Willow Essay

Patrick M.
Johann 3rd Hour
Small Man, Big Journey

Imagine a fantasized world filled with brownies, dwarves, warriors and dragons that freely roamed the planet. Also, imagine a very tiny man who had a quest to stop an evil queen who ruled all of this? The only living thing that can stop her is a human new born baby. She is the key to stopping the evil queen and it’s up to Willow the dwarf to finish this war once and for all with the help of some village friends, brownie guides and the notorious warrior Mad Mardigan. Willow is a romantic film with lots of fantasy and escapism.
Watching this movie, many symbols are placed out that this is not a romantic film, but it most certainly is one. The ‘minor’ problem is that an evil queen wants to keep her reign, but an infant has the power to stop her. The resolution is that the dwarf plays a magic trick to fool the queen. She is then…struck by lightning. Little cheesy at that point, but yeah that is how the movie ends. Also Mad Mardigan marries the queen’s daughter and Willow gets to see his wife again. A lot of romantic movies end in marriages so that is a very good sign.
Although the symbolism is obvious, the idea of escapism is crystal clear while viewing this film as well. Just think about it. A world filled with giant monsters, magical fairies and evil queens is all made up. Going on vigorous adventures and battling enemies like trolls and hydras is all a fantasy and fantasies are usually romantic. Its escapism from reality, because no way could an evil queen be defeated so easily by a mere magic trick. Although the random lightning strike did play an important part in her downfall.

Finally, the symbolism and escapism make this a romantic mode line, but most importantly the way the movie turned out is what gets people to watch it. There was a confusion whether this was a book first or a movie flat out. Most likely a book first, since most movies are. Now the book was probably better than the movie, because I found the acting quality of the film too cheesy. What was suppose to make your jaw drop, made you keep it shut and think the worst. Whoever has read the book, if there is one, probably thought better of the written novel rather than the movie.
So, this movie shows lots of romantic signs and even though people might think its not, it most certainly is. Movies make a lot of changes to the story and tend not to keep a lot of elements from the book, but this movie hopefully didn’t change a whole lot from a good book.