I took Peyton, my four year old son, to see Where the Wild Things Are tonight. He had already seen it and loved it. This was surprising to me in some ways. When I first read that a movie was being made out of the book, I was excited for Peyton. He loves books, and especially this book. He could recite the book word for word when he was 3- without missing a single word. So when this movie was on the way, I couldn't wait for Peyton to see it.
Then as the movie was set to open, I started reading reviews that revealed this may not be your ideal children's movie. I read that it might be too scary for younger children. This did not bode well as Peyton isn't always the bravest soul when it comes to movies. So I was relieved and a bit surprised when his mom told me that he had loved it. And not only did he love it, but the next morning he was still affected by the scene towards the end where Max has to say goodbye to the Wild Things and includes an especially emotional goodbye with Carol- his seemingly Wild Thing counterpart.
So after reading multiple stories reporting parents up in arms over the film being too dark, joyless, violent, and scary to adults complaining the movie was so boring they fell asleep, I had the chance to see it tonight.
I thought the movie was pure genius.
I loved it. I think this movie is groundbreaking on how a movie can relate to kids. Spike Jonze was able to transcend age and tell a story that is relevant to everyone. The film doesn't appeal to any certain socio-economic audience. It appeals to us as people. As humans. This is a movie about something. I think too often we go to a movie expecting and wanting to be taken away from reality and not wanting to deconstruct our makeup and how our fears and insecurities are manifested. Maybe this is where the criticism of the movie being boring comes from by some adults. Maybe they were not happy that the Wild Things were so... human. Even though Max got on a boat and sailed across the sea to get away from his feelings of lonliness and sadness, he arrived a place that was full of the same. In Carol, Max could see from the outside how his acting out and fits of rage are experienced by others. He experienced the failure of trying to "make everybody be ok." Even Max's fairy tale world was broken.
The cinematography and scenery were great. The Wild Things were perfect. The audience was visually stimulated at all times- very important when appealing to young children as well. The music could not have been better. If there was ever a soundtrack that captured the feelings of a child, this was it. The music and camera work when one of the characters would get upset and act out allowed you to understand excactly how they were feeling at that time.
But best of all, the film was real. It was about real feelings that kids have. We are so used to dumbing everything down and putting on a tv "kids" show that is full of happy music and smiling characters that experience disappointment at times, but rarely true sadness and fear. I love that this movie doesn't sugarcoat anything. Max is feeling real emotions. He is a kid. He does kid things. He overreacts. He has fits of rage and is destructive. He is vengeful with those he loves most. He is scared when new people are introduced in his life that he will be forgotten. He seeks freedom and when he finds it, longs for order again. He feels the struggle between lonliness and vulnerability. He struggles with trying to be something he's not and the realization of who he is. He understands what we and our kids understand no matter how much we try to convince them otherwise- the world is not perfect. But young and old, we share the same vision: We just want everyone to be ok.
Where the Wild Things Are was not what I was expecting. I was expecting a kids movie based off of a kids book. Instead I found a story about Max, about people, about Peyton, and about myself. Hopefully we can learn from this movie and the daily expressions of our kids. Maybe they're more sensitive and aware of the world than we know. Maybe the older we get doesn't necessarily make us more mature. Maybe it just makes us older.
Get in the boat and sail for a bit. Your dinner will still be warm when you get back.
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