Mary Poppins is one of the most beloved movies of all time, and it literally ends with people
positively giddy about flying their kites.
But there are also a number of dark, creepy, and weird things about Mary Poppins that only
older or at least more cynical viewers will pick up on.
Mary Poppins is a breath of fresh air for the Bankses, a stuffy British family living
in their stuffy British house.
She also somehow violates the laws of physics and human physiology, she has a bottomless
bag that contains all her worldly possessions (and then some), and she can talk to dogs!
"Again?
“Oh, the poor man."
This is not normal, nor is it "fun babysitter" territory.
Mary Poppins is some kind of supernatural entity, probably a witch at the very least,
and some kind of demigod at the most.
But rather than causing feelings of distrust or terror in others, Mary's antics seem to
largely impress and amuse people.
Despite Mary being a mysterious figure from afar, Bert already knows her, and he's extremely
fond of her probably to his own detriment.
"Mary Poppins!
… NIce to see you again, Bert."
He even senses when she's about to arrive, turn his world upside-down, and break his
heart.
Nevertheless, Mary briefly brightens Bert's existence almost as much as she brightens
that of the Banks children.
In one musical moment, Bert proclaims that she's likely to make his "heart start beating
like a big brass band."
It's pretty fair to assume Bert and Mary have some kind of romantic history together, and
it's maybe still ongoing.
The way she comes into town, hangs out with him almost constantly, and then leaves without
saying goodbye implies that these two have a no-strings-attached, friends-with-benefits
arrangement.
Perhaps because it's low-status, thankless, filthy work, sweeping chimneys doesn't seem
to quite pay the bills for Bert.
He holds down so many jobs — he sells hot chestnuts on the street, he sells kites, he
busks with his one-man-band operation, he's a sidewalk chalk artist, and he's a chimney
sweep.
To younger viewers, most of those jobs seem like they'd be fun.
An adult viewer, however, is more likely to feel bad for poor Bert.
The world is cruel, and London is expensive for a scrappy Cockney dude, so he he's literally
always working.
Mary Poppins' most famous and memorable section is probably the one that's the most visually
dazzling: when Mary and Bert take an animated excursion into one of Bert's drawings, where
they sing "Jolly Holiday."
It's a giant psychedelic adventure, and it could be that the "magic" Mary uses to whisk
them to a brightly colored party land is some kind of hallucinogenic substance.
This is even alluded to when Mary and the kids are back home, after the effects of the
jolly holiday have worn off.
Mary shoves some spoonfuls of medicine at Jane and Michael, and they fall fast asleep
after all, they needed something to help them come down, it would seem.
For the most part, Mary Poppins is a fun, happy, and relentlessly optimistic film.
There's just one major sequence that feels incredibly depressing and out of place.
Mary tells Jane and Michael, in song form, about a woman who sits outside St. Paul's
Cathedral and tries to sell bags of breadcrumbs to pedestrians so they can feed the filthy
pigeons that flock all around her.
While the scene may feel shoehorned in just to include the beautiful and haunting ballad
"Feed the Birds," the woman selling breadcrumbs actually comes straight out of the source
material.
Nevertheless, the song and the scene featuring the elderly woman are haunting and unsettling.
The Bird Woman is clearly homeless, and possibly mentally ill.
In a more advanced society, perhaps she'd be getting some help and care, but that's
a dream for the future, and it's all just an odd choice for a Disney movie.
Bert isn't the only character in Mary Poppins facing some hard-to-swallow truths about the
labor market.
While he has to work endless jobs to get by, Mary just has the one, and it's presumably
well-paying because the Banks family is quite wealthy.
However, the entire endgame of her employment is to make herself obsolete and render her
employment unnecessary.
She is ultimately successful: Mr. Banks starts the movie as a distant, grumpy workaholic,
and before long, he's a giggle machine flying kites with Jane and Michael.
And that's when Mary leaves, staying not a moment past her period of usefulness.
This is a dark and relatable concept for plenty of viewers.
Mary's situation is like getting fired at any other job, except you have to train your
replacement first.