Q : Queen of Hearts “I warn you, child… if I lose my temper, you lose your head! Understand?”

Day 20

 Queen of Hearts

You’ve got to be pretty insane to be the craziest person in Wonderland.

Adding another Queen to our roster of Villains.

The Queen of Hearts is that Crazy.
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Alice in Wonderland is based on the book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland written by English writer and mathematician, Lewis Carroll in 1865. Although Carroll has stated that the Queen of Hearts is not based on any real person. Many people have considered it a caricature of Queen Victoria who reigned from 1837-1901.

Carroll’s sequel, Through the Looking Glass features a character similar to the Queen of Hearts but still different. She’s known as the Red Queen and Carroll has tried to make the distinction between the two, however, many adaptions combine the two Queens. Such as Tim Burton’s Red Queen played by Helena Bonham Carter.

In the book, while the Queen of Hearts wants to behead everyone who crosses her, her Husband the King of Hearts often pardons her victims while the Queen is not looking.

Even though the Queen of Hearts is obsessed with beheading people, Carroll does not depict her as a villain in the original novel. It’s throughout the many adaptations that she is turned into the Villain of the story.

Some report that Walt Disney felt a lot of pressure to adapt Alice in Wonderland. Many people thought the classic tale would be a perfect Disney film. He found it a challenge to do so and his hesitation stemmed from the lack of a typical story line.

Whether or not this was the case, Disney did mull around the idea of making Alice in Wonderland a combination of a Live Action Alice going into an Animated Wonderland. Actress Mary Pickford did some color screen tests in preparation.

According to IMdb, “In an interview with gossip-columnist Hedda Hopper, Walt explained that the Queen of Hearts was somewhat based on rival gossip-columnist Louella Parsons, who was similarly ill-tempered and wore her dark hair in a bun.”

I hope you enjoyed spending this time with the Queen of Hearts.
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Thank you for Reading!
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See you Tomorrow!!

J : Jane “This may hurt just a little. “

Day 12

Jane

Now, I’m not a huge Twilight fan, but I’m also not a Twilight hater.
I enjoyed the films.

Now, I only read the first book so I don’t know anything about how Jane is represented there. But I do like her character in the films.

Clarification, I think Dakota Fanning has a good look for Jane. She’s pretty, serious and has a good resting b*tch face. However, sometimes I think her voice isn’t menacing enough. She’s much more intimidating when she’s silently utilizing her deadly eyes.

JANE

Born around, 800 A.D England. She and her twin brother, Alec were turned into Vampires by Aro around the age of 13. He wanted to wait until they were older but due to their skills the villagers thought they were witches. They were in the process of being burned at the stake when Aro rescued them.

Since she felt the pain of being burned alive her Vampire Powers turned into a more acute sensation. She has the ability to initiate the same burning agony on others in the form of an illusion in the minds of her victims.

Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning were not only in the Twilight Franchise together. They both appeared in the 2010 Independent film, The Runaways about Joan Jett and Cherie Currie. Apparently, the only reason Fanning took the role of Jane was in order to establish a relationship with Stewart.

Thank you for Reading!
❤

See you Tomorrow!

A : Annie Wilkes “I thought you were good Paul… but you’re not good. You’re just another lying ol’ dirty birdy.”

Day 01

Annie Wilkes

Misery was published in 1987. Master of Horror, Stephen King.
King has later stated that Misery/Annie Wilkes was a metaphor for his substance abuse.

A movie version was released on November 30, 1990, starring James Caan and Kathy Bates in her Academy Award winning role. 

In the American Film Institute’s List of 100 years of The Greatest Screen Heroes and Villains Annie Wilkes is #17.

Kathy Bates started her acting career on the New York Stage. Although she was a fantastic actress, studios did not find her bankable as a film star. So when her plays went to the big screen other actresses like Michelle Pfeiffer and Sissy Spacek got the part.
It was her role in Misery that finally allowed her to be taken seriously as a Box Office draw.
She was the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Horror Film.
(Fun Fact: Jessica Lange was up for the role of Annie Wilkes!)

It’s hard for me to think of a time when Kathy Bates wasn’t a draw!

Stephen King loved Bates’s performance so much that he wrote the book/character Dolores Claiborne specifically with Bates in mind. In fact, after King learned that Bates was interested in being part of the The Stand miniseries, he rewrote the role of Ray Flowers as Rae Flowers just for her.

In contrast, few Actors were interested in taking on the role of Paul Sheldon. Mainly, because they did not want to be overshadowed by Bates. The part eventually went to James Caan, who was forced to lay in a bed for 15 weeks for the part. Caan found it extremely challenging to be stationary for so long, needing to react to Bates rather than initiating the confrontations.

I was a sophomore in College when I first started reading Stephen King. I read Misery after school had ended and I was on my way to South Carolina for my cousin’s wedding.

The book was incredibly gripping. As an aspiring writer, the whole premise and way King styled the book really spoke to me.  After I finished, I watched the film, which I knew would be a much different experience.

You know, you can read it but watching, is a different story…
Not only for the changes they make but sometimes your imagination shelters you.
(Like trying to watch The Reader after reading the book.)
Much Different Experience.

Well, I’ll wrap it up there.

I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about Annie Wilkes.

Check out Instagram for some more, Annie Wilkes!

Thank you for Reading!

See you Tomorrow
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