this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2023
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Willy Wonka is a true American businessman. A child is about to die horribly and all he can think about is loss of product due to contamination.
Edit: Ok I looked it up since I wasn't sure if Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is set in the US or UK. Apparently it's inspired by factories in the UK but the actual setting in-universe is ambiguous in the original book, though both movies set it in (IIRC) London. Reading it as a kid I definitely imagined it taking place in the US though, not sure why but the story just "sounds" American, what with the copious consumption of sugar and the seemingly total lack of government oversight on businesses.
This is a great example of how America gets pinned for anything remotely “capitalist” just because of feelings. At least you looked this one up.
Exploitative first half of 20th century factory working conditions with steampunk aesthetics scream Britain for me.
Thinking of America just shows that the reader has no proper contextual (historical) knowledge. Britain was on its zenith, literally the first superpower that existed ever. Literally had sway over colonies larger than the US.
Being cocksure and clueless kind of go badly with each other interpreting imaginative work from the last century or before.
I think it was in his biography that he said he dreamed of working at Cadburys, a famous British chocolate company. I'm not 100% if he explicitly and directly connects that back to CatCF though.
tbh, reading it as a British kid, I saw and interpreted lots of allusions to American culture and I think it was intentional. He always seemed a bit of an America- and Anglo-phile, and I definitely saw that in his gun slinging kids and used car salesman father's amongst others.
I like the idea that it's a hefty mix of both!