Sunday, September 17, 2006

In The Eyes of the Beholder: The transformation of Nanny McPhee

A few days ago, I watched Nanny McPhee, starring Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, and many other quite popular British actors. The movie was based on the Nurse Matilda stories written by Christianna Brand. The story revolves around the lives of the Brown children and the change in their behavior that takes place when Nanny McPhee arrives to take charge of them. Emma Thompson, who penned the screenplay, explained that she had had to change the name of Nurse Matilda, the central character of Brand’s original version, to Nanny McPhee, in order to appeal to a wider selection of audience; many people are not familiar with the term 'nurse' being referred to a nanny as it had been the case in the past. Additionally, the name 'Matilda' conjured up visions of Roald Dahl's young heroine, so that had to be changed to 'McPhee' so it is more fitting to this Nanny, a much older character.

The film begins with a portly woman dressed in cap and nanny's garb, bursting out of the Brown household, screaming for her life. She is the 17th Nanny the children have managed to drive away with fright, for their latest trick was pretending to 'eat the baby', the baby being little Aggie, the youngest of the Brown fry. Mr. Brown learns that this is only yet another act put on by the children, who are, in spite of their naughty behavior, quite clever little things. A busy widower with a lot of mouths to feed and under the patronage of his rich aunt-in-law who insists that he should remarry for the sake of the children, Lady Adelaide, Mr. Brown is unable to control his children and just as he begins to despair, he hears a voice telling him, that what he needs is Nanny McPhee. A day or two later, when the children wreck havoc in the kitchen after having their cook (played by Imelda Marsden), bound and gagged, to the cooking board, Nanny McPhee arrives mysteriously, and contrives to stop the children from destroying the kitchen, and almost burning the baby. Nanny McPhee tells Mr. Brown that she is to teach them 5 lessons and the way she works is that when someone needs her but does not want her, she will stay, but when someone wants her but no longer needs her, she will go. Over the course of the movie, the children not only learn these lessons, but also use their wisdom and affection to change the people around them.

What I found most intriguing is the portrayal of this Nanny. Unlike the other governesses, Nanny McPhee is dressed in black, foreshadowing the mystery that surrounds her. The first impression of Nanny McPhee is stirring: she is horribly ugly. "Ugly". She is big boned, stout, with wrinkle, mottled skin, a large nose that resembles a potato, two huge warts with hairs growing on them, and a large tooth sticking out of her mouth that is "the strangest tooth one ever saw". Everyone is disgusted by her appearance, including Mr. Brown, and to some extent, even the children, though they are more intimidated by her power. When they refuse to obey her, she punishes them until they have to surrender and apologize. When they pretend to be ill with the measles, she gives them a taste of their own medicine and when they are hesitant to mind their Ps & Qs, she shows them the consequences of their actions.

Nanny McPhee is a character of power and fantasy. Her appearance is mysterious and so is her departure in the end. She disappears whenever she pleases and does not seem to reside in her room like any normal nanny, as evidence by Simon's visit to her room. Although she brushes her sudden appearance off as, "I did knock", Mr. Brown (and the viewers) are baffled when we not only don't hear the knock, but are certain she appears from thin air. Like little Tora Brown, we too cannot help noticing when her warts suddenly disappear although the other changes that happen to her are subtle until the end when they are pronounced. Nanny McPhee maintains her power as long as she remains ugly. When thing are set right by the end of the movie, the Nanny acknowledges that she has to depart, and so we no longer are invited into her magic. It is almost as if our ability to live in fantasy ends when the Nanny becomes beautiful. It is as if only an ugly 'witch' can wield magic.

The change in Nanny McPhee's grotesque appearance follows the change in the children. As the latter learn to behave better, Nanny McPhee becomes more beautiful, less hideous. Her warts disappear, along with the ungainly tooth, her sagging skin resumes its elasticity of youth, and her body regains its graceful curves. By the end of the movie, we are left with a glowing, ethereal figure of Emma Thompson, the actress as we know her. She has shed the monstrous exterior of the middle aged Nanny and now plays the role of a fairy-godmother sort of character, for she converts Evangeline, the scullery maid, into a "beautiful princess", a snowy wedding gown in tow, removing the obstacle of the 'evil' woman, the atrocious Mrs. Quickley, so that Mr. Brown is free to marry the girl he has been waiting for and the children can get a rightful second Mama.

As much as the story has a simple fairy tale ending, it questions our sense of beauty and morality. What are we to make of the transformation of Nanny McPhee? Is she really more 'beautiful' in our eyes by the end? And more importantly, I ask, Why is she not allowed to remain ugly through to the end? Why are the children not allowed to see through her exterior and grow to love her for her kindness and sense alone?

The work, both the original story and the adaptation, creates an illusion of beauty in a material sense. By showing the changes in the Nanny's appearance and correlating that with children's behavior, the film suggests that how we view someone depends on what is inside ourselves. When the children were intolerable imps, they could see her as nothing but grotesque. Even Mr. Brown, becasue of his neglect of the children and preoccupation with work, views Nanny in the same light as the children. However, as the household begins to change, Nanny does so as well. When all the lessons are taught and true love enters everyone's hearts, Nanny McPhee turns into a beautiful woman, almost resembling a fairy princess. No one seems to look at her in awe at the end, for they are wrapped up in their own happiness. The film suggests that as people find happiness within themselves, they see everything around them as beautiful. So this begs the question, "So what did Nanny McPhee really look like?" Was she always beautiful but we never viewed her that way in the beginning because we are shown what she looked like through the eyes of the wicked children? Or are the viewers like the children, in that we are flawed to begin with, and are reminded of the injustice present in our own hearts just like the children's?

But I maintain, Why must she turn beautiful in the conventional sense? Even if such a change on the other characters is necessary, why must this manifest in the triumph of conventional standards of beauty? Why is an ugly woman not allowed to win and stay the same?

10 comments:

Cristina said...

Hello mysticgypsy!

What are we to make of the transformation of Nanny McPhee? Is she really more 'beautiful' in our eyes by the end? And more importantly, I ask, Why is she not allowed to remain ugly through to the end? Why are the children not allowed to see through her exterior and grow to love her for her kindness and sense alone?

I haven't seen the movie, so I'll probably go totally wrong here. But can't it be that that's what they are trying to convey? I mean, once we get to know people, we forget about their appearance and more often than not we stop seeing them as other people - not acquainted with them - do. By what you say that's what I have concluded, but of course it is you who watched the film and perhaps this is not the point they are trying to make.

But my guess would be that they are trying to make that wonderful change into something visual. Once we get to know somebody, their appearance becomes less important. Also, once we are liked by someone, our confidence is boosted and we feel more beautiful, and that shows too.

mysticgypsy said...

Hi Cristina!
Once we get to know somebody, their appearance becomes less important.

I agree.

However, why should this manifest in a woman who is 'conventionally' beautiful? I mean why not keep physically her ugly the ways she is, with her warts and other endowments, and yet draw the viewers as well as the children in the movie, to love her?
Or would this not do?

Cristina said...

I feel very weird talking so much about a film I haven't even seen :P

Of course I agree with you that once the audience has grown to like her just as the children have, it wouldn't be quite necessary to show her conventioanlly beautiful. But then again I think they must have felt like conveying that feeling visually too and thus they decided to make her beautiful for all to see.

I have been thinking about this and perhaps it's a little like the Beauty & the Beast. I know the Beast is under a spell precisely because he failed to look past appearances, but then again, once he is loved just as he is - why is it necessary to turn him handsome again? Love and understanding were his reward after all - he didn't need beauty anymore.

I think it's all a way of showing that once we are loved and feel loved we do become more beautiful. Confident people do have some sort of thing about them after all.

mysticgypsy said...

Hi Cristina!
I feel very weird talking so much about a film I haven't even seen :P
Please don't feel so. It is always helpful to get an opinion from someone who might not be biased toward the film :)

Love and understanding were his reward after all - he didn't need beauty anymore.
YES. And yet, they made him change into a beautiful man..

Confident people do have some sort of thing about them after all.
I agree! But it would be nice to find one being drawn to someone or something that isn't conventionally beautiful.

Anonymous said...

I believe Nanny McPhee's ugly appearance is a reflection of the ugly behavior of those around her. When THEY become loving and kind, then HER appearance reflects the beauty of their love and kindness.

Sim said...

I thought that it was likely a curse. Just as she has to leave when they no longer need her, as she teaches each lesson a part of her cursed appearance is removed and we see the original woman. I see her as a woman cursed to spend her life reforming awful children while being seen as hideous and flawed herself. I imagine a back story where she was pretty awful herself and ran across the wrong person who cursed her.

Anonymous said...

I've seen this wonderful movie with my children a couple of times, and also wondered if Nanny McPhee was actually 'ugly' all along. I believe the children and other characters saw her differently as they got to know her true heart. She became less ugly in their sight (beautiful) as their love and respect for her grew. I don't believe she actually transformed physically, but it was more of how the children attitude changed towards her. Something similar happened to me when I served in the army. I'd met a girl whom I thought was tragically hideous, but as I got to know her over the course of two years, I slowly began to change how I viewed her. She was no longer this hideous creature, she actually became beautiful to me, though her physical appearance never changed. God graced her with wit, charm, and friendly nature that could warm anyone's heart. She was, in that sense a beautiful woman, and by the time we parted ways, I could honestly say that I thought she was 'cute'. She just didn't look ugly to me anymore.

Unknown said...

I love all this debate. I have to agree that the film is trying to convey what we do naturally; see past the exterior and look into the soul of someone.

We don't get time, during the course of the film, to see past her exterior as we would in real life. The film therefore speeds up that process for us by improving her appearance little by little as if it were occurring naturally.... Like it would in real life. I think it is a great way to show us how the pure of heart and soul can appear at first glance, but once you get to know them how they actually appear to us. I know I've done it myself.....i see the exterior of someone and judge..... And then I'm proved wrong... And that can be either way (good or bad). The pure of heart and soul are beautiful inside and out, and conversely those with a dark heart are ugly despite possibly having a well groomed exterior....

Anonymous said...

Ur booty stank

Anonymous who watched both movies said...

Bit by bit, as Nanny McPhee completed her lessons she became more beautiful. After the last lesson was completed and she done all she came for in giving she was the most beautiful.