Dear Roald Dahl - The Problematic Creator of My Favorite Character

 Dear Roald Dahl,

I suppose it is an odd prospect, writing a fan letter to a man long dead. After all, you will never see this. You will never respond. It's not like you'd have anything nice to say to me. After all, I am a "gender-confused" queer. And while I do not know how you would feel about this, I know you were anti-semitic and racist even for your time, which does not bode well for what you may think of other minorities. I do not know you, I never met you. You were dead long before I was even born. If you were born today and I knew what you were like, I would not touch your stories with a ten-foot pole nor engage with you. The only difference between you and other problematic authors such as JK Rowling and Neil Gaiman is the fact that you are dead. I can enjoy your stories, and you will not see a cent of it nor gain any publicity that would matter.

It is hard to deny that you were a brilliant artist, however. A terrible man, yes, but your stories are still read and cherished by many children to this day. As I am an artist as well, I'm sure that would be a great point of pride to you. Every artist wishes for their works to be remembered fondly long after their deaths. It seems that culture has even long forgotten the type of person you were. I'm sure your books would not be so wide-spread if they knew you called Hitler a "stinker" and believed he had a point. Knowing this truth complicates my relationship with this story of yours that I adore. A fan-favorite that I'm sure became a thorn in your side due to its sheer popularity and gained a life on its own ever since.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

When I was a child myself, I enjoyed the movies just fine - yes, they did make more movies. A Tim Burton adaption in 2005 that your family believed you would have loved, and a prequel about Willy Wonka himself in 2023. I will not assume what your hypothetical opinion on that particular movie would be. I can only guess and speculate that the movie would not even exist if you had a say. But it wasn't until I was high and recovering from a stomach surgery where something seemed to have clicked into place. I can't describe what happened or why it did, but I fell in love with the story and Willy Wonka in particular. I just connected with it when I needed to connect to something the most, I suppose.

You know, it's interesting. I'm sure it was an accident, but you have made a queer icon in Mr. Wonka. Many of his traits are recognized as stereotypes in the modern day, although I am not sure if that is necessarily the case when you wrote him. I see a lot of myself in Mr. Wonka, perhaps it is why his character has left such an impact on me. Maybe it is why he is so popular. People either relate to him, or they admire him.

As much as I love him and the stories in general, many aspects of who you were does paint a different light on these stories. Knowing that the Oompa Loompas were originally meant to be an African tribe. While I do know they were not intended to be slaves, the arrangement is closer to indentured servitude as they agreed and consented to the arrangement, it is still baffling how they were okay'd up until publishing that is. It doesn't matter what label may fit them best, what matters is the real world harm and impact they likely caused. You did the right thing in changing them. Even against strong backlash, far too many artists would have doubled down, nay, tripled down on their decisions. It's hard to tell what that says about you, being the one who made them Africans in the first place but also have the sense to change them where many artists would have failed to do so.

Many people are not wrong in viewing you as complicated. Although, I do wonder, if they would still see you that way if you were a woman. That is something to ponder about, but I can write an entire thing on the subject, so it's best I leave it at this question for anyone who is reading this.

I actually own a copy of the edition with the original Oompa Loompas. Most copies of it are within the thousands these days in value, and I typically don't care about original editions of books. It's not like there is anything special about most first editions of books, after all. But I got lucky one day and found a well-loved copy for around $60. Sure, that is still expensive for a book, but that is practically bargain bin money when most copies are worth more than most people's rent.

It is an interesting piece in history, and there are a couple of projects I would love to do with them. First is the fact that the spine has weakened, so I'd love to get it re-binded, although I would rather hire someone who knows what they're doing than ruining it in attempting to do it myself. The other thing is that I would love to make it into a learning resource for literature history, namely racism in literature. I believe that it is a valuable primary resource when it comes to that kind of thing, and seeing an instance of something bad right in front of you just makes it feel more real and less distant.

History is honestly taught in all the wrong ways. It is presented as long-ago distant stories and a list of dates. It doesn't feel real to most people, so we are doomed to forget what we were taught and repeat it. In many ways, humanity will keep making the same repeated mistakes and it will be impossible to prevent. But, in other ways, fascism is on the rise once more and the USA is currently under distress. A situation that may have been avoided with better education on both history and sympathy for the fellow human.

Well, it is too late to change the past nor can I do much about these large-scale issues I can't control. All I can do is focus on what I can control, and I am unsure on what I am doing wrong there. Perhaps I'm just unlucky. I'm sure there were times when you were unlucky as well. When you felt hopeless in pursuit of your passions. When you found yourself in a hole of rejection after rejection with little to no hope in making it out. It's not like that isn't a universal human experience or anything like that.

Just like how I can't control the course of politics, Mr. Wonka can't control the fact that his god has done and written terrible things. That is to say, I don't hold who you are against him. Sure, he is an extension of you, as he is your creation. Whether we mean to or not, a piece of ourselves will be in every character we create. It is a part of creating art. So, I suppose my question is this:

By loving your character, playing around with him as if he is my own, am I truly any better than you? Or does considering Mr. Wonka the closest thing I'll ever get to the love of my life and creating fan creations based on him only perpetuate the harm to certain groups of people you started? I suppose that is the complicated aspect. After all, while "separate the art from the artist" is a popular notion, you can't truly do that. The artist is the art, and the art is a part of the artist. I can't think of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and remove Roald Dahl from it. At least, not completely.

It has your touch. Both the good and the bad sides of your touch. This story and perhaps many more you have written did cause real-world harm to real people. Fictional boyfriends can be replaced. They won't be harmed by me ditching them, even if it would be a tough thing to do.

But how many hearts of Jewish fans have you shattered because they were excited to meet the author they admire, only to find out he is unkind to them? How many children were harmed by certain elements in your stories? Where did you take your money after it came to you? Did you donate to politicians and organizations dedicated to harming those who you hated? Does my love for a character make certain people feel unsafe around me?

Real people are not fictional characters, Mr. Dahl. These are important things for me to consider. These are the things that make Mr. Wonka complicated to me. Real people can and do get hurt in ways they will never heal from, even when the damage is nowhere else but in the mind. You can't just turn them into blueberries and expect them to turn out fine with zero recovery time after getting the juices squeezed out of them. You can with Violet, because she is merely words on a page. Real children are far more delicate. Real humans are far more delicate.

Even if you were alive to read this, I doubt this would change your mind. It's not my responsibility to change your mind anyways. That is something for you to sort out. Sure, perhaps a civil conversation may have you grow as a person, but I am not the person who you would have needed to have a conversation with. I should focus on the living who are targeting people like myself. Not chase a past man who may or may not be a mere pile of bones at this point.

I can't deny that your books are important, that you were a brilliant artist. If they hold no other value, then they have value in history and can serve an example of general attitudes and cultures of the past, both bad and good.

If reincarnation is real, and you have reincarnated, then I hope you have grown into a better person. I hope that you are continuing to create wonderful things, even if what those creations may look like are drastically different today. If said reincarnation is reading this, then I believe it would be good for you to learn about your past and learn from it.

Sincerely,

Echo Dextive