After having produced a hit with Wonder, director Stephen Chbosky is going to be taking on the challenge of making a biopic about Dr. Seuss. The man behind the name, Theodor Geisel, is something of a conundrum however since in his early years it was seen that some of his political cartoons and other works were racially motivated at times. This would mean that if Chobsky is going to do an honest to goodness biopic that some of the story might have to be omitted or perhaps altered, or even toned down if he really wants to get the point across of who Geisel was and what he contributed to the world of literature. Most of us know by now that Dr. Seuss books have been immortalized in several ways, but the thought that the man who created them had a much darker lean to some of his works has gone and tainted the rest of them since people will now look for any excuse to state that their is a hint of racism in everything he’s done.
At one point in his life Geisel admitted that he regretted putting such material forth that would tarnish his reputation but by then it was too late. Anything that exists that can be found to use against this biopic is already being sought out, much as it’s been identified throughout the years. If one takes the stories of Dr. Seuss at face value and doesn’t look beyond them there is a good chance that they will be seen for the fun and engaging stories that they are. But unfortunately, looking deeper and attributing one’s own biases to them will show many people that Geisel might have still had an agenda.
This is unfortunate since the movie is meant to be mostly about the life of Geisel and how he came to be one of the most well known authors of children’s books in the world. His books are simple bits of literature that have still managed to inspire untold numbers of people that have read them to themselves and to their children as they grew up. To think that the joy of the stories could be and might be tarnished by anything short of the man being a devil in disguise is kind of disheartening. But while Chbosky has a very tough project ahead there is hope that people will begin to understand that a person’s past isn’t always something to be used against them, but to learn from. The works of Dr. Seuss have been highly inspirational and very whimsical throughout their long tenure. Besides, if people want to remember correctly some of the biopics that have been produced have been about people that have done and said much worse than Geisel.
Goodfellas, The Hurricane, The Wolf of Wall Street, and even Nixon have taken people that managed to give a great deal to American history in some way and are still seen as deplorable individuals. Judging a person based on their past is a person’s prerogative, but allowing it to spoil the chance for a great movie is kind of petty.
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