|
|
Reel Phallic: Pan’s Peter
or, Finally, a Movie with Swords; I Can Write About Dicks!
By Sam Kuhlmann
I never thought I’d compare myself to Peter Pan. Feather in my cap aside, I’m all man. I drink beer, watch sports and my hygiene is not what you’d call impeccable. So, I hope we can agree that I could never be portrayed by a Mia Farrow; possibly a Sun Yi but that’s an entirely different article. (See our next issue for a review of The Last Samurai called “Me Love You Long Time; Tom Cruise’s Love Affair with a Mirror”–Ed.)
Despite my flagrant manliness, I have recently identified with Peter Pan. I’ve been seeing an older woman. Some maintain that a younger mate will keep one feeling young. Well, that’s backward, because when you are with an older person you are eternally “the young one.” Not that I usually play the mature role in a relationship, but I’ve relished finally having an excuse to act childish. Now I never want to grow up.
I tittered when I saw that a new film version of Peter Pan was to be released this Christmas. “Maybe,” I thought,” I could take my ‘old lady’ to see it and we could sit in the back row pulling tongue the entire show. Shit, I might even go for second base.” I just saw the preview for the forthcoming Peter Pan (2003) movie, and it has dampened that jubilant mood.
Michael Jackson has just been charged with child molestation, and short of earplugs and a blindfold, it is impossible not to be overwhelmed by the media coverage. M.J. is clearly a Peter Pan figure, and seeing the film preview, I was unable to block out the obvious associations. Ah jeez, here goes nothing… the latest Peter Pan film adaptation is an allegory for Michael Jackson’s process of molestation.
Michael Jackson has cultivated a public persona that explicitly borrows from J.M. Barrie’s fictional character, Peter Pan. In the recent television documentary, Living with Michael Jackson (2003), he tells filmmaker, Martin Bashir, “I am Peter Pan.” What is plastic surgery but an attempt to appear young? He lives in a compound named Neverland. All of these examples, along with his speaking voice and his childlike behavior, unarguably connect Michael with the idea of “the child who never grew up,” i.e. Peter Pan. It is impossible to ignore Michael’s current predicament. Because of his affinity with Pan, it will be just as impossible not to watch the movie in that light. We can’t turn the association off any more that a supple prepubescent can turn Michael off.
P.J. Hogan, director of Peter Pan (2003) is not a man to shy away from films with taboo subtext. His 1997 rollicking, romantic-farce My Best Friend’s Wedding was an obvious metaphor for the fortitude required to perform in a Tijuana donkey show. (Julia Roberts was a stand in for the skinny, yet virile colt.) I haven’t seen his new movie yet, but the preview illustrates that he is commenting on Michael Jackson’s sex life. The trailer is rife with phallic symbols. Not only is the phallus one of the easiest shapes to pick out in a piece of visual art, but it’s also easy to mount an interpretation on a phallic symbol. I try to avoid this type of deconstruction so as not to sound like a first year film student, but the truth is, I have never grown out of giggling when the penis comes up. The success of this article will rely heavily on your acceptance of my indulgence in dick jokes.
The first shot of the trailer sets up P.J.’s intentions and themes. We see a toy soldier get knocked over by kids (Wendy and John Darling) playing with toy swords. Sexual deviation permeates the screen. The sword and toy soldier can be seen as phalluses. We have violence, castration, molestation and the fact that the children are siblings pointing towards incest…oh my. This behavior is punished in the next scene when Wendy gets yelled at by her parents, “It’s time for you to grow up.” Next we are introduced to Peter Pan and the voiceover states, “What if you could escape…” Hogan has constructed Michael Jackson’s ideal molestation victim. He wants children that are unhappy with the real world and with their parents. He entices the children and parents with magic fairy dust (aka money), buys the kids toys and sends the families on vacations. The freedom that M.J. impresses his victims with must be akin to Wendy’s first time soaring over the London street and off to Never Never Land (which it turns out, is 3 hours north of Los Angeles).
The sinister sexual overtones are even present in the trailer during the initial encounters between Wendy and Peter. We see Peter romantically whispering into Wendy’s ear, and not innocently like a child, but in a sleazy, soap opera fashion. He tells the pre-teen, “Come with me, where you’ll never, never have to think about grown up things again.” You can almost hear Michael finishing the quote, “because I am going to inflict sexual trauma on you that will scar you for life. You will not be able to relate to adults on an emotional level, and sexually, you will most likely repeat these offenses upon others.” I think we can all see what Peter means by “grown up things”, that is “things” with pubes.
At this point, the trailer delves deeper into the evil that occurs in Never Never Land. Wendy decides to join Peter and flies away. The first shot of Never Never Land is menacing. Lightning flashes and thunder rolls as some chilling music begins. The entire screen is grey, a pirate ship encrusted in dirty ice, which starts to crack, is a disturbing visual metaphor for the uninvited loss of virginity. Never Never Land is not as Pan promised. M.J.’s hands just wandered into a pair of Underoos.
At this point P.J. Hogan complicates and deepens his representation of Jackson. Now that Michael has had a sexual encounter with his victim, he not only has an affinity with the romantic Peter Pan but also the sinister Captain Hook. In this interpretation, Hook represents the monster that is created when a child is mistreated. Michael Jackson didn’t have the ideal childhood; it is common knowledge that his father abused him. These scars, like Hook’s missing hand, have contributed to the evil person that M.J. has become. The Captain harms with his hook and sword, Michael with his deviance and his penis.
The second half of the trailer is, in effect, a rape. These shots are full of violence, frightened children, a rapturous Hook and sword fights. One six-shot montage perfectly exhibits Michael’s dual personality (manifested in Pan and Hook), his nefarious intentions and the aforementioned rape. We first see a close-up of Hook’s eyes, seductively scanning. Peter floats in a corner with a similar look on his face, ready to pounce, as Wendy lies prone on the floor. Back in the corner, he swoops down in Wendy’s direction, something akin to a sexual move. After that we see a shot in which water is the predominant image, indicating a sexual stimulation or a release. The aftermath of the rape is represented in a skeleton image that evokes the emotional death that the victim has experienced.
The shots speed up as the end of the trailer nears, culminating in an exhilarating climax. They combine to form a nightmaric vision of molestation. Swords swing and chop at trees, other swords and little children. Boys are snared with ropes and chained up. The music swells. A gun explosion evokes ejaculation. This is a kid’s movie, however. Wendy and her brothers will escape Captain Hook, and they will be able to forget Never Never Land. Michael’s victims won’t have that luxury. Luxury, yes, once that settlement comes in, but they won’t forget. How can you forget when you have hooks instead of hands?
So I don’t think I’ll push for the Peter Pan makeout session. Michael Jackson has screwed that one up for me, kind of like when I thought it’d be a good idea to wear one sequined white glove to school in the 3rd grade, thanks Mike… Fuck it, I don’t want to let pop stars run my life any longer–pass me those green tights, let’s prance.
|
Volume 2, Issue 1 contents |
|
|
