BURTON & THE HALLOWEEN FACTORY

Surreal.  Eerie.  Absurd.

These are just some adjectives I associate with Tim Burton's films.  Every time Halloween season rolls around, Burton's imagery ranks up there as a source of strange ideas.  Not surprisingly, his influences are bizarre and spooky favorites:  Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, Roald Dahl, ...

... and, his Muse is Johnny Depp.  (Well, perhaps alongside Helena Bonham Carter.)  Now, if I wasn't married to my husband, I'd be married to Johnny Depp.   

A Halloween Tableau:
Poor Yorick, and The Raven who quoth "Nevermore"
with a cameo appearance by Willy Wonka
Top Hat: Scala, Sunglasses: Dolce & Gabbana, Velvet jacket: Halogen

It doesn't matter that Depp seems to prefer androgynous coiffures that look better than mine.

Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka
film still from Tim Burton's "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory"
source: IMDB.com

Here's a guy who can poke fun at himself, dress like a girl, and still be so cool.  From his role roster, I can see he truly has Depp-th (er, excuse the pun, and I wasn't lisping).  Coincidentally, he claims to hail from persecuted, French Huguenot stock -- just like my husband's French Gilliam (originally Gillaume) side!  Aha!  Just like Terry Gilliam  -- another darkly bizarre film maker I enjoy who happens to be my husband's distant relative, according to family lore.  Gilliam and Depp have teamed up a few times before as well.  So you see, in a twisted other-dimension, I might very well be married to Depp.  Or is this taking the surreal too far?

Tim Burton "Magic Fashion" photo shoot
for Harper's Bazaar
Photos: Tim Walker

I'm still sifting through Burton-esque ideas for Halloween, along the lines of Harper's Bazaar's Magical Fashion shoot with Tim Burton some years back.  In the past, my Halloween party attire tended towards the glamorous. I wanted so much to look like Holly Golightly or a Fellini film siren.  Now, I am finally old enough to laugh at myself, like Johnny Depp.  I see this road leading to batty, old lady-dom!

What role do you like to play for Halloween?