The Gospel according to Willy Wonka

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) was one of the weirdest movies I ever saw as a kid. There was always something very disturbing about it, an eerie feeling that shocks its audience with the strangeness of another world and the judgment that takes place there of those who misbehaved in ours.

It wasn't until I was older that I actually saw the movie in a different light. Wonka, in my estimation, is meant to be God. The Oompa Loompas are angels. The factory is heaven or the new earth, i.e., God's garden, and the people going through the tour are there to be judged.

Each child represents at least one type of sinner guilty of one of the seven deadly sins. There is Veruca (greed), Augustus (gluttony), Violet (pride), and Mike (sloth). The others are displayed in the kids as they get angry (wrath) when their sins are not fed (lust). Some think Charlie represents lust, and this is possible as well. One could also say that they are all tempted with lust and envy by the Satan figure, Slugworth, who of course, ends up working for Wonka. Others think that the entirety of humanity represents lust and envy in their imbalanced desire to possess the golden ticket. In any case, the sins likely represent all the sins of humanity.

The song about Wonka displays he is God in that he takes creation and fills it with goodness. He then sings a song that the factory is paradise. He's the candyman who makes the world taste good.

However, sinners do not inherit paradise. One by one, the sinners are ejected from it and go off to various images of hell (a garbage dump, a furnace, the boiler, being turned into something not human, trapped in one's delusions, etc.).

The most important part, however, is the end. Charlie has sinned by partaking of something he was told not to. He incurs Wonka's wrath for this, and is told that he will not inherit the promise because of it. He has a chance to still get what he wants by betraying Wonka, but instead he repents by handing over his only chance to gain a reward. By doing so, Wonka forgives him and gives him his entire kingdom. They go up into the sky to look over Charlie's new kingdom.

The idea seems to be that God rejects sinners unless they repent. This much is true, but the story is missing one thing: a basis for God to be just and forgiving at the same time. In other words, this is the gospel according to an older Americanity (which is more of a general relgious idea rooted in Judaism or the Inclusive God of American religion), where God is forgiving if one turns from his wicked ways, even without Christ as the sacrifice that would allow such a thing.

Christ isn't needed. Hence, as long as one follows the songs of the Oompa Loompas and repents even if they don't, they'll be fine in the end, as they'll still inherit paradise.

Unfortunately, the gospel of Willy Wonka falls short of being good news in that there is nothing that takes away the sins already committed. They are unjustly dealt with by the god-figure in the movie, and so evil is left unanswered. This is Christless Christianity, or just Christless religion in general.

So if I could rewrite it, I would make Charlie the Christ figure. He would go into the factory for his family, just like he does, but he would be without sin. He would obey the rules perfectly and reject the temptation of Slugworth from the beginning, showing his absolute loyalty and love for Wonka the entire time. In the end, his family would inherit paradise with him. This is the message sinners really need to hear: that since Christ died for sinners, there is a basis for God to forgive them in Christ, and those who are united to Him will inherit all things with Him. This provides hope in a world of suffering and a joy in the midst of hardship. Evil is only temporary. God has overcome it through the work of His Son, and forgiveness through Christ's work restores the sinner to God and seats him as an owner of the paradise of Christ. And that is what makes the world taste good.