“Enchanted”, a Wonderful Movie

Wow, who ever expected an intelligent Screen Play from Hollywood, or even that great Production Number in the Park (which is arguably the best Production Number in the History of Film)?

What we have is Platonic Philosophy laid out before us. The Animated Characters are Ideals – figures from the Pure Logos. Their being drawn in 2-dimensions simply accentuates their Perfection – they are not complex – they are Perfect, and a certain simplicity goes along with that.

Also, on another level, the Movie contrasts Animated Moral Ideals with the shady grey ethics of the Real World.

What makes the Movie so interesting is that there are seven main characters, and non of them are left out in terms of Dramatic Composition – they are all measured morally and existentially against the standards of both Reality and the Platonic Perfection of the Animated Fantastic ‘Logos’. If one pays attention then most of these characters have a distinct ‘Epiphany’ – a deep transformation in their moral-existential relationship to both themselves and the World. And then we have the first actions as a new being – the Characters are Changed and then we see the products of this change.

The Patrick Dempsey character was pessimistic and materialistic, but almost from the first was attracted to idealism, though feeling a great deal of emotional inertia in not relinquishing his hopelessness. We see his epiphany when he finally sings to the Girl, and his first New Action in giving himself to “true love”.

Patrick Dempsey’s original ‘girl friend’ was in her heart a born ‘idealist’ though cognizant of all the disappointments of the Real World, which it was in her very nature to forgive and forget. She had been forced by circumstances to accept a flawed world and a flawed boyfriend, but found something better by the end.

The Prince was Perfect. He was a moral ideal, and upheld Goodness. He was aware of Evil, but not from within himself. He had sword and drew it against Evil, or what he thought was evil, at every opportunity. But his problem was narcissism – he related everything to himself. What the Movie did with this, as a dramatic device, was it made the Prince understand the Shattering Chipmunk only in terms of himself, and therefore wrongly. Only when the Prince was able to perceive Empathetically and Sympathetically beyond himself, was he able to understand the Chipmunk. The portrayal of the Prince was rather touching. He DID love the Girl, and his only shortfall from True Love was that it was not requited. But it was this Love for the Girl that awoke his Empathy and which brought him out of what had been a virtually perfect Narcissistic Autism. Even as Patrick Dempsey’s kiss was proving True Love with his fiancé, he was smiling in true relief that she was okay and going to be happy. Not only was he an Ideal Guy, but he was a nice guy.

The Queen’s Lacky was an interesting character. In the Animated Logos he was apparently content to be the Servant of Evil Forces – in a Black and White realm, he was black and accepted it unreflectively. But in the Real World he recognized his Moral inferiority to the Prince, whom he was assigned to shadow.

The Girl’s Character is perhaps the most complex, and her transformation perhaps most surprising. You see, she had been entirely happy and unified in a state of unblemished Goodness. At first she did not even have the capacity to suspect Evil or even ill-intent. So Her Story is the Creation Story – the Garden of Eden all over again, but this time her Knowledge of Good and Evil were hailed a good thing. Her ability to Discern Good and Evil were seen as a Plus. But being able to Perceive Evil, still she was able to keep her original Moral Center. She did not become Evil for being able to see Evil.

The little Chipmunk. A great character. In every case the power and effect generated by that little creature were out of all proportion to its relatively small size. So this made that little Chipmunk the Angel Figure – the Divine Element – the Holy Spirit of the Story. Oh, in the middle of the movie, the little Chipmunk was even shown as the Crucified Christ. In the dynamics of the Movie’s Plot, the shattering of the little Chipmunk had been used as the measure of each Characters Moral and Spiritual Discernment – those who understood the Squirrel, well, that told us of their Moral Development.

And the Musical Score was wonderful. My foot is still tapping and I’m still whistling my head off.