1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,400
Hey there, this is MJ.

2
00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:05,920
While I was reading Peter Pan for Fortress Fiction, or listening to it I should say,

3
00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:11,000
I got about four chapters and I thought, this book is so good, it's so interesting, I don't

4
00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,320
just want to talk about it in a single episode later on, I want to talk about it a lot.

5
00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,320
I want to talk about it a minute at a time maybe.

6
00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,840
I'll do shorts talking about it because it's such an interesting book, it's so dense, there's

7
00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:26,240
so much going on, and it's a really weird book because it's written for children, but

8
00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:30,240
it has a very adult perspective, but it's not inappropriate at all, but it does make

9
00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:34,800
reference to things that kids wouldn't get or shouldn't get, and it's really interesting

10
00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,320
the way that it carries itself, the way it presents itself to children.

11
00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:45,800
It's very much like an adult telling these stories to the children, and almost has interactions

12
00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:50,200
like the children are asking questions or wondering about things, and the speaker is

13
00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:55,240
telling them some of the stuff and glossing over other things, and it's really interesting,

14
00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,680
and I don't know, it's a fascinating story so far.

15
00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:08,240
Still, one of the things I find most interesting is the characterization of Mr. or Mrs. Darling,

16
00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:15,840
rather, and the idea that she faintly remembers Peter from her own childhood, and she dismisses

17
00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:22,040
to Wendy that she could have actually met Peter because Peter Pan would be a man now,

18
00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:28,320
and he'd be her age, so I guess he'd be able to be her father if it works that way, but

19
00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:33,560
it doesn't, and Wendy knows somehow that he's not, that he's actually her age and size,

20
00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,960
it says, and that's interesting.

21
00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:40,600
There's other things that I mentioned about how Wendy knows things about Peter or about

22
00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:46,800
the goings on or doings of Peter without really logically being able to understand or be in

23
00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:48,160
a position where she knows about them.

24
00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:52,520
She's pretty sure that he placed his pipes at the foot of her bed or at the window in

25
00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:57,440
the nursery, and she shouldn't know that.

26
00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:01,360
She's been asleep during these things, and yet somehow, magically, she knows about it,

27
00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:02,360
and it's really interesting.

28
00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:07,480
There's a very, I don't know, there's a very interesting approach to the magic of it all,

29
00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:12,440
because there's definitely magical things going on here, and it's, I don't know, it's

30
00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:19,480
a little bit of an absurdist world that Barry's created in Peter Pan, but it's also not.

31
00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,760
It's something more, it's something different, and I don't quite understand what he's doing

32
00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:29,760
or where he's coming from or what his paradigm is.

33
00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,560
I don't know what the paradigm is that he's using for this story, so it's interesting.

34
00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,960
There's a thing about how mothers tidy up their children's minds at night, and they

35
00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,160
literally get down on their hands and knees and they pull the things out of their kids'

36
00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:44,800
minds and then fold them up and tuck them in, and they put the bad stuff at the bottom,

37
00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,960
where it's crammed and hard to reach, and they put the good stuff up at the top so it's

38
00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:50,640
fresh and ready for the next day.

39
00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:58,680
It's a beautiful and sweet and lovely idea, and a very loving idea, but it also doesn't

40
00:02:58,680 --> 00:02:59,680
sugarcoat things.

41
00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,760
It says that the mothers will hold things up to themselves like a kitten because they

42
00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,040
adore it, it's so sweet, and then they'll find other things that are important and they'll

43
00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:07,040
push them away from themselves.

44
00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:13,360
I don't know, it's so absurdist and it's so magical, but it's also very honest and

45
00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:20,360
acknowledging the reality of life and how parents will be put off by things that their

46
00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:24,840
children do or things that their children say, and they'll wonder, where did that come

47
00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:27,680
from in my kid?

48
00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:33,800
It's a really interesting psychological and sociological and really honest examination

49
00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:34,800
of things.

50
00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,240
Also, it's funny, there's other absurdist elements like they weren't sure they could

51
00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:43,720
afford to keep the kids, and George Darlan did all these calculations to figure it out

52
00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:48,240
that he'd keep them, and it's Wendy, John, Michael.

53
00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:53,000
Michael's doing this, keeping Bailey's quick by like three rooms and they get rid of him

54
00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,000
or something like that, which sounds crazy.

55
00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:00,680
Maybe there's a darker truth to that, but I think it's just a funny way to put things.

56
00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:07,200
And then something else, something else, something else, oh, Ligneana, she's a Newfoundland dog

57
00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:08,200
and she's literally their maid.

58
00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:13,720
They met her at Kensington Park and she followed them home and she's their maid.

59
00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,800
She's literally their maid and that's totally normal to them.

60
00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:17,800
I mean, it's abnormal.

61
00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:21,520
That she has the capacity to be their maid is normal.

62
00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:26,720
That she's a Newfoundland dog and it might be embarrassing for them to have a dog as

63
00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:31,120
a maid as opposed to a woman is sort of embarrassing.

64
00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:37,440
George Holmes is good for his image, his public image, but she's totally capable to treat

65
00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:41,720
everything that she needs to do with the children and she's treated almost as if she's a human.

66
00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:46,960
She doesn't stick with the other human maids or nurses or whatever at school to wait for

67
00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,920
the children since she didn't bring them back home and things like that.

68
00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:55,600
And she doesn't like to get the night off and the night the children disappear is, well,

69
00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:56,600
there's nothing night off.

70
00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:57,600
That's when something else happens.

71
00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:02,600
But it mentions specifically that Ligneana, the dog, has a night off for shooting at the

72
00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,400
children and misses her own girls instead.

73
00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:09,280
And I don't know, it's just like, it's a crazy, absurdist world with lots of magic

74
00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:12,440
and lots of whimsy and it's very interesting.

75
00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,960
And I don't know, it's interesting how the people are very put together because it all

76
00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:21,360
feels really real and meaningful as well as being very whimsical and magical.

77
00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:22,360
So it's pretty interesting.

78
00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:28,160
I really look, this is going to be my statement for the time reading through it, listening

79
00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:29,160
to the book.

80
00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,160
And like I said, it was so good.

81
00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,960
The book chapter was in and I decided I got to start the book over and talk about chapter

82
00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,440
by chapter because it's just too cool not to.

83
00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:40,080
I hope you enjoyed that.

84
00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:46,840
Go to MJMunoz.com to leave any questions, comments, or other feedback you might have.

85
00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:50,600
There you can find all of my analysis, art, and fiction.

86
00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:55,880
I cover books, tokusatsu, comic books, anime, and more.

87
00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:59,520
Look around, you're sure to find something else that you'll enjoy as well.

88
00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:24,080
This has been the story over everything production.