Alice and Tin Man: deep thoughts *snicker*
Of Beginnings, Endings, and Genre
In the inevitable comparison between Alice and Tin Man, almost everyone points out the differences in the endings. 'Finally!' many say. 'Alice has an actual ending.' General consensus has it that Alice achieved something Tin Man didn't. Some define an 'ending' on a more romantic level - Tin Man did not give viewers a couple at the end, and therefore was inferior to Alice. Others broaden this to talk of the plot. Everything ended nice and neatly in Alice, with everyone and everything where it should be. To them, Tin Man appears to have cut-off just after the climax. And...? is the question most have at the infamous black-out.
I strongly disagree. Abrupt, Tin Man might have been. But yes, there was an ending. They offered two different styles of endings because the shows were two different types of stories. Imagine that!
It starts at the beginning of each movie. Tin Man opens with a young woman having strange dreams. (Later, we learn the dreams are also partly repressed memories.) We see her go to work, argue with her parents, get in trouble with the law, and - most importantly - express frustration at the way her life is going. She longs for something more. She doesn't like Kansas, she doesn't like her job, and she feels like she doesn't fit in.
Alice, on the other hand, opens with a young woman a bit more satisfied with herself. She appears confident and happy. Only a few minutes into it, however, we realize that there are issues plaguing her. She has trouble finding a man and making a deeper commitment to him. She clings to Jack - after all, she did spend most of the show trying to save him - at the same time she pushes him away. She is still searching for the father that left years ago. This girl has Trust Issues, which affect all her attempts at relationships.
Both series are action/adventure films. Both are fantasy. These two different set-ups, however, show us how they are actually two different types of stories: the coming of age tale, and the romantic tale.
DG's journey to the Outer Zone and her ultimate adventure in defeating the Witch are all steps towards discovering herself. Parts of her past are revealed, her true origins. Along the way, she also has to realize how her decisions affect those around her, and how she has to live with that. In bringing Az back to her self without the Witch, DG is also finding her own true self. Most of this is rooted in the family she is reunited with and the home she had lost years ago. She finds the place where she fits in... exactly what she was longing for at the beginning. So the last line, 'Now that's the OZ I remember', as well as DG's placement amid her family members, is truly the end of our tale. The movie ends with a DG who knows who she is, where she came from, and where she wants to be. The journey is complete.
Alice, on the other hand, is not searching for herself. I call Alice a romance in the sense that it is about Alice's relationships with others as opposed to herself. She spends the entire show debating who to trust and who to rely on. Should she trust Hatter, the odd man with a morally dubious past? Should she trust Jack, who, she learns, lied about many things? She slowly learns that things are never black and white. Motives are different from actions. Sometimes they have different reasons for helping her than selflessness. And her father... well, there's a bucket of worms. The man she thought abandoned her turns out actually to have been kidnapped and taken to Wonderland. He's seemingly lost his memory and does not care if she lives or dies. In the end, though, everything is resolved in her relationships. She trusts Jack, and probably loves him in a way, but gives him a firm 'no'. Her father issues are solved (albeit rather painfully by death) and she finally lets herself cry about it in her mother's arms. And Hatter... well, she finally learns to open her heart to someone, even when there's the potential for heartache.
Each show leaves a realm in chaos; transitions of power never go smoothly. Is everything solved? Is the OZ restored? What will happen to Az? Are all the oysters alive and well and sent home? How will Wonderland function without the oysters they've relied on for years? And yet, both shows wrapped up their journeys quite nicely. They were just different journeys.
In the inevitable comparison between Alice and Tin Man, almost everyone points out the differences in the endings. 'Finally!' many say. 'Alice has an actual ending.' General consensus has it that Alice achieved something Tin Man didn't. Some define an 'ending' on a more romantic level - Tin Man did not give viewers a couple at the end, and therefore was inferior to Alice. Others broaden this to talk of the plot. Everything ended nice and neatly in Alice, with everyone and everything where it should be. To them, Tin Man appears to have cut-off just after the climax. And...? is the question most have at the infamous black-out.
I strongly disagree. Abrupt, Tin Man might have been. But yes, there was an ending. They offered two different styles of endings because the shows were two different types of stories. Imagine that!
It starts at the beginning of each movie. Tin Man opens with a young woman having strange dreams. (Later, we learn the dreams are also partly repressed memories.) We see her go to work, argue with her parents, get in trouble with the law, and - most importantly - express frustration at the way her life is going. She longs for something more. She doesn't like Kansas, she doesn't like her job, and she feels like she doesn't fit in.
Alice, on the other hand, opens with a young woman a bit more satisfied with herself. She appears confident and happy. Only a few minutes into it, however, we realize that there are issues plaguing her. She has trouble finding a man and making a deeper commitment to him. She clings to Jack - after all, she did spend most of the show trying to save him - at the same time she pushes him away. She is still searching for the father that left years ago. This girl has Trust Issues, which affect all her attempts at relationships.
Both series are action/adventure films. Both are fantasy. These two different set-ups, however, show us how they are actually two different types of stories: the coming of age tale, and the romantic tale.
DG's journey to the Outer Zone and her ultimate adventure in defeating the Witch are all steps towards discovering herself. Parts of her past are revealed, her true origins. Along the way, she also has to realize how her decisions affect those around her, and how she has to live with that. In bringing Az back to her self without the Witch, DG is also finding her own true self. Most of this is rooted in the family she is reunited with and the home she had lost years ago. She finds the place where she fits in... exactly what she was longing for at the beginning. So the last line, 'Now that's the OZ I remember', as well as DG's placement amid her family members, is truly the end of our tale. The movie ends with a DG who knows who she is, where she came from, and where she wants to be. The journey is complete.
Alice, on the other hand, is not searching for herself. I call Alice a romance in the sense that it is about Alice's relationships with others as opposed to herself. She spends the entire show debating who to trust and who to rely on. Should she trust Hatter, the odd man with a morally dubious past? Should she trust Jack, who, she learns, lied about many things? She slowly learns that things are never black and white. Motives are different from actions. Sometimes they have different reasons for helping her than selflessness. And her father... well, there's a bucket of worms. The man she thought abandoned her turns out actually to have been kidnapped and taken to Wonderland. He's seemingly lost his memory and does not care if she lives or dies. In the end, though, everything is resolved in her relationships. She trusts Jack, and probably loves him in a way, but gives him a firm 'no'. Her father issues are solved (albeit rather painfully by death) and she finally lets herself cry about it in her mother's arms. And Hatter... well, she finally learns to open her heart to someone, even when there's the potential for heartache.
Each show leaves a realm in chaos; transitions of power never go smoothly. Is everything solved? Is the OZ restored? What will happen to Az? Are all the oysters alive and well and sent home? How will Wonderland function without the oysters they've relied on for years? And yet, both shows wrapped up their journeys quite nicely. They were just different journeys.