*sorry for the bad writing / editing, wrote this in a hurry at work* I saw Alice in Wonderland last Saturday and absolutely loved it. I went in expecting just some exciting visuals and interesting characters in an interesting world. I didn't expect to see such powerful underlying themes and a depiction of the psyche similar to the 'mecosystem'.
This is how I understood the story: You first meet the adult Alice in the throws of a controlling, manipulative family bent on marrying her off to a Lord. She shows up at a huge fancy gathering celebrating her engagement to the Lord which she doesn't even know about, only to be clued in by passive aggressive sisters. At the time of the marriage proposal she flee's into the forest to 'think' it over, where she goes back to wonderland.
Wonderland is the quirky world of the psyche where the 'mecosystem' characters have full expression with the 'self'. The Mad Hatter is her 'healthy' false-self. The false-self that arises in defense of the true-self but knows when to relinquish control back to the true-self at the appropriate time. The Hatter easily loses perspective and is prone to losing himself into fits of rage, you see this in his eyes when they change to the reddish color and than back again once he calms. When Alice is in danger of being tracked down by the Red Queens minions he shrinks Alice (the true-self) and hides her in a teapot. For me this is the when we experience the false-self takeover and dominate us for whatever reason. Later after this he recedes his control by saving her by sacrificing himself so she can get away which is why i call him the 'healthy true-self'. (there are various other reasons which ill write up later)
The Red Queen is the destructive false-self. The False-self that takes over and refuses to relinquish control back to the true-self. The rage and pain of this false-self goes on a path of destruction because it has lost its capacity to trust anything but itself. It tries to conform reality to its own perspective. You see this take place by her the minions she surrounds herself with that superficially enlarge their features to fit in with & comfort the Red Queen because of her large head, essentially protecting herself from her Rage.
Another important character is the hookah smoking Caterpillar. He is a wise character that when Alice's identity is in question he answers by tell her she is 'hardly Alice'. He is the small (perhaps incorruptible) part of us that see's reality clearly, and is highly resistant to delusion. He is the real catalyst of transformation and evolution - which is highlighted by the cocooning of himself to become a butterfly as Alice gains courage and makes her way through. This I think its the story's major theme - that real change and growth occurs from the inside out.
Alice is the only one able to defeat the Red Queens fire breathing dragon that is the real mainstay of her power. She must first find this Sword in order to defeat the Dragon. The point of these plot devices is that the power of the true-self is much a like a sword (and suit of armor) - its precise, takes practice and time to wield and use properly. The fire breathing Dragon which is the power of the false-self is pure chaotic fire encompassing destruction of the world around you.
Something of note is the Red Queens anger towards her sister which is the other 'ruler' of the realm. The Red Queen is highly jealous and envious of her sisters ability to gain others acceptance & admiration because of her beauty and charming qualities. What is interesting is that although she is the depicted as an 'exiled ruler' in the story (whom you would imagine to be powerful in someway) is depicted as utterly powerless and incapable of change against the dominating false-self of the Red Queen (which she knows Alice is only capable of exacting).
After Alice defeats the false-self and exiles it - she is able to return to reality where she has no qualms what so over expressing her true-self to her friends and family. She is assertive, confident and courageous. True change occurs from within which can than be exacted with others in the real world.
This movie just seemed so metaphor rich. Im still going over most of the other dynamics in my head - but this is what I've gathered so far from my first viewing. I'm going to go see it again to see what else is there. What are your guy's thoughts?
*Also it is of note that the enlarged Alice is able to gain temporary acceptance from the Red Queen because of the size deformation of her body.