Debate of the Century

[tk149]

Originally posted by: AMDJunkie
In the book, Oompa Loompas are miserable tree dwellers of South Africa (I believe), who have to eat bitter bugs because it's readily available. Willy Wonka had shut down his factory because trade secrets were being leaked by his employees to high-paying competitors. When touring the continent, he met with these people, whose favorite food was the cacao bean. Promising them shelter for predaotrs, elements, and all the cacao they could eat (in chocolate form no less), the leader of the tribe gladly accepts. No workers go in or out of Wonka's factory now, and huge sections of the underground portion of Wonka's factory makes up their city. They're not the property of Wonka, they agree to live as his tenants, therefore, they are not slaves.

I also remember reading that when he approached the village chieftain, the poor chief was eating a bowl of mashed caterpillars and trying not to be sick. 😀 The Oompa Loompas main diet consisted of gross caterpillars and they hated it. When Wonka made his offer, they couldn't agree fast enough.

HERO!

 

[MartyMcFly3]

Originally posted by: Kev
Is this argument really happening?

It was until you killed it.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: Kev
Is this argument really happening?

"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory As a Metaphor for Post-Bellum America - A Discussion of Oompa Loompas and Willy Wonka as a Slave/Master Metaphor for an Agrarian Economy" was my PhD thesis.

rest of thread=Knife/gunfight.

That said, what field? Anthropology?

 

[Chronoshock]

Great thread, I'm going with hero though. Its not like he said he rescued them from a primitive way of life (from which one could draw a comparison to slavery) but he said they were being attacked by things. So he took them to his factory. Now he can't just let them freeload, so offers them a job to work in his wondrous chocolate factory. So I suppose a better analogy would be indentured servantism...I dunno

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: Kev
Is this argument really happening?

"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory As a Metaphor for Post-Bellum America - A Discussion of Oompa Loompas and Willy Wonka as a Slave/Master Metaphor for an Agrarian Economy" was my PhD thesis.

LOL, that's great, but the setting was 1930s England. This is a cool discussion too IMO. But Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was the movie. The book (a must read) is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It paints (believe it or not) an extremely interesting picture of 1930s England and its social and economic stratifications during the Depression.
Charlie's family was dirt poor, living in a one-room shack with his parents and all 4 bed-ridden grandparents, and eating dishwater soup. Wonka is the fabulously wealthy factory owner who provides no jobs in town because he employs illegal aliens in a slave-like fashion (described in the original 1964 printing as black pygmies from the "deepest and darkest part of the African jungle where no white man had ever been before").
Was he a slaveowner? I think so. But he redeems himself by using the contest as a ruse in order to give his factory and wealth to the poorest yet worthiest boy in town. Which is, essentially, the moral of the whole story.

 

[Kaido]

I didn't feel like reading the whole thread, but if it hasn't been confirmed, I'll do it:

Oompa-loompas are scary

 

[Slacker]

It is a work of fiction, therefore it is open to interpretation. Take a good look at your interpretation and try to understand why you see it the way you do. This isnt about slavery or benevolence, it is about who you are and how you think. There is a reason you see it the way you do.

 

[jtusa]

I still say Hero, not slave owner. FallenHero's theories are incorrect. 🙂

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: MartyMcFly3
This started out as a conversation on AIM with a friend from home and now its turned into a heated debate.

I was talking to a friend about the movie, and she said that oompa loompas were scary. I replied with "How are they scary? They were slaves... Wonka took them in his care.. gave them jobs and a place to sleep".
She responds with "but they are orange... thats creepy" To which i said "Wonka is like the abraham lincoln of that area... people discriminated against BLACK people because they were a color."

So now i see it as Oompa Loompas represent the end of slavery and trying to become equals but the parents/kids thought they were weird and creepy because they were different... so there's the discrimination... all the oompa loompas want to do is do their jobs. I mean Wonka rescued them from a threat (cant remember the crazy names he used in the story) and he helped them escape... he's like Harriet Tubman+Abraham Lincoln+a Weird Candy Guy who sings.

This is where the debate comes in. A lot of people (Fallenhero and most of the results after googling) see Willy Wonka as a slave owner. This isnt the case... he's providing them employment... look how important his Wonka chocolate is to the world... The oompa loompa's are in charge of making the best chocolate in the world. Also, If they were slaves they wouldnt wear the exact same thing... its called a uniform. Most companies (think retail) require some type of uniform...

And i mean, yeah they sing while working (another slaves reference) but thats because wonka lets them do what they want with the exception of the stuff in their job descriptions. Actually, only the security ones sing, the one's that enforce Wonka's rules. Considering that Wonka is such a private person, they dont really have much security matters at hand, so they have to do something to pass the time. Only employees would be breaking the rules. Besides, the only rules really being enforced are moral rules (don't be a glutton, don't be greedy, don't steal stuff).

If this isnt enough, Wonka has a top-hat like Lincoln. End of story.

Cliffs Notes:
If you dont read the above the cliffs notes wouldnt make sense.

oh man, you smoked some good weed

 

[tm37]

Originally posted by: jagec
read the book, I'm pretty sure it was more specific.

Besides, books are always, always better than movies.

You know why the movie was better?


No reading

 

[JoeKing]

I don't know, but I found a green pubic hair in my last Wonka bar and I'm pissed :|

 

[MartyMcFly3]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: MartyMcFly3
This started out as a conversation on AIM with a friend from home and now its turned into a heated debate.

I was talking to a friend about the movie, and she said that oompa loompas were scary. I replied with "How are they scary? They were slaves... Wonka took them in his care.. gave them jobs and a place to sleep".
She responds with "but they are orange... thats creepy" To which i said "Wonka is like the abraham lincoln of that area... people discriminated against BLACK people because they were a color."

So now i see it as Oompa Loompas represent the end of slavery and trying to become equals but the parents/kids thought they were weird and creepy because they were different... so there's the discrimination... all the oompa loompas want to do is do their jobs. I mean Wonka rescued them from a threat (cant remember the crazy names he used in the story) and he helped them escape... he's like Harriet Tubman+Abraham Lincoln+a Weird Candy Guy who sings.

This is where the debate comes in. A lot of people (Fallenhero and most of the results after googling) see Willy Wonka as a slave owner. This isnt the case... he's providing them employment... look how important his Wonka chocolate is to the world... The oompa loompa's are in charge of making the best chocolate in the world. Also, If they were slaves they wouldnt wear the exact same thing... its called a uniform. Most companies (think retail) require some type of uniform...

And i mean, yeah they sing while working (another slaves reference) but thats because wonka lets them do what they want with the exception of the stuff in their job descriptions. Actually, only the security ones sing, the one's that enforce Wonka's rules. Considering that Wonka is such a private person, they dont really have much security matters at hand, so they have to do something to pass the time. Only employees would be breaking the rules. Besides, the only rules really being enforced are moral rules (don't be a glutton, don't be greedy, don't steal stuff).

If this isnt enough, Wonka has a top-hat like Lincoln. End of story.

Cliffs Notes:
If you dont read the above the cliffs notes wouldnt make sense.

oh man, you smoked some good weed

No. I was tired and it makes sense. There's a difference.