I Hears Your Lonely Heart: The BFG

    From the guy that brought you the Trunchbull and a chocolate factory: Roald Dahl's The BFG, or, The Big Friendly Giant. Not as popular or well known as James and the Giant Peach or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but still a classic in its own way. Published in the early 1980's, (around the same time frame as Matilda and The Witches), The BFG was quick to be brought to the screen with an animated version in 1989, less than a decade after publication. However, Roald Dahl's other works were adapted into live action films. This didn't happen to The BFG until the summer of 2016, under the direction of Steven Spielberg. (Possible Spoilers Ahead!)

     Once upon a time, in a London orphanage, a little girl named Sophie wandered the halls

late at night. She is often the only one left awake. When the sun goes down, Sophie and the other girls expect the so-called "Witching Hour," to arrive. This is said to be the time when "the boogey man comes out," and people disappear. They all have different opinions about when the Witching Hour arrives, but one thing is certain: Never get out of bed. Never go to the window. Never look behind the curtain.
     One night, Sophie hears a noise from outside. Knowingly, Sophie gets out of bed, goes to the window and looks behind the curtain. At first she sees nothing but a fallen trash can and a couple of stray cats. But then she see a giant hand reach out to pick up the trash can. Along with the hand comes a giant figure. Sophie is shocked, and the figure sees her. Sophie tries to hide back in bed, but the figure reaches in through the window and takes her. 

     Before she knows it, Sophie has traveled with the giant stranger to Giant Country and is now in the home of said giant. This particular giant is much shorter than the other giants who bully him, and does not eat humans like they do. Rather, he collects dreams and then brings them to the human world. He being a "big friendly giant," Sophie makes friends with him and nicknames him, BFG. With the help of dreams and each other, will Sophie and the BFG find a way to get rid of the other giants, or is Sophie going to be someone's next meal?

       Modern film audiences want quality. Perfect color,  perfect sound, no static, and now perfect CGI. And they expect nothing less from most film makers. The BFG is not a film to be criticized due to quality. Visually and auditorily, The BFG does not lack. Our friend the BFG and Fleshlumpeater and his gang look entertainingly real, and the film makers combine our CGI characters with the real world perfectly. The sights and sounds of the film are colorful and enchanting, making the perfect family film.

    When watching the film, you notice that The BFG puts emphasis on the whole concept of loneliness. Before they met, loneliness had a strong presence in both the lives of BFG and Sophie. The BFG is absolutely nothing like the giants that surround him, not to mention that they treat him terribly. Sophie is her own person and probably doesn't fit in with the other girls at the orphanage. We know that almost no child is going to be happy in an orphanage, especially one where, (as Sophie tells the BFG), they lock you in a cellar full of rats as punishment. But that shouldn't dismiss other possible reasons as to why Sophie herself is lonely. We need to focus on Sophie specifically and her relationship with the BFG. 
       Apart from being non-cannibalistic and a dream catcher, the BFG also possesses a very special sense of hearing. Never mind where this ability came from, but the BFG tells us that he can hear "spiders spin and ants speak." He hears far off music and the meaning behind each dream that he finds. But most importantly, BFG was able to hear Sophie's "lonely heart, in all the secret whisperings of the world." The BFG lives a lonely life, and Sophie was a much needed friend after the fact that a little boy who once lived with the BFG was taken and eaten by the other giants. BFG doesn't want to lose another friend. Sophie is the one that motivates the BFG to stand up to the other giants. In return, Sophie's loneliness is also eased. She knows that she can talk to the BFG wherever she is and that he will hear her, because the BFG hears all the secret whisperings of the world.

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