rewatching matilda 1996 is like...you are never forced to empathise with mrs wormwood at the end of it all when matilda begs to stay with miss honey, and yet so many people walk away from this scene thinking "oh she really did love matilda, she doesnt want to let her go" and to that i say i think you are missing the message being conveyed here. she doesnt say "i love you, matilda, i couldnt stand to lose you" she says "youre the only daughter ive ever had." to mrs wormwood her love for matilda is shaped by possession, by not fully seeing matilda as anything BUT her daughter. where as miss honey sees matilda as everything; as brave and funny and smart and kind and true. the film says to you: a mothers love can be awful and mean and dismissive and cruel, something loud and altogether absent. and then it says: you can sit on a swing set in the sun, maybe even on a picnic blanket, and it can be life saving and warm and soft and quiet and completely unconditional, something you can touch, something safe. even if she still harbored maternal feelings for matilda, mrs wormwood was never the mother she deserved or ever needed. miss honey is. and when mrs wormwood is faced with the harsh reality of completely losing her daughter, she does the one single, truly loving parental act in the whole movie, and allows miss honey to adopt her. the film doesnt want you feeling bad for matildas birth mother, its saying: empathise with the little girl who is saved, and think of the little girl inside of you who deserved the same.
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“you’re very brave, miss honey.”
“ not as brave as you.”
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characters doomed by the narrative this, characters haunted by the narrative that. What about narratives that are doomed by the characters? What about Matilda Wormwood? She didn’t like her story, but did she roll over and take it? NO she kicked down the fourth wall with mischief, intelligence, kindness, and genre awareness. She’s the ultimate escapologist. Truly a role model for kids everywhere.
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I think that nice librarian lady should ALSO adopt Matilda. librarian and miss honey should get married
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"Well, have a great day at school. And, be careful in there."
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (2022) dir. Matthew Warchus
+Bonus
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Autistic Girlies Bracket: Round 1, Side A
Matchup 6
Only your vote can determine which of these autistic girlies will move on to the next round.
TSUKIMI KURASHITA MASTERPOST
MATILDA WORMWOOD MASTERPOST
[Image ID. Image with a purple to pink gradient background that is split down the middle by a jagged white line. There is a purple 'VS' symbol in the centre. On the left of the image is Tsukimi Kurashita from Princess Jellyfish. On the right of the image is Matilda Wormwood from Matilda. End ID.]
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Oh, you wanted to be Matilda as a child? How's that queerness and neurodivergency going for you?
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