Characterization is the process of creating a character a character including words, actions, thoughts, appearances, and other people's thoughts about them.
The character I will be focusing on is Johnny Depp. He has played in many movies such as Edward Scissor Hands, The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, and Alice in Wonderland. For this particular post, I will be taking a look at Johnny Depp and his role in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as he plays the role of Willy Wonka. Like any of Johnny's films, he plays (it seems) a socially awkward individual; yet, is funny and comedic to the audience. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wonka sends out five golden tickets around the world in hopes find a successor or an heir. His journey in finding this sole individual begins when they all enter Willy Wonka's factory (see video).
Actor Johnny Depp
Initially, we notice Wonka's unusual wardrobe. He wears a burgundy coat, a top hat with unusual curves, and walks around with a cane even though he does not have leg problems. This interesting choice in clothing demonstrates his character's uniqueness in a more visual manner. Canes represent power, proving Wonka's authority in the factory. The top hat and coat allude to United States President Abraham Lincoln. These connections draw similar conclusions about Wonka's power. However, it is the color choice that the director chooses in order to distance Wonka from the other characters. Wonka's body language is more visible on his facial expressions (especially in this scene). Children are around him, he seem uncomfortable every time they talk to him. This can be seen by his body language as every time Veruka, Violet, or Augustus come to talk to him, Wonka retracts his body away from them and adjusts his mouth awkwardly. It is difficult to describe facial expression, but with Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, we see each time that he puts on a worried visage. Another aspect to Willy Wonka's character is his persona. We get a sense of his persona with each interaction with the kids. Violet is the first child to approach Wonka and introduces herself. Wonka demonstrates his personality in the way he answers her: "I don't care." We can already tell that Wonka is focused on the tour and the audience can infer that there is a reason to Wonka's madness. He continues by saying "you seem confident and confidence is key" --- kind of a way to prove to the audience that he really might have something planned. After, Veruka introduces herself and Wonka responds: "I always thought Veruka was the name of some type of wart". This demonstrates Wonka's comedic aspect and kind of highlights the whole experience that should be within the factory; that experience being "fun". Augustus is the third child to approach Wonka and Wonka responds sarcastically saying: "I never knew we had so much in common". Although he can be cheerful, he knows his place in the factory and recognizes his authority and aims to use sarcasm to distance himself from Augustus as he was distanced from his father.
After the introductions amongst the characters, Willy Wonka's goals are pretty much clear. Once everyone is settled in, he tries to get the tour moving along. Wonka's intensions become more apparent throughout the movie. He presents each kid with a challenge (essentially) to see how rotten or spoiled they are. He believes that his factory should be run by the purest of souls and for some reason believes that this "pure" kid can only be found through these strange situations. (I guess thats just the power of fiction.) Overall, at the end of the movie, we see that Charlie is the only kid left and is selected to be Wonka's heir to the factory. However, Wonka faces some obstacles in his mission to finding an heir. The director uses flashbacks to demonstrate Wonka's awkwardness but also the reason for his dislike of families. At the beginning of the movie, he couldn't even say the word "parents" because his dad treated him unfairly. The distancing from Wonka's dad allowed for room for Wonka to mature on his own yet lack the understanding of families. This hinders his goals for finding an heir becausee Charlie would only accept becoming the heir if his family could come along. At first, Wonka is reluctant. But when Charlie helped to reunite Wonka and his dad, Wonka saw the warmth that came with a family. Wonka was able to achieve his goal after he had removed the obstacle he had created for himself.
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