Veruca Salt (Band)

Since 1993 there's been this band that's named after Veruca Salt, the spoiled brat from the Willy Wonka films/book.  They're this alt-rock post-grunge sort of group (thanks, Wikipedia!), which has only had one consistent member, Louise Post.  Veruca Salt has released four full-length studio albums and three EPs up until 2006, though the band is still active today.

 Veruca Salt, circa 1997.

Technically, being named after a character who was named after salt, the band is once-removed from salty associations, but that's fine.  Technically I'm named after someone who is simply related to salt as well, instead of me being named Salty McSalterson.  That's far too blatant.

Veruca Salt's first single was "Seether"/"All Hail Me" (more like a double, amirite?) in 1994.  I thought that "Seether" was just the name of the band that played "Fine Again" in 1080º Avalanche, but apparently it's a type of pot for boiling things.  Who knew? 

Anyway, this first video is the music video for "Seether," featuring cats and dogs, two girls kissing, and one absentee bra:

The next one is the music video for "All Hail Me," featuring a baby-killer and creepy/violent children at a party:

And last but not least, a song off their third album, Eight Arms to Hold You (1997), called "Shutterbug." This one features giant dresses concealing awesome bicycle contraptions, more giant dresses, unfortunate censorship of the virtually harmless word "shit," and very visible suspension cables.*

*Which is fine, actually, considering that the cables in the bubble scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory were also notoriously visible.  Possible homage to a namesake?  Who knows.

Veruca Salt

Today's post is only nominally related to salt, but I think it still counts.

No doubt many of us are familiar with the world of Willy Wonka, be it from either of the films or from the classic Roald Dahl book.  Consequently, one of the more popular characters (in a love-to-hate sort of way) was the spoiled, bratty Veruca Salt.

In the 1971 film, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," Veruca is played by the young Julie Dawn Cole.  In the 2005 film, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which shares its name with the original novel, Veruca is played by Julia Winters.  I find it a sort of interesting coincidence that both actresses have essentially the same name, were both plucked from obscurity (Veruca Salt being their debut film role), and were both cast at the age of 12.

Julie Dawn Cole in Veruca's big scene. Warning: May Contain Spoilers!

Part of the character's nastiness comes from, in my opinion, an apparent self-awareness.  Particularly in the above scene we can see that she knows that she's a total b****, and that just makes it all the more so.

In the original novel, Veruca's inevitable demise (I'll try not to give too much away, for those who are unfamiliar with the story) is caused at the hands of a troop of angry squirrels.  In the 1971 film, the squirrels are changed to a few rather indifferent geese, and Veruca sort of causes her own downfall.  In the 2005 film, the squirrels are restored.

Now, I read the book when I was a kid, and I've seen the original film, but I've yet to see the 2005 movie.  Something about Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka seems more appealing to me than Johnny Depp.  It's not that I don't like Johnny Depp, but I've grown rather skeptical of Johnny Depp/Tim Burton pairings (Burton being the director of the 2005 version).

And no, I haven't seen "Edward Scissorhands." 

By the way, the name Veruca Salt (my only real connection to salt for this post, after all), has an interesting meaning: "Veruca" is a manipulated spelling of Verruca (from the Latin Verrūca), which is the sciencey term for "wart" (eg. Verruca Vulgaris, Veruca Plantaris).  The word "salt" also has some negative connotations that suggest anger, aggression, and piquancy.

To me, though, "salt" means "love."