Oh, Alice.

I've never quite known what I think about Alice in Wonderland.  I've loved the idea of it and images from it, but as a child I was confused and sometimes scared by the story.  It has an inherent dark twist that I was never sure how to take.  As a kid, I wondered why the red queen was bad, particularly since she was the Queen of Hearts.  Aren't hearts supposed to be a good thing?  And why would a smart little girl take food and drink from strangers? 

Then, there was the 1985 TV movie full of famous people.  Do y'all remember this?  I watched it because I thought I was supposed to - but it scared me!  And why was there a freaky dragon in this one that wasn't in the animated version? ( I know now - just didn't then)

As an adult, I thought maybe Alice in Wonderland was one of those things that really wasn't supposed to be for the good of children, or was really about getting high and doing bad things, and was just packaged in one of those weird Victorian ways that made it appear to be for children.  I'm very aversed to the dark twisting of things that are to be pure and lovely - so I struggled.

All of this made me enter the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland with great trepidation.  Considering that it was Tim Burton, who I'm still not real sure of, and horribly reviewed - I went because I knew it was important to a friend and because it seemed like something I should like.  Turns out, I really did like it!

To me, this version was about having faith, being the full self you were made to be, and ultimately slaying the dragon.  I found it to be quite full of Christian archetypes in this way.  I think the story of woundedness and forgiveness on behalf of the White Queen is actually quite powerful - even if it could be expanded upon as critics say.  Speaking of woundedness - Depp's Mad Hater does a great job of drawing compassion for those that may no longer really fit in this world, but that we love anyway.  I can see why the critics have said it has a terrible script with such little character development that you don't care what happens.  However, I found the characters to be so well acted with their own little idiosyncrises, that they made me care. 

Was I blown away by it?  Perhaps not.  But I'm certainly glad I went! And, I want Alice's shoes and dresses.  I mean, it's nice that OPI made Alice nail colors and all - but I'd much prefer some blue ribboned ballet flats.

Photos from Alice in Wonderland page on MSN.