A picture must be worth a thousand words. How else does one turn a 10 line children’s book into a 95 minute production inhabited by ferocious, though loveable, Wild Things? A classic children’s book, “Where the Wild Things Are,†is brought to life with director Spike Jonze’s brilliant interpretation of a misunderstood boy’s journey to find acceptance.
Although some feared that the movie counterpart would stray too far from the beloved children’s book, the movie stays true to the premise of the book; so true that some parents have questioned the appropriateness of the movie for children.
The many previews and trailers depicted fuzzy, smiling Wild Things frolicking in a brilliantly lit forest carrying their king, Max, and howling to the reverberating sea. The general mood of the movie, according to these trailers, appeared to be like a typical, feel-good, children’s movie.
The movie starts with a rebellious boy vying for Mom’s attention, who sails through a storm to discover an island filled with hungry beasts. One of the Wild Things, Carol, has anger management issues. Another, Judith, is a “downer.†The motherly figure, KW, has left the family of Wild Things for her new friends. The larger-than-life characters exaggerate Max’s jealousy, rage, depression and isolation.
All the Wild Things seem encompassed with a great sadness that drags the scenery into a brooding sepia, the music into soft wisps, and the tone into aggravating depression. Max tries to make everyone happier by running through the forest, tearing down trees and throwing dirt clods at unsuspecting creatures.
But everything stays sad and tension builds to a breaking point. In the middle of the movie, I heard a little girl across the aisle say, in an innocent voice that little girls have when something beyond their grasp enters their bubble, “Daddy, is this a true story?â€
Such a genuine question made me realize that this movie portrayed a harsh world. Starting with bullies, negligence, fighting, and ending with destruction, loss, departure, the story captured the essence of a misunderstood boy who realizes the world is not always good. But the loss of boyish innocence is a bildungsroman, or coming-of-age, concept, not a childhood fantasy.
There were so many adult perceptions of childhood threaded into the characters that the little girl couldn’t understand why Max was so angry all the time, or why KW left the family, or why everything just seemed so sad.
This interpretation of the movie was different from the happy, joyous bedtime story I had expected the movie to be. Instead, the kid inside me felt confused and slightly scared. From a teenage point of view, I could understand the frustration of being ignored, the violent reactions to upsetting news and the instinct to find happiness. But from a kid’s point of view, it seemed like the happiest place in the world was filled with problems, violence and sadness.
The movie is brilliant, an absolute masterstroke of a genius. The interpretation, on the other hand, is slightly disturbing. The quality of the film was surreal. Every character was memorable, each scene was straight out of a child’s imagination, every note sung struck against the heart, but the direction of the film was too deep for a children’s movie.
“Where The Wild Things Are†is a touching movie that might help parents understand their children just a little bit better.
But it’s not a children’s movie. Parents should save this movie for when their child grows older and looks back upon his or her childhood with simplicity.
And to answer the unasked questions, yes, I cried a bucketful of tears, yes, I flashed back to all those temper tantrums, and yes, I know The Hat Kid dressed up as the King of the Wild Things for Halloween. 