· 25 comments · Save ·
For Sale Mar 31, 2026 at 1:01 AM

Do y'all think Willy Wonka (1971 version) is a villain or anti-hero?

Posted by Longjumping-Role6136

especially in gene Wilder's Wonka from the 1971 movie, he seems unhinged but also morally "good" (and what I mean by that is teaching children to not be greedy orelsethesekidswillneverseethelightagain), don't get me wrong I love the other versions like depp's 2005 and chalamet's 2023, even book wonka! but i just feel like this version of him is more darker, especially with that boat scene, he was LOSING IT 😭 Update : Anyways y'all, he's HAWT 🫦
🚩 Report this post

25 Comments

Sign in to comment — or just click the box below.
🔒 Your email is never shown publicly.
Fap2theBeat Mar 31, 2026 +17
He's not either. Charlie is the hero that saves and reignites that passion this old jaded man once had.
17
mithridateseupator Mar 31, 2026 +2
So really the villain is the jadedness itself And the oompa loompas.
2
Emperor_Orson_Welles Mar 31, 2026 +11
>the villain is Grandpa Joe
11
Thatguy755 Mar 31, 2026 +7
r/GrandpaJoeHate
7
Emperor_Orson_Welles Mar 31, 2026 +3
All my homeys hate that m***********.
3
Natural-Run-5213 Mar 31, 2026 +6
That guy sucks. He won’t get out of bed to work to help the poverty stricken family who are waiting on him hand and foot -but as soon as there’s a tour round a confectioners he’s doing dance routines. If I were the mum I’d be giving him the stinkeye like “Feeling better are we, Grandad?”
6
heybobson Mar 31, 2026 +3
It was obvious Grandpa Joe was sneaking out every night to smoke. He even tells Charlie he used his tobacco money to buy him that Wonka bar. He does teach Charlie a value lesson: in this cruel world you gotta get your take and f*** being charitable to people.
3
mithridateseupator Mar 31, 2026 +2
Grampa joe was hypoglycemic and yet heroically gave charlie all the candy bars. He was only able to get out of bed for the promise of sugar.
2
LordofWithywoods Mar 31, 2026 +7
I am probably reading too much into it, but in a way, willy Wonka is God. He created the world, the candy factory, and the kids get to use free will as they navigate the Eden of sugar wonka created. One by one, the 7 deadly sins are committed by the other kids, and they are disqualified from "heaven" (augustus is foiled by his own gluttony, veruca's greed sends her down the bad egg chute, etc). Willy Wonka lets the kids prove who they are morally, and the only one that passes muster is Charlie. When he inherits the factory, it is the meek inheriting the earth so to speak. God often seems absent when he fails to answer our prayers, and Wonka watches the kids go down one by one without any intervention in a similar way. Those who are inclined to sin, sin. Charlie, who is inclined to goodness, makes the moral choice when he leaves the gobstopper on wonka's desk. Thus, he passes God's test and "wins" a spot in heaven at God's right hand.
7
heybobson Mar 31, 2026 +4
And like God, Wonka created a devil in Slugworth as a figure to tempt children like Charlie.
4
KanyeDeOuest Mar 31, 2026 +8
Neither
8
MyUsernameIsAwful Mar 31, 2026 +5
I don’t think he’s a villain, just jaded.
5
Little_Employment_68 Mar 31, 2026 +3
I’m pretty sure all those kids died, so.
3
StillStanding_96 Mar 31, 2026 +5
So he’s a straight up hero?
5
Thatguy755 Mar 31, 2026 +3
Willy Wonka is just a business man trying to make an honest buck selling candy to people who choose to buy it of their own volition. Grandpa Joe is the villain of the story. He’s a lazy, worthless, disgusting piece of human garbage that sponges off his impoverished family and pretends to be disabled until there’s a chance for free chocolate.
3
Rellgidkrid Mar 31, 2026 +3
He’s just a drug dealer looking to make sure his successor doesn’t a) get high off his own supply and b) keeps his mouth shut
3
CHIBEARS2233 Mar 31, 2026 +3
The real villain is Grandpa Joe. His family is on the verge of starvation yet doesn’t help out at all and even takes his grandsons change from his paper route to get pipe tobacco. Then magically he can get his old crusty ass out of bed as soon as Charlie finds the golden ticket. Don’t be like Grandpa Joe
3
inwheeliesitrust Mar 31, 2026 +4
It's grandpa Joe who's the real villain! r/grandpajoehate
4
itastesok Mar 31, 2026 +2
F*** Granpa Joe.
2
Middle-Letter-7041 Mar 31, 2026 +2
I can understand the parts about a poor diet,, too much screen time, not being spoiled, even though it's not his place to tell people how to raise their kids, and he's probably directly responsible for some eating disorders, both in that story and in the real world today... but the chewing gum thing makes no sense at all. willy wonka sure is judgemental for a pimp. but he's a slaveowner so that tracks.
2
[deleted] Mar 31, 2026 +1
[deleted]
1
Fap2theBeat Mar 31, 2026 +2
Why does he feel the need to test them, though? To me, it's because he's seen so many shitty kids in his life that he is assuming most are shitty and can't be trusted. Charlie had already failed the in-house test by drinking the fizzy-lifting drink. He was lucky to survive unlike all of the other kids who simply disappeared after their errors. He was lucky to get the second chance that no other kids did. Wonka set up the secondary test beforehand with the gobstopper, but Charlie only got to show his true intentions in the end because they figured out how to cheat that first test.
2
Expensive-Sentence66 Mar 31, 2026 +1
Friend of mine told me the local dispensary was selling 'Everylasting Gobstoppers' which are THC infused candy. Explains why Richard Pryor worked quality control at the factory.
1
zowietremendously Mar 31, 2026 +1
Never saw him as either. It's not really a hero/villian type of film.
1
pop-1988 Mar 31, 2026 +1
He's like the teachers at the Harry Potter school, Hogwarts. They're always exposing the children to danger, because it's good for them
1
← Back to Board