I was at college, when I was delving into reading Charles Dickens’ novel Great Expectations…It was the threshold moment of my life and I was dreaming to pursuit my education in one of the greatest university in Constantinople… Yes, I had wonderful dreams in those days for my future and I was unconscious about bourgeois’ “mouse” game to reach their goal… As a little lady grown among nobles, I had only “great expectations” for my future… I thought that having diploma from “greatest” university and being competent & specific in your job are the crucial sesame for life: having a wonderful job… living in dream house… visiting lots of country… having lots of real friends… having own family & child… creating… working…
Nevertheless, I did not know that how bourgeois could be as dangerous as “Prisoner / Lusting” (Robert De Niro) like Charles Dickens projects a satiric mirror to that social fact…
“Time is cruel and has no any compassion”
Twenty five years later, when I watched the film adaptation version of this classic novel of Charles Dickens, directed by Alfanso Cuarón, bourgeois culture dawned on “alienation”, “art of transfert” and also “power of language” incarnated by “marketing”, strikes first as social facts… such as the dialogue between Estalla (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Finn (Ethan Hawke) illustrate that postulate as :
Finn: What’s it like not to feel anything?
Estella: Let’s say there was a little girl, and from the time she could understand, she was taught to fear… let’s say she was taught to fear daylight. She was taught that it was her enemy, that it would hurt her. And then one sunny day, you ask her to go outside and play and she won’t. You can’t be angry at her can you?
Finn: I knew that little girl and I saw the light in her eyes, and no matter what you say or do, that’s still what I see.
Estella: We are who we are. People don’t change.
“We are who we are. People don’t change.” that phrase constitutes mile stone for two reason: first because it criticizes stuck of self – development and second because it engenders “there is no miracle which turn you into dream one as the same as tales”…
Besides that, art plays a crucial role to illustrate the art of transfer and the perception of bourgeois to the life of aristocracy / noble : richesse, giving party, presentation / marketing, “history recovered” convenient to “tale story” and connections… and competence confused with the ability…Instead, art never ever refers to simply dessin that is what satirizes during the film in a way implicit… such as the discourse elaborates that social realty : “The important thing is connections…” Although Finn has talent to draw / dessin, it is not enough to become painter / artist such that all his paints bought by Prisoner / Lusting albeit marketing / “history recovered” before the exposition where Finn rejects totally his past and ignore to recognize Joe (Chris Cooper)… In other way to explicit it, Finn becomes alienation of himself for reach the desired object / subject:
“I did it! I did it! I am a wild success! I sold ’em all, all my paintings. You don’t have to be embarrassed by me anymore. I’m rich! Isn’t that what you wanted? Aren’t we happy now? Don’t you understand that everything I do, I do it for you? Anything that might be special in me, is you.”
Values replace with wealth… with lifestyle… That is what Dickens depicts throughout the novel “Great Expectations” in a way poetic… Consequently, I can state that Dickens depicts in a way implicit and poetic bourgeois’ cruelty, unfeeling, and “upstart” throughout the novel. I can thereby conclude that the director of the film drew attention regarding the dilemma between symbol and creativity such as Finn recovers his past and likewise ignores his family… Moreover “wealth could make all dreams come true” this idea – is caricatured by Dickens as “Great Expectations”…
wonderland 