Alice’s Adventures in the House of 1000 Corpses

This is going to be completely unrelated and of hardly any interest to anyone but movie nerds, but it’s been bugging me. It’s my blog after all, so I’ll post whatever I want. Now here is a post about movies.

You may be aware that there has been a recent remake of Alice in Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton, which hit the cinemas last year. I have only recently seen it. The design is incredible, but the kitschy ending somewhat ruined it for me. Anyhow, undoubtedly one of the most memorable parts of the movie is the role of the “Red Queen” aka “Queen of Hearts”. She’s the evil character of the Story, though in a very childlike, vulnerable way.

Now bear with me for a second.
Another movie which I’ve recently seen (again) is The House of 1000 Corpses, a horror flick shot in 2003 by Rob Zombie. It’s a movie about a bunch of teens who get slaughtered by an insane family of murderers and occultists. Here, the most remarkable character of the film is Captain Spaulding, a creepy deranged clown with rotten teeth, played by Sid Haig.
So: Two movies. One a 2010 kid’s movie, the other an R-rated, gory horror flick. Now I’d like you to take a look at the two character’s make-up:

LEFT: The Queen of Hearts, Alice in Wonderland, 2010. RIGHT: Captain Spaulding, The House of 1000 Corpses, 2003.

There’s really only two possible ways to explain this similarity. Either it’s coincidence, and Tim Burton was completely unaware that his wife has just been painted with the make-up of a very famous (albeit fictional) serial killer, or he shot a movie for kids that intentionally contained a reference to an extremely violent and brutal horror film. Both scenarios seem equally unlikely. On the one hand, I just cannot believe that Tim Burton is unaware of the existence of the two Rob Zombie movies for it to be purely coincidental. Plus, just look at it. I mean, it’s the exact same shade of blue, arching up from each eye, until confined by a single black line (same thickness!), while the rest of the face is completely white. Somce coincidence that would be. Did the make-up artist allow himself a joke and Tim Burton didn’t notice? Or is this really Tim Burton giving a nod to Rob Zombie in his version of freakin’ Alice ? That would actually make a lot more sense, except that this is something that might potentially set off the “protect the children!”-reflex of the conservative right, triggering protests, boycotts and attempts at censorship. Why risk that?

Of course I know the correct answer is who gives a fuck?, but for some reason, stuff like this really buggs me.

PS: Other people noticed the make-up, too. This one is also a very nice review of Alice: “this movie is a wonder to look at, but a chore to sit through.” Couldn’t have said it any better.

Quick Update on Personal Stuff

I finished this semester’s last exam today, and now finally have some spare time again which I will not spend learning. Also, all of february will be completely free.

I am sorry to have written pretty much nothing the past weeks – Whenever I had the time, I was too tired or unfocused to produce anything readable. The positive message is that this is not at all due to a lack of inspiration: I have tons of ideas, and now that I will finally get decent amounts of sleep again I’m looking forward to writing again.
February will be a very active time for just a little common sense.

2010 Review And My Plans For The Future

I wrote my very first post in May 2010. Since then, 74 other posts followed and attracted about 70 comments from readers, almost all of which I have answered (124 comments total). So far my blog has been viewed 16.000 times, averaging 63 views per day.

For seven months, that isn’t bad. For a blog that focuses on skepticism and Humanism, it isn’t bad at all. In any case, it certainly beats my expectations.

So, where will I go from here?