My son came home from his first week at Columbia wearing a tee-shirt imprinted "Go ask Alice." Of course to me it was a time machine back to White Rabbit, Grace Slick, and the Jefferson Airplane. Well, "Alice" turned out to be the office that answered bewildered freshmen's questions.
Fairy tales and myths such as these two films from last year, Alice in Wonderland and Black Swan, now seem to me a safe way for young people to learn why treacherous paths need to be avoided, bringing them into adulthood "keeping their heads." (This was the last line in White Rabbit: "Keep your head.") They remind parents not to judge too much (Black Swan) and to let their children play out their fantasies so they grow up knowing what reality actually is.
Charles Dodgson was in reality Lewis Carroll, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The New York Times once compared him to Nabokov, author of Lolita. However, we would never say that about the Brothers Grimm and Hansel and Gretel or Charles Perrault and Little Red Riding Hood. Somehow we have to gain an awareness of our dark sides early on, and that is why these stories are acceptable. Perhaps Charles Dodgson never grew up himself; he comes perilously close to tampering with the innocence of the real Alice:
last two photos from April 2010 issue of Smithsonian Magazine
thank you for this memory walk...oh how i remember the first time i saw the original black and white alice in wonderland. of course i knew the book inside out long before i discovered the movie on an oldies channel.
ReplyDeletethanks too for your visit and encouragement. today is a coming around day and i am grateful for it!
Oh, yes, I remember very well roaming about a small arena in the boonies outside of Vancouver while Grace Slick was belting out Go ask Alice, with a psychedlic light show swirling behind her. It was absolutely electrifying.
ReplyDeleteI think that's a very clever t-shirt message your son is sporting from Columbia. I wonder how many of the students get the sub-reference.
Interesting point about the dark side of children's imaginations...the thrill of scary stories and dire situations; they all need to have happy endings of some sort, though, in order to be really satisfying. And that's what makes them fairy tales.
I immediately thought of the book I read as a teen entitled "Go Ask Alice". Here's the blurb from Amazon. Makes me want to read it again! Great post, lady!! xoxo
ReplyDelete"The torture and hell of adolescence has rarely been captured as clearly as it is in this classic diary by an anonymous, addicted teen. Lonely, awkward, and under extreme pressure from her "perfect" parents, "Anonymous" swings madly between optimism and despair. When one of her new friends spikes her drink with LSD, this diarist begins a frightening journey into darkness. The drugs take the edge off her loneliness and self-hate, but they also turn her life into a nightmare of exalting highs and excruciating lows. Although there is still some question as to whether this diary is real or fictional, there is no question that it has made a profound impact on millions of readers during the more than 25 years it has been in print. Despite a few dated references to hippies and some expired slang, Go Ask Alice still offers a jolting chronicle of a teenager's life spinning out of control." Blurb from Amazon.com on the book "Go Ask Alice".
I remember that song, "Go Ask Alice". It was always one of my favorites as a teenager. The song has such meaning to life and I would listen to it over and over again. Such memories!
ReplyDeleteSmiles.
First off, how cool is that - your son going to Columbia in NYC! That just gives me a rush without asking Alice. It's tough being a teenager and it seems to get tougher all the time. Parents sure do have a lot to contend with. Often what parents so dearly want for their children is the opposite of what is glorified in the media or deemed "cool."
ReplyDeletewhat could be better than visiting your son in nyc?
ReplyDeleteand thank you for exciting me with some facts of lewis carroll
margaret, forgive me, i am finally admitting to my confusion. are you my friend margaret pangert or are you someone else? if you are someone else, i will still visit your blog but if you are margaret pangert i must leave an extra ♥
love
kj
Little Alice was quite mesmerizing. I can see where the inspiration came from!
ReplyDeleteI think that letting children fantasize is so important, so long as we teach them the difference between fantasy and reality.
This was such an interesting post Margaret. Thank you for that bit of history!
Love Di ♥
Hi Rebecca~ Glad you're feeling better--sometimes you really need that downtime. I remember loving the book Alice in Wonderland! and how many times did I make my mother read A.A. Milne to me before I could read it myself! And the Wind in the Willows! Thanks for stopping by~ Love ♥
ReplyDeleteHi Lynne~ Wasn't the music fun back then? Cool that you went to a Jefferson Airplane concert! Carole King, Deborah Harry. I saw Janis Joplin at the Monterey Pop Festival!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of how blurred reality and fantasy were to Nina in the Black Swan. The Black Swan was a fairy tale that had to end badly because the black swan represented such sinister energy. I don't really know; I just saw the video recently and have been thinking about it. Cutters are self-destructive~maybe the final cut was to the intestines/gall bladder which represents judgment in Chinese medicine. I really have to stop thinking about this movie!! Do you remember dancing the Hustle?! So much fun! Love ♥
Hi Marion! I have to get that book! It actually describes Nina in Black Swan more than Alice, I think. Her mother treated her like a child. On her one unchaperoned outing she was also drugged which unfortunately caused her to have fantasies she thought to be real. Thanks for the quote! Love ♥
ReplyDeleteHi Anne! I always loved that song, too. It might be interesting to chart the story line to have a better understanding of it. I also used to like Carly Simon and James Taylor back then. Love ♥
ReplyDeleteHi Stickup! Just being in the vicinity of Columbia is cool! Just a few blocks from the Apollo Night Club, "Tom's Diner" from Seinfeld, former apts of Ginsberg and Kerouac, little bookstores, clubs, restaurants. I bought a book called Dickens's Fur Coat! Honestly, the worst problem facing students is having the opportunity to do way too much drinking. Thank God most don't keep a car there! Love ♥
ReplyDeleteaha, confusion solved!
ReplyDeletebe well, my friend.
♥
kj
Hi kj! No, that was really a different Margaret Pangert! I'll take the extra love, anyway! I don't recall that we knew anything about the nuances in the book or the author when we were so delighted hearing Alice's Adventures in Wonderland being read to us! And as for Nina in the Black Swan, she's way past the age to learn the difference between the imaginary and the real. Here's what I propose: Emily should write a fascinating, adventurous story for children, not watered down but not malign, either. This is a real possibility! Consider it! Love ♥
ReplyDeleteHi Diana! I agree with you--and I think children have wonderful imaginations all on their own. You just wouldn't want a "Spiderman" to jump off the house! I've heard that they have it pretty much figured out by the age of seven. Although, Santa and the Easter Bunny sometimes make it to ten! Love ♥
ReplyDeletemargaret, i need to be released from my confusion. how can there be more than one of margaret pangert? THIS is your blog, right? you are margaret pangert and margaret panpipes,right?! that other blog is old and you don't use it, right?!!
ReplyDeleteplease let me be increasingly fond of you without wondering :)
love
kj
Hello, Margaret! Long time no talk to! Hope you are well.
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed this today - thanks for the smiles!
("GO Ask Alice" was also a book - look it up. It's an interesting history!)
BTW - my new blog is http://kimberlystrawskahackett2.blogspot.com
I get bored easily ;)
Happy Thursday!
Oh,kj, I thought you were teasing because the content of my post was a little different... This is my active blogsite: http://margaretpanpipes.blogspot.com. I have an inactive site called "What the Owl Told Me" which I had originally started to review books--too hard to keep up! I guess I should figure out how to remove it... So sorry! LOVE, me
ReplyDeleteHi Kimberly~ Great to hear from you again! I visited your new blog--love the design! Very unique and reminds of a college professor's office... Thanks for visiting me--I wrote more on your blog. LOVE, me
ReplyDeleteI love the irony of your son's t-shirt. I remember the Jefferson Airplane song very well and the allusion to the drug culture of that period. It was a song that everyone knew. I love your discussion of Alice in Wonderland and Charles Dodgson and the connection you make between the themes of the Alice story and Black Swan. It is really wonderful. Great old photo of Alice Liddell from the Smithsonian. Glad to know you have a son in college. Very cool.
ReplyDeletexo,
Noelle
Noelle
Thanks, Noelle! You are so supportive! Much love, Margaret
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