11/2/2009
We have just returned from watching a film that I anxiously anticipated seeing. Where the Wild Things Are was not the film I expected, maybe not even the film I wanted to see. But it was truly amazing, profound and an unforgettable experience.
I have heard some disparage this film as not being a kid’s film, and reviewers who could not see beyond the behavior of Max the ‘Wild Thing” or the failures of his family. This criticism is partly valid . It is not a kid’s film, but it is a film for children and adults who have faced painful realities of life and entered the place Where the Wild Things Are. This film does not tug, but literally tears at the heart strings. It speaks to that part of us, that has lost our childhood innocence, as well as that part of us that will always be a child, striving to understand the why of pain.
If you have lived a perfect life without loss of control or the agony of disillusionment, this film is not for you, but if you have ever been Max, you will “get “ this film and hold it to your heart.
It speaks to those of us who have tried to fix the unfixable, explain the unexplainable and understand that which can never truly be understood. In the end we are all simply a child who wants to be noticed, to be heard, to be loved unconditionally, to see promises kept forever, never feel rejection and to never ever be alone; in essence to matter.
It is an amazing film and should be required watching for every child and every adult who feels the weight of somehow thinking that we can control our world, can manipulate life to be what we want, fill every empty place, or who impossibly expect ourselves to repair every broken thing that matters and make life perfect. No one can.
But for most of us, somewhere in the world there is someone, however imperfect, who will love us unconditionally and will keep our warm dinner waiting for us. And that is a truly wonderful thing.
