Fairy Tale Spotlight: Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz

[Some spoilers included.]

This is actually a review of the book published in 1929. "Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz" is the 23rd book in the Oz series and it is also the most recent one that I have read. Not to brag, but I have actually read all 23 books up to this point, and I really do like them. I mean... sure... there are some duds in the bunch, but I am happy to say that this one was one of the better ones.

Now, if Jack Pumpkinhead sounds familiar, he was featured in the Disney film "Return to Oz." That was actually a very good representation of him. He is rather cobbled together with sticks with a pumpkinhead shoved onto a spike at his top. The poor fellow is barely put together well, and he does often fall to pieces when jostled too much.

By the 23rd book, he is no better constructed, but his personality has changed a bit. He tends to be more snarky when he talks. This is actually the fault of the author Ruth Plumly Thompson. Jack is not very smart. He comes across as a person with special needs. But when Ruth took over the character, she made him lean towards sarcasm. Granted that the sarcasm seemed based in ignorance, it still seemed off the beaten path of what L. Frank Baum had intended for the character.

Nevertheless, I love this book. Although rare, it was a boy traveling to Oz this time. His name was Peter, and he had been there before a couple books back. Ruth always respected boy protagonist and did not surround them with girly things. Generally Peter's plotlines had more to do with fighting and war-themed quests.

The villain in this story, Mogodore, was one of the few who actually managed to conquer the Emerald City in the series' history. It was up to Peter and Jack to save Oz from this man's treachery.

Along the way, Peter and Jack came across a couple of other fun characters. My favorite was Sniff the Iffin. Sniff was actually a griffin that got so scarred that he lost his "Gr" and so just became an Iffin. That pun was taken a bit further in that, because he was an Iffin, he would always ask, "What if this, and what if that?" And so he became something of a philosopher. I actually love this character. Like deeply. I deeply love him. He was such a sweetheart.

Another fun character was Belfaygor of Bourne who had accidently cursed himself so that his beard would never stop growing. It was so bad that if he would ever sleep within a room, the beard would fill the room overnight and suffocate him by morning. Throughout the story, he was constantly clipping at it nonstop. The characters charmingly found multiple uses for this beard such as making bridges and ladders out of it.

"Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz" is a solid Ruth Plumly Thompson Oz book. Despite Jack's unfortunate snark, he was still very entertaining. This goes down as one of my favorite Oz books, and it concludes wonderfully as well. If you are interested in reading it, a lot of the later Oz books are a bit difficult to come by. At this point, I would just find them anyway you can. Enjoy.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Car [1977 Film]

[Blog contains some spoilers.]

Here is a movie my fellow author Shawn O'Toole had been recommending that I watch for years. We finally did something of an unofficial trade the other day. I watched The Car while he watched The Peanut Butter Solution. It was all in good fun, mind you. But after finally seeing The Car for the first time, I actually felt bad that I had not seen it sooner. There are only a handful of movies I would give a perfect score to... and The Car is one of them.

The Car is a 1977 film about a driverless, demon-possessed car that is murdering people. When I first heard about it, I actually thought it was more of a 50's or 60's film that was created as horror fluff for drive-in movies. Boy was I wrong. Leave it to the 70's to make a silly idea awesome. I've seen it happen time and time again.

Every detail of this movie is taken so seriously that I had no choice but to do the same. The car itself was not just some random vehicle. They custom built the thing in order for it to seem familiar yet somehow alien. The idea was perhaps to let you know that this thing isn't normal. For example, the doors have no perceivable way to open them. The sides are pretty flush and smooth all the way across, almost giving the illusion that there aren't actually any doors there. The headlights seem particularly small surrounded by a huge bumper and a perfectly square grill. The effect makes it look like some sort of creature that's staring at you. The windows are tinted in red (although sometimes they looked gold to me.)

The car had it's own language. It had 2 main horn honks that it would do. It did a rapid fire "BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!" when it was taunting its oppressors. Once it killed someone it had a sort of four-beep laugh, "BEEP - BEEP BEEP BEEP!" I know it seems silly but the effect was actually a bit terrifying.

The people of the town acted realistically to the strange phenomenon. Everyone was convinced that this was the act of some murderer who was driving the car. It wasn't true, of course. It was the car itself by dint of the thing that was possessing it that was doing it. One of the main points of the film was the concept of how difficult it is for people to believe in such things. It actually makes it hard to fight supernatural beings if you can't bring yourself to see what's right in front of you. This is a point I have brought up a few times in these blogs.

I also want to mention the fact that this car would become particularly aggressive towards those who insulted it. Yes, it would kill indiscriminately, but if you went out of your way to mock it, it would go out of its way to slaughter you. There was a sort of hatred there that was barely noticeable, but the subtlety of it made it seem real and powerful.

I don't really want to spoil anymore then that. I do, however, want to say that this movie was panned by critics for having a silly plot and bad acting. I completely disagree. In fact, I'd go so far as to call it a perfect movie. I rarely say this. Even my favorite movie of all time [The Black Hole] is still flawed. The Car was perfectly presented. The acting was phenomenal, even by today's standards. The characters felt real, and the car itself was perfectly terrifying for what it was. Highly recommend!

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: A Personal Analysis of Prayer

I have never really been that into praying or prayer in general. I didn't have anything against it per se, but it was mainly because I didn't really understand why people did it or why they should do it. I did accept that it was something found within the Holy Bible, but I tend to research one thing while endlessly sparing another from my view.

Recent events in history have made me reconsider what prayer is, and I knew it was going to come with a determination on whether I would be doing it or not. I had to weigh a lot of things concerning the act. I don't like performing any sort of rite that I have not personally put a lot of thought into. I have to know what I am doing... or at the very least... think I know what I am doing. Whether right or wrong, I have to have personal confidence in myself before I preach and also practice what I am preaching.

My concern for prayer was that it seemed that many people prayed because they wanted something. Even if the prayer was supposedly selfless, it could still feel like some sort off divine virtue signaling. I used to know a guy who openly (verbally) blessed evil people because it made him feel better than the evil person. We may talk about the word "bless" later, but the point is that he wasn't really doing anything good for anybody but himself.

I am sorry to say that I have struggled with the very concept of prayer for nearly my entire life. The few times I remember praying, I did so to absolve myself of a sin I committed only moments before doing so. That doesn't seem right to me now. I don't want to pray simply because I feel like I should. If I am going to do it, it has to be for the right reasons. But to understand the right reasons, I need to know why we should pray at all.

Another problem with myself is that a number of times I prayed I did so extremely emotionally. I cried out to God as tears fell from my eyes. It felt like the right thing to do at the time, but I look back on it and it just doesn't seem like I was really doing anything other than venting my sorrows to God with a few requests thrown in. It may not have been to the degree of divine virtue signaling, but it also seemed to me to be a tad redundant. I could have just as easily screamed into a pillow. I'm not sure God really wants to hear me wail like that. I sure wouldn't.

Now, I did figure some things out for myself... and I did pray recently. I did so in a very specific way, and I do want to explain it and why I did it. I want to explain it because I feel the need to publish my own personal findings on theological concepts on this blog when I find them out. But there is no escaping it: This blog is going to seem like I am being braggadocious about the fact that I pray at all. I shall politely ask you to attempt to look past that and simply read what I have to say. There may be some insight somewhere in this thing.

When I prayed recently, I did so in the stereotypical manner seen in paintings, drawings, and in some television shows. I knelt on the floor and pressed my hands together. I closed my eyes, bowed my head, and then I began to pray. There was a reason for me to adopt this position, but before I explain why, I need to give a personal opinion about prayer itself. That opinion is this: I think we can pray to God in any position we happen to be in. Ever since the curtain of the temple of ripped, we should have open communication to God. So if you are more the type who likes to God to him while making food or using the toilet, then I don't see how its necessarily invalidated.

So now back to the kneeling thing.

I am a bit overweight. It was not easy to kneel. Let's be honest. King Leonidas in the movie "300" was not just joking around. Kneeling is brutal on the knees especially when you are putting unnecessary weight on them. But this was the position I chose. I placed a pillow under my knees to help out with the pain [It did not really help at all.], and I leaned slightly over my bed as my hands were placed together. I also let my elbows rest upon the bed. This made the whole experience a bit easier to cope with.

I won't be telling you what I prayed about. That is between me and God. But I do want to explain why I chose this very common position. Before I made the decision, I considered this pose within my mind. I was showering actually. I was trying to figure out why that position was rather popularized in art and fiction. To paint the picture, I need you to use your imagination as I describe something.

Imagine a large room with many soldiers standing guard. At the back of the room is a very large throne. In this throne is essentially someone who rules over you... and you are standing before him. This ruler is supreme and can do whatever he wishes to you, but he has, for the time being, allowed you to do whatever you want while in his presence.

Now, you could just ask him for something. He'll let you do that, but let's do something a bit kinky first. We're going to kneel. We're going to kneel down onto our knees. And from there, we are going to press our hands together with our heads bowed. A funny thing happens when we do this thing. A spear lightly presses into our backs, a chain appears around our wrists keeping our hands together, and a little trickle of blood drips from our bowed head. "Why is that happening?" you may wonder. Well... it's not. As a matter of fact, you're perfectly free to stand up any time you choose.

I began to see that the very act of prayer can be a personal choice to subjugate oneself before someone greater than you. It is as if to say, "I am humbled in your presence. I am so far below you that I do not deserve the privilege that you have given me. I am but a man... and you are God." This position seems to symbolize ones true place in the universe in relation to God, and it is 100% optional. No pressure.

But I felt like I really did need to be humble if I was going to ask anything of God. And when I did ask something of him, I tried my best to be as intellectual as I could about it while still being a little bit spontaneous. I wanted to be calm. I wanted to be able to express myself so that I could understand what I was even doing.

Understand that I didn't kneel because it was painful. Honestly, it was painful because I eat too many sweets. I did it because I wanted to humble myself before God before I even began to make any sort of plea. And that is, in a nutshell, my insight into prayer. Yours may be different. I don't really know if I got it right. Either way, I have no regrets. After all... it was not for a lack of trying.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Peanut Butter Solution [1985 Film]

There are a number of scenes from movies that I remember as a kid, but some of them never had titles attached to them. For as long as I can remember, there was this odd scene about a child meeting a pair of ghosts. They explain to the kid that they can make as much noise as they want because nobody will hear them unless they are seen. They then proceeded to slam cabinet doors while the kid's eyes were closed, proving that they made no noise unless they were looked at while doing it.

As it turns out, the scene came from a 1985 Canadian film called "The Peanut Butter Solution." I recently found out what the name was and went out of my way to watch it... and I loved every single moment of it. Now, here is the weird thing: I actually had this movie spoiled for me before I saw it. When I found the listing for it, I started reading the synopsis which unfortunately spoiled the whole thing. Oddly, I still wanted to see it. The entire plot sounded so bizarre and mixed up that I was having trouble conceiving in my mind that such a movie could even play out properly.

The movie plays something like an odd fever dream. Lynchian at times, but sometimes it feels more like it just dips into the realm of fairy tale. It never quite sticks to reality but still clearly lives in reality. At the beginning we are introduced to the boy and his family. Their mother is far from home, and she is leaving the dad to take care of a boy and a very intelligent daughter. You can relate to this just fine, but the moment things change is when the boy visits a haunted house... and then all of his hair falls out. Nothing goes normal after that.

From there you have encounters with ghosts, an old man who kidnaps children, and a paintbrush that can paint portals to other places. The movie just goes all over the place, but it's good. It's genuinely good, and I can't really give you any reason not to watch it.

Even though I had it spoiled and still enjoyed it, I don't want to do the same thing to you. Just understand that this movie puts you on a journey that is very hard to forget. I kept a single scene in my head for over 30 years. That's saying something.

If you are interested in seeing "The Peanut Butter Solution," there is a very pixilated version available on YouTube; however, you can rent a high quality version on AmazonPrime for $1.99. Watch it from beginning to end. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Pocket Fairylands

What is a pocket fairyland? It refers to another place or even an entire world that exits in either a very small space or where the entrance to that world is found in what one would imagine to be a small contained space. The most obvious example of this would be Narnia, which, in one book, was found by entering into a wardrobe. Don't tell me that isn't awesome!

I've seen and read about multiple versions of this sort of phenomenon. My favorite is probably the Nutcracker stories which had the protagonist entering into the fairyland through a grandfather clock. Star Wars did something similar with Luke when he went into a cave and appeared to find another world inside of it, although he did not stay there very long.

I like this idea a lot. I enjoy the thought of looking at a cabinet in my kitchen and imagining that it leads somewhere fantastic somehow. I fiddled with the idea of it back when I was writing my book "A Wolf in My Bedroom." It was never implemented in the story, but I originally imagined that the wolf was from a fairyland that could be accessed by crawling through a log within a forest. Unsurprisingly, I ended up dropping the entire fairyland idea for that story in order to make it into more of a modern day interpretation of "Little Red Riding Hood."

The whole concept of pocket fairylands gives me a thrill. It seems to make a bit more sense then how Oz is explained. This world is merely on a different frequency. It is layered over or under the one we exist on. These entryways merely serve as a frequency changing portal between the two realms. You're still technically embodying the same space, but nobody would be able to see or interact with you but for those who are within the same realm.

Where it is true that these fairylands are not really pocket-sized, the idea of going into a small place and ending up in the very large place still seems to make the word make sense. It's also just a fun term to use, in my opinion. But think back to the many fairy tales you have read and seen. How many times have you encountered a pocket fairyland, and also have you imagined one for yourself? Let me know!

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Where is Oz?

I'm happy to say that I am still reading the Oz books. I took a long break. I wasn't actually reading any books at all. But now that I have gotten back into the swing of things, I went back to the book I had left off on for over 2 years: "Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz." Good grief. Is that really the 23rd book in the series? How many puns does that add up to? Anyways, I'll write a review for it later. For now, I want to talk about something else.

Where exactly is Oz in relation to the Earth we know? That is the question. It is a very pertinent question that I do have an answer to... sort of.

So if you look at the map of Earth, you will see all the continents and oceans, but what you will not see is the land of Oz, Ev, and all the other places written about by L. Frank Baum. But according to the lore as well as the lore of many fairylands like Oz, when you look up into the sky and see the moon, you are seeing the same moon in Oz that people in America or Europe see. Where is Oz then? It is located precisely on Planet Earth.

Now, if you were to see the map of Oz as well as the surrounding lands, you might think such a thing would be impossible. After all, we are assuming that Oz is merely uncharted. If it is merely uncharted, how could it possibly fit in the map we already have. Even by the early 1900s, the world map was pretty full up. It hasn't changed too much since then.

Well, when it comes to Oz, the whole idea of it is that it is perfectly hidden from the rest of the world. Therefore there would be no way it would end up on the map to begin with. Nobody found it, and those who ended up there were never sure exactly how they got there. But what about the map? How in the world could Oz fit anywhere in our already drawn up map? Simple answer: It does, but we just never drew it that way.

In reality, if we started to come across the magical fairyland of Oz, we would, for whatever reason, just miss it. We'd either turn around or just not see it outright. It's there. It takes up space, but we never see or find it. Oz is enchanted, you see. It's not something people are allowed to see. But if you were to find a way there, you'd still be somewhere on Earth. But where? Where on Earth?

Quick answer: America. USA to be precise.

Oz is most certainly located somewhere within the United States of America. It was intended from the beginning that Oz was a purely American fairy tale. It is something that belongs to us, and we should take that very seriously. Now, I cannot say what state Oz would be in. I know a lot of people might assume Kansas to be a major contender, but there is not enough evidence pointing towards that. Children from all over the US ended up in Oz, so there really is no telling where it could be.

Whatever the case, once you get to Oz, it is a very large and fascinating place to explore. And yes, I know it doesn't seem to fit within the confines of our map, but if it's really as hidden as the books suggest... how would we ever really know?

Of course, this is all speculation about a work of fiction. I hope you enjoyed it. But at the very least it will give you some insight into how fairylands can work, and the fairyland of Oz will always be one of the most fascinating. It is at its heart, a great, big, American adventure story set in our very own American fairyland. God bless L. Frank Baum for giving us this wonderful gift.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Point (1971 Film)

[This blog includes a lot of spoilers for this movie, but quite a bit of it is held back.]

Back when I was very young, most of the movies I watched were recorded onto BetaMax tapes from TV. They were almost always 70's films, and I would watch them over and over as I saw fit. Lately, I've been trying to rediscover these movies to see if they hold my attention to this day. Sometimes that is a difficult proposition since maturity can rather mess up the fascination we held as a child, but I am happy that the movie of this blog still managed to make me smile.

The Point is an animated movie made in 1971 about a city where everything had to have a point of some kind. Like... a physical point. Even their heads all had points on them. The story centers around the character Oblio who was born with a rounded head which made him different than anyone else in the city. This naturally turned a lot of heads and made him something of a spectacle.

What's interesting about this movie is it seems like it's about to get very political, and maybe that was the "point," but I find myself not really getting political vibes with this movie. As it turned out, everyone in the city liked Oblio and so just let him be who he was. Even so, Oblio would always wear a pointed cap, if anything just so he could fit in with everyone. Nobody was really bothered either way.

Still, there was a villain who did not like him and managed to convince the king that Oblio did not belong, and that there was a law that explicitly said that everyone should have a point. The king who really liked Oblio was conflicted over this but the phrase "The law is the law." kept being repeated to him, which led to the poor boy's banishment to a place called "The Pointless Forest."

At this point the fairy tale aspects of the movie really ramp up. It begins to feel a bit more like Oz here, and I was very pleased with what the boy found there. Without spoiling the whole experience, the boy ends up seeing a lot of strange thing which seem to be random and... pointless. But this boy... Let me tell you about this boy. Oblio has this curious way of examining the world.

Oblio is not really a very emotional boy. He is constantly trying to figure the puzzles out in this world. I was stunned with the conclusions that were coming to him as he was seeing, what looked to me, to be seemingly random nonsense within the Pointless Forest. It was at this point that I felt like I understood what he was doing. This little prodigy was high-priesting... and in a fairy environment no less.

I don't want to spoil the ending or the main encounters in the Pointless Forest. I actually do recommend the movie. They are all entertaining in their own way, and there are a lot of them. I do want to point out some other things though.

Oblio does have a canine companion: a pointy dog named Arrow. He is super cute and makes the film more charming. There are also a number of very strange musical segments where the film falls into some very surreal imagery... like Yellow Submarine surreal. I like them, but I don't fully understand them. Some of the images are a bit disturbing as well, but nothing too bad. It was the early 70's, man.

If you are interested in seeing this film, it is completely free on Amazon Prime Video, but you can also just pull the entire thing up on YouTube. It is about an hour long. The first part of the film feels like it is more for children, and it might be somewhat hard for you to watch. However when the kid hits the Pointless Forest, it gets extremely interesting. I consider this to be a good movie that doesn't try too hard to shove any "points" into your face too hard. And I love the main character for who he is. At the end of the day, he really was his own person, and that's why I have a lot of respect for little Oblio.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Animal Farm

"Animal Farm" is a novella written by George Orwell and published way back in 1945. It is an allegorical story reflecting the Russian Revolution of 1917, portrayed by the animals of a farm rebelling against the human farmer who ran it. Orwell originally pitched the story as "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story." I guess that makes this about as an appropriate book to review on this blog as ever.

I hate to be a downer, but this was a rough story to read. Then again... the Russian Revolution led to the dictatorship of Stalin. There was little chance that this story was going to be anything but depressing. I don't want to spoil the whole thing. I actually do recommend it. Socialist revolutions are just nasty things that only serve to inadvertently put corrupt people into power. This is a story about betrayal and broken dreams.

The story is mainly about how a pig named Napoleon manipulates the rest of the animals on a farm into becoming envious of their human owner. They rebel against the farmer and take over the farm. Everything after this is just a sad downward spiral of one terrible thing after another.

The worst thing about this book has to do with the poor ignorant animals who allow this pig to manipulate them. They put all of their hopes and dreams into him, and he proved that he never cared about them to begin with. It is a difficult story to soak up.

I agree with Orwell that it fits the criteria of a fairy story. This became very clear by the very end of it. There is something magical happening in this story with the talking animals. He made it clear that they were feral but somehow gained the ability to do human-like things. I've seen similar things occur in the Oz stories. I find the concept very entertaining.

Despite much of these fairy animal types being very amusing, for every enjoyable thing this story provides, it will pass along eight negatives to sully the good feelings. It is a heart breaking book, but one that I believe needs to be read. I do recommend it as a cleverly written cautionary tale. Things like this should never happen on Earth. We should do our very best to prevent it.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Rogue

So funny thing: I've recently gotten into lockpicking. I'm not the best at it, but I find myself getting more and more into it as the days go by. The very first time I picked open my first lock, there was a thrill to it. Honestly, when my first lock opened, I was not sure exactly what I did. That's usually how it goes. I figure out the technique later.

Of course, I am not advocating anything illegal here. It's just a little hobby of mine. If anything, I'd be able to get back into the house if I got locked out. But there really is a thrill to is, and I actually find the act of opening a lock the wrong way very relaxing. It's turned into a bit of a fidget thing with me.

There is something odd about opening a lock without a key. It feels like you are being incredibly sneaky. I think this is why rogues in stories are so fascinating. They seem to have a way of getting around without the usual authority to do so. They seem to function on their own authority. It's rather exciting.

We see these heroes or villains often wearing some sort of cloak. They might be more likely to wield a dagger rather than a sword. Naturally a rogue makes a good assassin. They have to pick your lock before they go in and kill you. There is also, of course, the thief. These are all mainstays in popular fiction.

One thing I have learned from studying lockpicking is that there is no lock that cannot be opened as long as you have the proper skill for it. Locks do vary in difficulty. It takes a combination of practice, skill, and the proper tools to get into the most difficult locks. I was surprised that between the few locks that I have, every one of them required a different type of pick and tension bar.

One downside for me is that learning how lockpicking works has ruined some of the silly lockpicking minigames in popular video games. I have to roll my eyes at them. They are ridiculous to all but the ignorant of real lockpicking. But I can still get a chuckle out of it regardless.

I would not call me an actual rogue. My skill level in such things are still lacking, and I doubt I'll ever really be that sneaky, but like I said... it's a hobby. It's just a little something I added to my life to make it more interesting... and then I thought I'd write a blog about it. That's all.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Cyrano de Bergerac (The 1950 Movie)

Old plays can be hard to read. Old English or English written in a poetic way can boggle the mind and make you wonder what on Earth you just read. I actually loved reading the Edmond Rostand play of "Cyrano de Bergerac." Even translated from French, it still had all that old English writing in it, and there were times that I got a little stumped on what exactly happened, but as a reader of the classics, I wasn't that bad off.

But if you have difficulties with that sort of writing, I might guide you over to the official movie made in 1950. Although filmed entirely in black and white, the movie follows the play very closely. They still opted entirely for the old English, but being able to see everything in action is a great help.

The movie allows you to see Cyrano for who he is. You can visually explore him for both his flamboyancies, his triumphs, and his weaknesses. It's all there, and very well displayed with movie magic. The language used in the film is still sometimes hard to understand, but the pantomime that goes along with it provides good context for it all. I would say that it is a good introduction into the play, but the reading of it is still highly recommended.

One of the reasons for the latter statement is that you will still get more fulfillment from reading his words. On the screen, much of what he says can be fleeting if you perchance blink or get slightly distracted at just the wrong moment. Although it is fun to see how cavalier he can be in person, there is a reason, a very personal reason, why he acts the way he does. And I personally believe that Cyrano is someone who should be heavily understood on a deep level if you are to properly appreciate him.

I see the 1950 movie as a compliment to the reading of the play. It will certainly place better context on the goings on of the story, but to understand Cyrano the best, you must read his words. You must come to understand that this man was entirely his own man... and there have been so very few men in history that can lay claim to that.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!