Where The Wild Things Are

[M. (hristine]

For me, Max's character arc was that he went from being a completely self-absorbed, immature kid who thought his mother existed solely to comfort and protect and feed him, to finally recognizing her as a fellow human being who was also struggling and worrying and doing her best. It is the ultimate in character development - from being fixated on oneself to being concerned about another.

 

In the beginning, like any kid, all Max cares about is himself - wanting his sister to pay attention to him (and not to her friends), to have his mother all to himself (with no boyfriend), to be fed exactly what he wants (no frozen corn). And on the island all the monsters are as needy and whiny and self-absorbed as he is. They look to Max to make everything ok and build a safe place where no harm or sadness can enter, and he fails miserably. Just like he has looked to his own mother to protect him from pain, and she has not. It's hard for me to see how "nothing happened" on the island. What happened was that Max got outside of himself for the first time in his life. Instead of just feeling the pain of having his igloo smashed, he saw how the monsters felt when he smashed their huts. He recognized the consequences of his behavior. He grew up. How did nothing happen?

 

I guess I can see how people felt the film was depressing and defeatist, but to me the main point was: yes, life is hard and painful and lonely and no one can save us from that, but we're all in it together. We all feel that way. It's maybe the most crucial development we make as human beings - from seeing our parents as failures because they didn't shield us from harm, to seeing them as fellow human beings doing the best they can. It's called maturity, and it's what I saw on Max's face when he sat at the table in the final scene and watched his mother watching over him and closing her eyes in sheer exhaustion and relief. He felt compassion for her, and that was the whole point. It's how he changed.

 

[jakobnicholas]

I can read the recent pro-WTWTA posts and understand why they like it. And maybe I can understand Jonze's intent. And though hard, I can maybe agree that Max DID learn from the monsters and became a boy who understands his mom better.

 

All that said, for me, it doesn't change the fact that the time on the island was dull and frustrating and boring and painful to listen to. I don't care how anybody spins it, or how much psycho-babble is needed to explain why the monsters talked like they did, I just found the dialogue to be so awful and so un-interesting. I wanted it to end 10 minutes after Max landed on the island.

 

How is it that I could care so little for Carol? Some were obviously moved when Max left the island. Not me.

 

The final scene with his mom WAS good. But part of it, for me, was I was glad I didn't have to listen to the monsters anymore.