A ticket to something strange, adventurous and magical. There are a few films that I notice have that as a theme, where there is an offer of something mystical and unknown, and a sort of verbal contract is entered before being represented with a physical item in the form of a ticket. Maybe a new twist on the signing away your soul idea, because there is no firm awareness, or signature it seems as though it is more benign. But what is being offered is often an exchange, as there is a need from the ticket bearer, although it might not at first be obvious what that is. I’ll put the most obvious one first, as this should be familiar to most people.

Charlie and the chocolate factory – the golden ticket being the hook for this tale, with a very odd journey thereafter to reveal what the ticket may lead to. Exposing some of the weaker traits in people where greed and selfishness are the main features of their personality. Showing how sometimes with very little incentive, people will happily throw their own to the wolves, or instantly separate themselves from others if they think they might ‘win’.

Big – although the film was centred around an arcade game, it was once the ticket had been issued, informing the bearer ‘Your wish has been granted’, that the magic was activated. The contract being sealed with you accepting the ticket. In that instance, making a child be an adult and go through adult experiences for months, before it manages to be reversed.

Last Action Hero – a magic movie ticket, when used, creates a portal between the movie screen and the ‘real world’, transporting the lead character into the story, who then becomes part of it. And then a little like we see around us today, where it seems the reverse has happened like at the end of the film, where the movie characters start coming out into our world instead, and the crazy storylines and scripts infiltrate reality.

Polar express – on the face of it, a nice film for children, set at Christmas and is about journeying to the North Pole to visit Lapland I think. But from what I remember, there are no parents, the kids are all picked up in their jammies in the middle of the night, and there is an odd conductor who oversees all of this. The ticket being hugely important, and gold again I believe, with the moment of panic when the main character can’t find his ticket and thinks he will be excluded.

It all seems to be about enticement, secrecy, and agreeing to be part of the situation voluntarily. See my article They Are Vampires, But Not As You Know It, for more on that. And in these films, and others I’m sure, it’s usually put forward as magical, outrageous and thrilling in a good way mostly. Almost as if it’s priming young minds, to believe that when and if they find themselves being offered a golden ticket, it will be exciting and great things will follow. But as with many other illusions of this world, I fear that’s just how it seems…

(c) K Wicks