

Wonkatania and the river boat ride

Willy as usual does something odd, and breaks into a dialogue featuring a foreign language. This is when we first get a glimpse of the “Wonkatania” which to me sounds a lot like the “Lusitania”. The Lusitania was a British ocean liner that was launched in 1906 and sank by a German U-Boat in 1915, killing 1,198 passengers and helped lead to support for war against Germany. Is there symbolic importance to the sound a like name? I guess it just depends on a person’s point of view, but I thought it was curious timing, after the little German boy sank in the chocolate river. Perhaps its just a case of common sounding things and ideas, who find themselves rather close in proximity, but have no real connection. This type of thing is possible and could probably only be answered by the author himself. So anyway….

The boat shows up and everyone seems to have forgotten about the recent tragedy of the boy. Veruca Salt’s father ask Willy if the boat will “float”. This is a stupid thing to say considering it just floated in from a tunnel and obviously is not taking on any chocolate. Mike Teavee’s mom says the boat is nice but “is she sea worthy?”. Again, the boat just sailed into the area with no signs of the trouble and the water way is a chocolate river, not a sea at all. I guess sometimes people asks dumb questions to appear smart, sometimes as a human reflex to their own fear, and a host of other reasons I don’t have time to break down. Even if they have some apprehensions about boarding the charming little ship, what choice does anyone really have? Without too much protest, everyone climbs a board.

Veruca’s dad claims “ladies first” which I do believe is a fair policy although maybe not in their particular case. The old con man Grandpa Joe seems to come alive and responds “if she’s a lady, than I’m a Vermicious Knid”. It sounds like fancy language and perhaps a put down, until we look beyond the smoking mirrors. (Author’s note: Smoking Mirrors or Smoke and Mirrors is a catch phrase that I have often used and am very fond of when presented with stone cold bullshit). Smoke and Mirrors can be described in a lot of ways including the following examples.

1. Smoke and Mirrors are words and actions that are intended to deceive or confuse people, especially by making something seem better than it is.
2. The obscuring or embellishing the truth of a situation with misleading or irrelevant information.
3. Deception and confusion
4. Trickery, deception, and misdirection (all used by clever politicians who make a living out of bending narratives, lying, and selling pipe dreams loaded with false narratives. Beware of all politicians, no matter where you live around the world, they are illusion builders and serve a higher purpose)
5. Something that deceives or distorts the truth.

When someone is running a scam down on you, just let them have it: “That’s just a case of smoke and mirrors” and walk away. It works every time and scam apples can’t refute it when it’s true. The best thing to do when dealing with someone who employs “smoke and mirrors” is to avoid them at all cost. People peddling in deception are not trustworthy today or fifteen years from now. People are who they are for the most part, and “what you see is what you get” is generally an accurate statement. Deception builders will have strong opinions, they will refuse to back away from their claims because they are usually invested in a particular outcome, and really push their agenda even in the face of facts. If you want to see it work in real time, just turn on the television. When people are pushing an idea with a “join us or die” attitude, something is wrong. If there is no room compromise, the exchanging of ideas, and evolution, well….I believe there is a name for that but I won’t say it here. The quickest way to kill off bad ideas and people is to remove them from your world. If you want something to last forever, keep talking about it. Keeping bad ideas alive is easy when no one will stop talking about it. This leads into very dangerous waters and mental fences and self fulfilling prophecies. I believe these topics are important in identifying and calling it what it is, basically mental slavery, but that is for another time. On with the boat…

Once everyone is onboard, Wonka says “your going to love this”. I wonder if he meant just the passengers, because the four man team that is working their Oompa Loompa asses off to make the boat move would probably disagree. Willy has them working around the clock, rowing his boat, and probably even worse things we can’t see. I wonder if the Oompa’s knew about the work schedule when they signed on for a lifetime of work at the factory?

Even as the boat takes off, I’m troubled by the “Vermicious Knids” statement by Grandpa Joe. I wasn’t familiar with the term and decided to research it. What I found was simple enough, but again, just like the movie has undercurrents of darkness. Apparently “Vermicious Knids” were invented by Roald Dahl and refers to a race of amoeba like creatures from the planet Vermes, which according to Dahl’s imagination, is 60,000,000 light years away from Pluto. The race of monster like creatures, travels throughout space eating the local populations from planets with a thin atmosphere. Talk about an interesting slide in. Very curious indeed.

The boat trip seems to be very similar to a bad LSD trip, full of bizarre images and a terrifying little song, that Willy sings as the trip gets under way. The flashing lights, terror, and panic captures the down side to a psychedelic experience, when a person starts to lose control of the reality they find themselves in. Personally, I don’t recommend anyone take LSD, until they’ve had years of practice with strong marijuana and lots of mushroom rides.

The rather quick demise of the bad children

After Augustus meets his fate in the chocolate river, it isn’t long before the others start dropping as well. These tragic little incidents seem to be fitting, since all the kids do stupid things in order to be cancelled off the prize tour. I find it somewhat peculiar though, because it seems to me that Willy has tailor made situation that the children (all suffering with various addictions) can not resist. Violet, the gum chewing addict is tempted by a brand new product by Wonka, that features the flavors of a three course meal. Willy basically puts the shit in front of Violet who, like Augustus simply can not help herself. She takes the gum and pops it in her mouth. Willy for his part, does warn the little girl to stop, but it is a very weak and almost non-existent. I would liken his protest to the gambling commercials which sell the waste of money practice, but just to stay on the right side of morality, offer a gambling hot line number for addicts who can’t stop betting. It would be about the same thing as selling drugs to junkies, and just to stay right with the lord, offer “free confidential help” to those in trouble.

No one calls those numbers, especially the substance abusers and vice stricken people using the services. I think it’s there to make people feel better “about the whole thing” because deep down inside, providing death in small doses to people who can’t help themselves is a sin of the highest order, all in the name of currency. Anyways….

Violet: After chewing the new and exciting product Willy has produced and shown, the girl blows up like a giant beach ball and turns the odd color of dark blue. The gum has backfired and the girl is in danger of losing her life. The Oompa Loompa’s are summoned eventually to take her to the “squeeze room” for squeezing. If she is not helped soon, she will burst with juice. Another one down.

Veruca Salt: Veruca quickly fades away as well, when she has a melt down in the “golden goose” section. Apparently she wants what she can’t have and goes on a rampage in the factory, disrupting and knocking over things, until she finally crosses the line. As if by accident or fate, she stands on top of the egg weighing machine, which determines if an “egg” is good or bad. If it is bad, the floor drops and the bad egg goes to the furnace. Well, I’m sure you can guess which type of egg the maniac Veruca turns out to be. A moment later and she is gone for good.

Mike Teavee: The little cowboy with a penchant for television is next to last, but like the others, falls into a perfect scenario trap set by Willy Wonka. Like the others, his demise seems to be hand crafted to his particular “problem” which is an addiction to television. Mike jumps up onto a platform and is basically transformed into a “G.I. Joe” sized person (eighties version at around four inches or so).

End of the line

Once Charlie Bucket and his two bit hustling Grandpa Joe are the last ones left, the tour abruptly ends. Willy bids them farewell and makes a hasty retreat to his strange office, which seems to have everything cut in half, from the sink to his art work on the walls. Grandpa Joe, forever looking for the free ride, which usually isn’t his, asks Willy for Charlie’s lifetime supply of chocolate. Willy regretfully informs them that Charlie gets nothing because of the theft of fizzy lifting drinks, which Grandpa Joe had encouraged Charlie to do.

For some reason, even though they stole what wasn’t theirs, Grandpa Joe goes off handle and accuses Willy of building up his dreams and then smashing them to bits. He calls Willy a “crook, a cheat, and a swindler” which is odd coming from a man who has refused to leave bed in over twenty years, and only exists because of the labor of others. In Willy’s defense, I don’t believe he ever built up anyone’s dreams or stole from them, but this doesn’t matter to Grandpa Joe. After screaming false charges at Willy, he tells Charlie that he will get even with Wonka if its the last thing he ever does, and that they would be giving the “everlasting gobstopper” to Slugworth. For all his bluster, Grandpa Joe as usual is on the wrong frequency, and gives out bad advice to the boy, who finally decides to go his own way on the matter.

Charlie ignores his Grandpa’s foolish advice and follows his heart. He knows that what Joe has proposed is foolish and wrong, and opts out by giving Wonka back his invention. This somehow warms the mad creator’s heart and he proclaims that Charlie had “done it” and that he has won the day. Wonka apologizes for everything strange he has done, although he doesn’t specifically cop to keeping Charlie under surveillance or messing with his life in unsuspecting ways, he does reveal that Slugworth is really just a deep cover employee of his.

What it all means?

Like most of the movie, the implications are not so clear until one really examines what things actually mean. Probably the most explosive revelation is that Slugworth is Wonka’s employee. This doesn’t seem too sinister until we think back about how all this Wonka madness got started. Willy had sent Slugworth undercover to help along his fucked up plan. Slugworth, who appears shortly after Charlie finds the golden ticket must have been given information on when and where Charlie would be, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to confront the boy about spying for money. Slugworth knew when and where Charlie was and that scares me. Someone must have been watching Charlie and I bet it didn’t start that day either.

If Slugworth and the set up were orchestrated by Wonka, than to ensure that Charlie, who Wonka had apparently taken a liking too, won the ticket, would have needed to place the money in the gutter and also had the help from the candy man “Bill”. To know Charlie’s exact movements and motivations (how he would react to situations designed to lead him to the golden ticket) I’m assuming Wonka had been spying on Charlie for a long time.

Bill, the candy man, was also vital in making the delivery of the golden ticket to Charlie. Wasn’t it Bill who suggested a different style candy bar for Charlie’s second purchase? Also the bar he picks doesn’t appear to be from the stack, but rather, sitting uniquely with the face out. I guess that is speculation, but when Charlie was given the “winning ticket bar” Bill must have phoned ahead so that Slugworth could get into place. The fact that he was on the correct route means every step Charlie took from the time he left the shop, until Slugworth’ s appearance was being monitored. That is scary and amazingly modern. Don’t our smart phones track us? Makes you wonder who is collecting that data and what it’s being used for. You ever experience a strange day or encounter odd circumstances which seem to really defy normalcy when examined closely? Curious…

Another spooky aspect of this is that if Charlie was hand selected to win the contest, than did Willy hand select the losers as well. If he knew Charlie was the perfect fit, than why select four kids with problems to become losers? Perhaps Willy was an undercover sadists? Or maybe he liked playing god, teaching problem kids a harsh lesson in real world terms? At times he seemed to revel in the suspense of each failing child and their fate. Setting people up for failure is a sick way of thinking though, and if Willy was capable of that, who knows what else he was willing to do?

Could a mind like that, with the right resources made conditions so bad for the Oompa Loompa’s in their home country, that the choice to work at the factory forever seemed like a good idea? I’m absolutely sure of it. The best way to trick people is have them think their choices are really their own. The fact that they are being led by an all controlling force, pulling all the right strings, to create certain conditions for a particular outcome seems very familiar. Perhaps society can relate to that, if only they examined who and what was creating the current conditions in our own country and around the world? The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing people he didn’t exist (Thank you Usual Suspects). On that line of thinking, could people be tricked into thinking they were free, when they really weren’t? I think so….

(Author’s Note: We’ve reached the conclusion of the three part series and are out of space and time. Originally this last segment was over five thousand words, but when I tried adding pictures and videos, the program shut down and I lost three thousand words of the original article. No point in crying over spilled milk, but originally the conclusion was far more in depth. I guess you can only play the hand your dealt, so this revised version is what you get. Life can be like that sometimes and the best thing to do, is accept it and keep rolling. Until next time…)

Signing Off,

Mike Shepard

ROX-TV Head Writer

kidvicious810 on IG