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Peter Pan, Existentialist Fairy Tale? (2017)

by fnwk on 9/7/21, 6:51 AM with 15 comments

  • by dragontamer on 9/9/21, 8:07 PM

    Children getting whisked away by a handsome protagonist and his magical sidekick to fight against "cool things" like pirates and mermaids in a world unlike our own?

    Its an Isekai.

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    Isekai is this modern trend in anime (and US movies sometimes!! Like Ready Player One), where characters are sent to another world. Sometimes due to death explicitly ("Reincarnated in a New World" plotline: like "I'm a Spider So What"), sometimes just "temporarily" transported (Sword Art Online / Ready Player One, they are "just" playing a video game).

    From an "Isekai" perspective: people want two things.

    1. A world very different from our own. Completely different "physics" or rules. So magic systems, history, culture, etc. etc. that's nothing like our world. Neverland easily qualifies.

    2. A character who explores the new world from our perspective. The main character is always someone "like the audience", who can be ignorant about the new world. (The various characters the protagonist meets are therefore given an opportunity to explain the world to the newcomer, allowing the audience to learn about the world in a natural manner). In Peter Pan, Wendy is the Isekai protagonist.

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    Alice in Wonderland, Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Wizard of Oz, A Lion, A Witch, and the Wardrobe. The concept happens again and again as a pattern, because its a good framing device. I'm not sure if Peter Pan can be seen as an allegory of death necessarily, any more than "I'm a Spider, so What?" (2021 Anime) could be.

    The children are... children... because the main character often should match the profile of the target audience. Not always, but its a good rule of thumb to keep. Children stories will therefore have child-protagonists more often than not (Polar Express, Lion Witch Wardrobe, Harry Potter). There are exceptions (Peanuts has child protagonists but is largely written for an adult audience), but its just the rule of thumb authors seem to use.

  • by cstross on 9/9/21, 5:47 PM

    Existentialism aside, it's impossible for a modern viewpoint to make sense of "Peter and Wendy" without knowing that at the turn of the 19th/20th century in the UK, infant mortality before age 5 was around 20%, and this was down considerably from infant mortality in previous centuries, as the germ theory of disease and safety consciousness made in-roads against a number of scourges, from whooping cough and mumps (there's a reason we have childhood vaccines!) to formaldehyde-contaminated butter and arsenical clothing dyes.

    Hence the need for a childrens tale to explain to the little ones why their infant brothers or sisters weren't coming home from the hospital: it was something most families grappled with, and "they've gone off with Peter Pan to have adventures beyond the rainbow" is easier on a toddler than confronting them with the enormity of death.

  • by smbv on 9/8/21, 6:36 PM

    Some analysis is lacking (some that things that I'd consider to be important to expand upon are left as is at one sentence, such as the crocodile and the clock), but enjoyable nonetheless. Kudos to you!

  • by ninetenfour on 9/9/21, 5:44 PM

    Peter Pan figures big in Jordan Petersons lectures. Here is one sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-ckxQSutO4