Emerging adulthood and the Peter Pan Generation in Damion Dietz’s Neverland (2003)

Abstract

Neverland is perhaps one of the most interesting adaptations made of Peter Pan. In form, Dietz takes advantage of postmodern resources as the pastiche and the intertextual references in order to expose some of the most conflictive aspects within the play of Barrie while playing with the viewer by making constant references to the classical adaptation Disney made in 1953. In substance, the film presents in detail the problems that arise in the transition between the overprotected youth’s world and the contemporary adult’s world, an alienating society in which its members are not considered individuals, but simply workers. It also pays particular attention to the role Wendy can play as a woman, getting further away from the deeply sexist message that both Barrie’s play and the Disney movie had.