Wade Walker (Cry-Baby)
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Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker is a fictional character in the 1990 film Cry-Baby, portrayed by Johnny Depp.
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[edit] Character overview
He is a juvenile delinquent who lives with his grandmother, a kind woman who stole him his motorcycle. His father was the "Alphabet Bomber", a serial arsonist who would bomb buildings in alphabetical order (airport, barbershop, car wash, drug store, and so on until it goes to Z for zoo). His mother was also executed even though she couldn't even spell. He is involved in a gang of Drapes called "The Cry-baby Kids". The gang members that are closest to him are Wanda, Milton, and Hatchet Face. Cry-Baby's sister Pepper is also involved with the gang. She is very close to her brother and is extremely protective of him.
[edit] In the film
Cry-Baby Walker first falls in love with Allison Vernon-Williams upon seeing her at his high school. She approaches him and his friends Wanda, Milton, and Hatchet-Face. However, his relationship with Mrs. Vernon-Williams is strained when he was not allowed to perform his rock and roll music at the Baltimore's local talent show that was taking place at the RSVP charm school. As revenge, he runs off with her granddaughter Allison to the Turkey Point, where rednecks and Drapes sing, party, and play the evening away. After a brawl between the Drapes and the Squares, Wade is blamed for starting it (because the judged was biased against the Drapes), and is sent to training school where he is forced to pray to God, Dwight Eisenhower, and Richard Nixon.
An attempt to escape from juvenile hall creates a scene where he is running in the sewer in his white Fruit of the Loom briefs and ends up getting caught by a rodent that works for the police. After being released by the jailer (with the help of his girlfriend), he once again takes his anger on the Squares in a game of Chicken and eventually falls in love with Allison.
[edit] In the Broadway Play
Several changes were made in the play. For one, it is unclear as to who he lives with, but he is an orphan. In the play, his parents were a pacifist couple sent to the electric chair after being framed for a fire. The fire was in a shoe factory and was set fire on purpose by its owners to cover up the fact they were using cardboard and charging the government for leather (the factory made boots for the US army.) People often ask Cry Baby about his "Communist" parents.
He meets Allison Vernon-Williams at an anti-Polio picnic run by her grandmother. She is fascinated by him and sympathetic about the fact no one understands him. Along with the Drapes, he sneaks into Allison's country club and convinces her to leave with him to Turkey Point. Later that day, he takes Allison to his "alone place," which is really a local makeout spot. They French kiss- a first for Allison- and he gives her his prized possession. Then, he is framed for a fire that took place in Turkey Point. Allison, the Drapes and a singer are all tried for resisting arrest after beating the police, and Cry Baby and the singer, Dupree, are sent to jail. At the trial, Lenora claims that she is pregnant with Crybaby's child and recounts the details of their fictional tryst to Allison. The event was identical to the one in which Allison and Cry Baby French kissed, so Allison no longer trusts him. The judge, Igneous Stone, orders Cry Baby to marry Lenora.
At jail, Cry Baby listens to the radio and overhears Allison's boyfriend proposing to her. He then causes a riot and manages to tie up a jail priest and get in his uniform. He escapes posing as the priest and helps other inmates leave as well.
He then gains Mrs. Vernon-Williams's trust and sympathy, and she helps him find Allison. After discovering Lenora was lying, they reconcile and, with Mrs. Vernon-William's blessing, become a couple. Judge Stone clears his name of all charges, as well as his friends, after Mrs. Vernon-Williams reveals that she overheard Allison's boyfriend boasting about causing the fire Cry Baby was framed for, and Cry Baby's parents' names are cleared as well after Mrs. Vernon-Williams reveals they were framed by Allison's boyfriend's parents.
[edit] Fellow Drapes
Pepper - Cry-Baby's sister
Wanda - A good friend of Cry-Baby's. Wanda is a beautiful flirtacious girl who also has a close friendship with Cry-Baby's grandmother in the movie.
Milton - A male member of the Drapes. He is referred to as "young, stupid, and mean". He does not appear in the play.
Hatchet Face - Milton's girlfriend. She is very opinionated and audacious. Her real name is "Mona". She is called "Hatchet Face" because of her horribly applied makeup. In the play, it is a deformity that gives her this look.
Dupree- A male member of the Drapes in the play. He owns Turkey Hill and lives there. He sings and DJ/MCs there as well and is known to hit very high notes.
