Some Pig?

Kyla is currently into “Charlotte’s Web”. We saw the new live action movie last weekend and she’s had the picture book since she was a baby and recently got the original book, plus she has the DVD of the animated version from the 70’s.

I remember reading this book at some point in grade school, but I didn’t really remember much more than the fact that there was a spider in a barn named Charlotte that had befriended a pig.

After seeing the movie last weekend, I have to say that I’m a bit miffed by the story.

Wilbur, the pig, was born in the spring and is scheduled to be Christmas dinner. All of the animals in the barn know this and they decide to try to do something to prevent it. Over the summer, Charlotte comes up with an idea to write something in her web (that’s spider web, not web site) to convince the farmer that the pig is special. She comes up with the words “SOME PIG”.

The next morning the farmer sees the words written in the web over the doorway of the barnyard. Word gets out and people come from all over to see the pig, and the farm becomes a tourist attraction. After a month or so the novelty wears off and things get back to normal at the farm. As great as it was, it apparently was not enough to grant Wilbur a stay of execution.

So Charlotte creates a new web with the word “TERRIFIC” written in it. Again the farm bustles with people coming to see the pig, and again it wears off and Wilbur is still scheduled for Christmas dinner.

It’s done a 3rd time with the word “RADIANT”, the entire process is repeated, but this time the farmer becomes convinced that the pig is so special that he should bring it to the County Fair where it is sure to win a ribbon.

Unfortunately, for Wilbur, he is beaten out by a big fat hog, and the farmer decides that he’s nothing more than a Christmas ham after all. But then, Charlotte, who has come along for the ride, makes one last attempt at saving Wilbur by creating a web in the stall he is kept in at the fair with the word “HUMBLE” written in it. Now everyone in the fair comes over to see “some, terrific, radiant, humble pig”, and Wilbur is given a special award by the Mayor. This, apparently, is finally enough to convince farmer Zuckerman not to eat Wilbur and he gets to see Christmas and live on.

There is a sad twist at the end as Charlotte, who is very old, does not go back to the barn with them, instead staying behind at the fair where she is at the end of her life and will die soon. She does however have a sack of eggs that are brought back to the barn where they are looked after by all of the animals until they hatch. Most of the baby spiders leave, but 3 of them stay to become Wilbur’s friends and honor their mother’s memory.

Overall, a heart-warming tale, however I’m not buying it. What was so special about the pig? As far as I can tell, the only thing that was special about it was the fact that there was a spider writing words about it in her web.

So, what we have here is a baby pig, who seems to be just like every other ordinary baby pig, and a spider who’s writing words in her web about it. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to that farm to see the spider and her webs. If that was happening today, and that farmer could find a way to preserve those webs, he’d make millions on Ebay.

And why are you going to eat a baby pig for Christmas dinner? How much pork are you going to get from that? I’m no farmer, but doesn’t it make more sense to keep the pig around for a few years until it gets nice and big? Then you have Christmas dinner for not just your family, but probably your friends and neighbors, plus bacon for Christmas breakfast, and maybe even enough to do it all again on New Year’s.

I’m sure once that spider was not around to write words in her web about it, that’s what eventually happened to the pig anyway.