Film Analysis Essay on Wrinkle in Time: Making Kids Ready to Face Real-Life Issues

The movie Wrinkle in Time is an adaptation of a novel with the same name that was authored by Madeleine L'Engle. The novel was written at a time seismic shifts were happening in 1940s as American children's literature became reshaped by introducing minors to real life issues that previous works avoided by sticking to fantasy and science fiction. Hence, L'Engle in her book used a depiction of evil grounded in real life experiences that child readers would eventually need to face as they transition into adults. In the book, the author's solution to making children ready for the real world is an education in the humanities and the sciences, plus the development of autonomous thinking from a young age. The depiction of childhood as personal autonomy, creative thinking, and scientific potential in the book is replicated in the movie.

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The protagonist of the movie, Meg Murry, is presented as a girl struggling to adjust to the four-year disappearance of her father, Mr. Murry. The mysterious circumstances her father went missing makes her the target of gossip by her peers and teachers. During a scene in the headmaster's office, the audience learns that she used to be top of her class and had a better personality. However, after her father's disappearance, he becomes, in her own words, "delinquent" because her academic performance dropped and she was always getting into trouble in school. She comes to believe that apart from her mother and her young brother, Charles Wallace Murray, nobody else likes or loves her.

She has a very negative self-image until she embarks on a quest to find her father in an alternate universe. After they travel to Orion , Mrs. Which in a conversation before entering the home of the Happy Medium challenges Meg's negative self-concept by suggesting that her perceived faults are actually her strengths. When Meg asks Mrs. Which if there is a way she could return home as, "somebody else that I may like," Mrs. Which challenges her bad self-image by asking her, "Do you realize, how many events and choices that had to occur since the birth of the universe leading to the making of you? Trust exactly the way you are. When Meg's love for her missing father, Mr. Murry, leads to her and her companions travelling to Camazotz instead of back to earth , Mrs.Whatsit gives Meg "the strength of her faults" before she departs. Mrs. Which implies that in Camazotz, Meg's skepticism and tendency not to trust strangers will be useful weapon when going up against the IT.

Another instance where Meg's negative self-image is shown to the audience is the scene after she shares a meal with Calvin , Charles Wallace and her mother. Calvin is a popular kid in school. When taking out the trash with Calvin , they are is spotted by Meg's neighbor and schoolmate ,Veronica. Meg self-discloses her negative self-image by hiding in a failed attempt to protect Calvin's reputation that she believes will be damaged if they are seen together by Veronica. When Calvin asks her , "Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?" Meg responds "...its the other way round. She [Veronica] is going to tell everyone you were here with me and I am just trying to protect your [Calvin] reputation."

Mrs.Whatsit is introduced to the audience and Meg as an eccentric woman dressed in white but it is revealed later in the movie that she has the power to transform into a mystical flying creature. Meg is surprised when Mrs.Whatsit transforms into what looks like a giant flaying plant and in the process affirming the common tendency people have of judging others from what they can easily observe instead of who they are .

Mrs. Who tends to speak by using the words of other people because she has evolved beyond speech. When Meg first encounters Mrs. Who, she is in the company of Calvin and Charles Wallace. When Charles Wallace explains that Mrs. Who does not think for herself and that is why she speaks using the words of musicians, poets and famous writers, Meg responds, "That's just rude." She goes on to tell Charles Wallace that "Whatever this is...Whatever she [Mrs.Who] is, I do not like it." From this scene, Meg affirms the common tendency in perception of favoring negative impressions about others over positive ones.

Charles Wallace's uses language to indicate when he was not under the influence of the IT and when he was. When he arrives in Camazotz with Meg and Calvin, he rejects the IT's attempt to take over his mind by saying, "I can't stand the sound, the rhythm, it hurts." After the It uses Red to take over his mind, Charles Wallace says, "the IT has shown me my potential, I can see the weaknesses of any soul." He then goes on to speak in a manner that shows he was inseparable from the IT.