At a time when the internet, YouTube, social media, and reality TV are spawning a seemingly endless stream of instant celebrities, it may be hard to remember that there was a time when becoming famous or recognized was nearly impossible. When radio was the primary delivery system for news and entertainment, a top radio star, musician, or newsmaker could be standing in front of you without you ever suspecting it. Images of celebrities or gossip about them were harder to come by, and definitely couldn’t be beamed into your home or pocket 24/7. And, as was true until fairly recently, fame was almost always linked to some sort of noteworthy accomplishment, not simply the willingness to have your life documented and shared.
The main subject of the excellent film Goodbye Christopher Robin is the relationship between Winnie-the-Pooh author A. A. Milne and his young son (nicknamed Billy Moon) whose imaginative play with his stuffed animals in the forests of the British countryside inspired the characters and world of Pooh and his friends. But just as fascinating is the film’s look back at the nascent celebrity culture of the mid/late 1920s, where the runaway success of Milne’s Pooh books turned Billy (whose actual name is Christopher Robin) into an early version of a reality TV star, way before the effects of fame on child celebrities became a punchline and cliché. Watch the trailer for Goodbye Christopher Robin here.
A. A. Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) was a celebrated playwright and humorist before writing the Pooh stories, and Goodbye Christopher Robin begins as Milne attempts to re-enter high society after serving in World War I. But beset by serious post-traumatic stress disorder and a newfound desire to address the barbarity of war, Milne decides to buy a farmhouse in East Sussex where he can write while avoiding the overstimulation of London. There, with his reluctant wife Daphne (Margot Robbie), his eight-year-old son Billy Moon/Christopher Robin (Will Tilston), and Billy’s nanny Olive (Kelly Macdonald), Milne plans to write a piece denouncing war and calling for its elimination. But still stymied by PTSD, Milne finds solace and comfort in his son Billy, their walks in the idyllic Ashdown Forest, and the world Billy has created for his stuffed animals. Touched and healed by the peace he finds, Milne decides that his next work will not be a jeremiad against war, but a celebration of youthful play, joy, and innocence that would become Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.
It’s at this point that Goodbye Christopher Robin veers from an interesting behind-the-scenes literary origin story into something more personal and resonant with the world today. As Winnie-the-Pooh becomes a runaway success, Billy becomes the center of a media and fan frenzy for the “real” Christopher Robin and his dolls, which also share their characters’ names (Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger, etc.). As Milne and Daphne return to high society and the more traditional parenting style of the era’s wealthy (i.e. having servants do it), Billy finds himself being shuttled to media appearances, photo shoots, and interviews while his parents soak up the accolades, with Olive struggling to provide Billy’s only anchor to the normal life he once enjoyed.
But what kid wouldn’t want to be a beloved celebrity? A somewhat disturbing study found that the biggest life goal for pre-teens in 2007 was to become rich and famous, with little interest in how these goals would be achieved or even if they would be deserved. At a time when kids are fed a steady stream of reality TV stars — who have gained fame by letting camera crews follow them as they live their allegedly normal (though often fabulously wealthy) lives — and YouTube/social media stars who have largely become famous through their looks, opinions, and onscreen personas, the idea of spending years diligently honing a craft or talent in obscurity must surely seem like the path of suckers. When simply being famous (measured in likes, views, and subscribers) for any reason can seemingly become a lucrative career, why bother learning or achieving anything else?
What is left out of young people’s intensified desire for fame today is an acknowledgment of the well-documented negative effects of fame, especially for those who experience it at a young age. Unfortunately for Billy, his parents (like most people at that time) are also ignorant to the downsides of Billy’s overnight celebrity, including an overbooked media schedule, lack of quality family time, and the feeling that his father has exploited the intimate details of Billy’s most cherished childhood memories. This resentment only increases as Billy grows up, due in large part to the relentless bullying he endures at school because of his celebrity.
If you’re a fan of Winnie-the-Pooh, Goodbye Christopher Robin might cast an unwelcome shadow over your memories of the roly-poly bear, his friends, and the little boy who shared their adventures. But it’s a shadow borne of context and texture. While we may want to think of Winnie-the-Pooh as a spirit of pure joy who sprung fully-formed from the Hundred Acre Wood, Pooh was the creation of a man who struggled to and succeeded in turning his pain and disillusionment into a celebration of unspoiled innocence, even though the son who inspired it ultimately paid a price for it.
Goodbye Christopher Robin reveals that the story behind the creation of Pooh may be bittersweet, but the joy and innocence Pooh represents has made him one of the most beloved characters in all of literature, delighting hundreds of millions of children and adults around the world for generations. Goodbye Christopher Robin — one of the best films of 2017 — honors the coexistence of both realities.