Andrew Shin: Mary Poppins Film Response

Scene-by-Scene Commentary:

In the opening scene, Mary Poppins is depicted as a goddess floating on the clouds. This confirms her supernatural origins, but she is much less sinister than the connotations associated with a witch or spirit.

It is interesting how the film adaptation has chosen to introduce many of the characters in the beginning with one musical act instead of giving them each a unique "chapter".

The direct address of the audience by the narrator caught me off guard. I cannot remember the last film I saw that utilized this technique.

Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane is quite nice, a departure from the run-down description given in the book.

Mrs. Banks is extremely childish, even more so than her description in the book. However, I very much appreciate her active role in the suffrage movement, albeit the British counterpart.

It is interesting that Mrs. Banks says that "these things" referring to the suffrage movement infuriates Mr. Banks. Perhaps he is more patriarchal and sexist in the film adaptation. Mrs. Banks seems to fear his negative reaction. However, he does seem more financially successful.

The timing of the cannon and its effects provided an amusing comic relief.

Mr. Banks' song is quite disgusting in terms of a progressive 2019 viewpoint. He is the "king of his castle" and all those living in the household, his wife and children included, are his loyal subjects that he leads with a "firm but gentle" hand.

I do not know how to feel about the policeman referring to the children as "valuables." It is laughable that Mrs. Banks is taking notes on Mr. Banks' "very helpful" outlines for a good nanny. The relationship dynamic between the two is so depressingly far from equal.

Mr. Banks dismissing Jane and Michael's criteria for a nanny as "nonsense" shows how terrible a father he is. I find myself hoping at this point that his character develops drastically.

I do love how everyone's reference point for time is the cannon going off. The nannies being blown away by the wind was a rather cruel act, but one I thought was consistent with Mary Poppins' personality in the novel.

Julie Andrews has truly mastered the nanny/governess role, first with this film and the Sound of Music a year later.

Mary Poppins' candid way of talking to Mr. Banks was refreshing. I like how she is the one giving him a trial week and not the other way around.

Mrs. Banks complimenting Mr. Banks about being clever and saying she would have messed everything up is not the most progressive of statements. This depiction of a suffragette is not the most flattering.

The movie version of Mary Poppins does capture the character's vanity quite well with the replacement of the mirror. The tape measure label also communicates this

Mary Poppins is much more polite to the children in terms of conversation.

I liked how the children are also able to use seemingly magical abilities in cleaning the room. This reinforces my earlier reference of Emerson in that children have unique abilities that are unreachable to normal adults.

The combination of live action with animation is quite impressive given the time of production.

Mr. Banks' comment on "shoddy female thinking" is hopefully a commentary on mistaken notions of gender superiority rather than a simple reflection of the period.

Overall, I enjoyed the film very much. Aside from some of the more conservative viewpoints, I thought the film did well to draw key elements from the novel. The music was well-written and I loved the actors.