Where the Wild Things Still Are; or, Children Are Beasts

A delightful and acerbic look at children's books today from one of my heroes, the irrepressible Maurice Sendak. What's wrong with kids' books today? They're too goddamn nice!

When your work first appeared, it was considered to be new, something different. What were you doing that nobody else had done?

I was developing a child who I recognized as myself as a child, from my observations of other children around me in Brooklyn. We were wild creatures. We did things that were objectionable.

Max, to me, was a very average normal kid, but he upset a lot of people at the time. He yelled at his mother, he talked back to her, she deprived him of food and then gave it to him. Children who fight back, children who are full of excitement are the kind of children I like.

Max was a little beast, and we’re all little beasts. That was what was so novel.

More terrific observations about the cowards that were and are our parents from Mr. Sendak here. God, I love this man!

"On the Phone With Maurice Sendak" (The New York Times)

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Capturing the Magic of Childhood

Somehow I missed this great review of WTWTA by Marshall Fine when it first appeared. It talks about the way the film portrays childhood, but doesn't get quite as, um, morose (too serious? or can one be too serious about play and childhood?) as my earlier interpretation. Both views speak equally to the greatness that is WTWTA. This isn't a movie that is easy to pin down, that's for certain.

...Jonze has made a career out of subverting genres and expectations, whether in “Being John Malkovich” or “Adaptation.” In this case, Jonze and Eggers have written a film that truly captures what it’s like to be a 10-year-old, in all its mood-swinging glory. This film is fueled by imagination, not driven by plot or built around structure. It’s a film about play and the sudden shifts it can take when someone gets upset or hurt or hatches an unexpected idea.

Beautiful, and absolutely correct.

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Tell Them Anything You Want

Okay, someone needs to tell Spike Jonze that I can't take more than one movie in any twelve month period that leaves me all broken up inside, and WTWTA already has that honor for a few more months. Sheesh! I just watched Tell Them Anything You Want, the HBO documentary about Maurice Sendak made by Spike Jonze and Lance Bangs. It's only 39 minutes long, but I was all tied up in knots by the time it was over (and I could have watched another hour of it). I remember the Sendak documentary Mon Cher Papa that was run on PBS' American Masters series in 1987. That film moved me deeply, too. Is there something about Sendak that speaks to whatever it is in me that is creative? Hell, I dunno. But this HBO doc is wonderful. Get this DVD and watch it! Watch the extras too, especially the Q&A with Sendak and Spike.

I love Sendak's dog. I love the shot of Maurice with the box on the table next to him that has an image of a medieval Virgin Mary icon on the side, and a Mr. Incredible doll behind it. I love the life-size Barack Obama stand-up in Sendak's living room. I love his crankiness. I love his drawings. I simply love this man.

And Spike looks pretty darn sharp with a beard, eh?

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About How Much It Hurts To Be a Child

(Photo by Shawn Records.)

What makes Where the Wild Things Are difficult to watch is that it's not just about the happiness of childhood, like most children's movies.

It's about the pain of being a child.

It's about the loneliness and the long nights crying; it's about not knowing who you are in a world where everyone else seems to have figured that out already; it's about not knowing if you can trust the grown-ups in your life, or even if you should, or even if they really know everything about life, like you always believed they did.

In WTWTA, Max begins to see all that goes on inside the people around him (through the wild things he lives with), but I also see a boy finding his own space, defining his own life, because no one else is going to do it for him.

I love Max's mother in this movie. She's willing to let him be who he needs to be (despite his wildness, and maybe I only see that because I didn't have that kind of understanding when I was growing up), and that is a strong first step toward letting the child become who he or she needs to be. I grew up slotted into a role, and no one understood or even saw, when it was obvious, that I was breaking out of that role whether I (or they) liked it or not. I didn't want to be different, but in the end we all must be; both Max and me, and all of us. The wisest parent realizes that their child is another life that must be allowed to grow. Part of the pain of being a child is finding out that every parent's imagination is limited, because few of us can encompass in our minds the amazing universe of another person's life set into our hands to shape and nurture. Parents fail; children fail. Somehow, we all come out okay in the end...most of the time.

WTWTA is about finding out who you really are, and how much it hurts to realize that, ultimately, you're on your own.

This movie really speaks to me. I grew up gay and in hiding, and there's not one thing "gay" in this film; and that is certainly not the only tale being told here. But I don't think I've ever seen another movie that captures so well everything about what I went through while I grew up and dealt with all of what I had to deal with; not on so deep and universal a level as this. If you don't see your own childhood in Max's tale, then maybe you didn't have a childhood yourself. You grew up; that's all. Real children, like Max, live, and hurt, and survive.

I'm not alone. If you're in touch with what you were when you were a child, if you aren't just another face in the crowd, if you really know what it means to be alive while trying to find out why...this is your story.

That's one take on all of this, and maybe it's just my take. Let me know what you think. More to come.

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Okay.

On the surface, it's a story about a boy who runs away to a secret land with a bunch of monsters.

In the movie, it's a nine-year-old boy and a bunch of guys in fursuits. And there's some conflict, and there's some insight, and there's some reconciliation; blah, blah, blah.

So why is it that this movie makes me a total wreck every time I see it?

I tear up at all kinds of movies; even Die Hard gets me all verklempt at the end.

The first time I saw Where the Wild Things Are, I was wiping tears from my eyes after I left the theatre, while I was walking to my car. That was a first. And it still does it to me. Even while watching the closing credits of the DVD, I was shaking my head and wondering what the hell was going on...

I know this much -- you can find clues in Spike Jonze's awesome first two movies.

I don't know why Where the Wild Things Are does this to me; makes me a complete wreck. But I'm going to find out. It will take a few more viewings of the film. But I will dig down and figure out why this movie breaks me down, and why it has totally altered the way I see art and hear music and view films and read books. And the way I write.

Best freaking picture of 2009. Eff the Oscars. This is the one.

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P.S. And Max Records is freaking awesome. But you already knew that.

Today's the Big Day!

LET THE WILD RUMPUS START!

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Wild About Where the Wild Things Are

Picture by Shawn Records from the set of Where the Wild Things Are.

How much do I love Where the Wild Things Are?

THIS MUCH!!!

Follow this link to read the full story (with pictures!) of how I came to own possibly THE most awesome bit of WTWTA memorabilia evah!

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Spike Jonze and Where the Wild Things Are

It's almost here! Where the Wild Things Are comes out on home video this week! Spike Jonze's documentary about Maurice Sendak, Tell Them Anything You Want (made along with Lance Bangs) also hits the stores this week. Here's a profile of Spike from the LA Times.

The most vivid scenes in "Wild Things" are also the most physical: the rough-and-tumble brawls and dirt fights. In keeping with his skate-kid roots, Jonze is usually at his best when communicating his sheer love of movement. Think of the lead character's Dance of Despair and Disillusionment from "Being John Malkovich" or the ecstatic choreography in the videos for Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet" and Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice" and "Praise You."

WTWTA blew my mind on many levels. I'm sure I'll have even more to say about it now that I can watch it over and over.

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Speaking of ‘Wild Things,’ love lost — and Mozart

One of the things that most intrigues me about writers and writing is influence -- what works on writers to make them create what they do? What fascinates them, encourages them, depresses them? Lots of people want to know from where writers get their ideas. Sometimes that is so hard to explain, but if you can find out what a writer loves, and hates, and fears, and finds joy in, then you will come closer to understanding what makes their imaginations tick.

Anyway, here's a fascinating article about Maurice Sendak and his loves and sorrows, called Speaking of ‘Wild Things,’ love lost — and Mozart. One of Sendak's great joys, as is mine, is the music of Mozart. There is much that is fascinating in this article, but I think I most love the conclusion:

But just a week before the interview, Sendak says, he began to come out of his depression. It started by picking up “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens, followed by listening to Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.”

“I’m coming back to life — and the movie of ‘Wild Things’ and everything is life-enhancing,” says the author. “One looks for signs and symptoms of what is good and what is bad, what is pulling you down and what is holding it up. It’s Mozart, but I haven’t listened to him carefully for a long time. Now he’s back in my life with a vengeance. ... And there’s Charles Dickens.”

Max, of “Wild Things,” would be around 50 now.

“If I had a preference, he would be an artist,” says Sendak. “He would be an artist and it could be in any profession — in painting, in illustrating, in writing, in music. Oh, God, if he were a great pianist, I would be so happy!”

That tells me more about Maurice Sendak than anything I've ever read about him. I'm anxious to see the HBO documentary about Sendak, Tell Them Anything You Want, made by Spike Jonze and Lance Bangs, which is due out the same day as the DVD of WTWTA, March 2.

Don Giovanni is my favorite opera, BTW.

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Rolling Stone Loves WTWTA!

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave WTWTA four stars! His review is terrific, and here's a great quote:

Jonze never belabors points about violence or the Freudian nature of identity and rebellion. Whether Max's cheeks flush with euphoria or rage, our identification with him is complete. Jonze brings all the senses into play. You can practically feel the animal heat when homesick Max falls asleep in a "real pile" of snoozing wild things. But the creatures don't coddle Max, and the film follows suit. By staring without blinking into the yellow eyes of these wild things, Max begins to recognize something of himself.

DVD & Blu-Ray come out March 2!

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Brand New WTWTA Review!

Here's a terrific little review of WTWTA, with this great note about Max:

Special mention has to be given to the performance of Max Records in his role as Max. This talented young actor is someone to keep an eye on in the future. If you consider that he has very little previous experience and that most of the filming was done with puppets and little human interaction, then his performance really is phenomenal. He's able to portray such a wide range of emotions from happiness, joy, and craziness to loneliness, anger, and sadness. He definitely does crazy well and could possibly follow in the footsteps of Johnny Depp or Robert Downey Jr. in the future by taking less mainstream roles.

"He definitely does crazy well..." :o) I love it! The next Johnny Depp? Who knows?

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The New Republic on WTWTA

Chris Orr of The New Republic really liked Where the Wild Things Are, and I really liked his review, especially this bit:

Where the Wild Things Are may not be a great film for children (or, at least, most children). But it is something rarer still: a great, and unsparing, film about childhood. I’ll eat you up, I love you so.

Check it out. The DVD and Blu-Ray come out on March 2!

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Bringing ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ to the Screen

Well, let's get started. Movie obsessions? Check! My favorite movie of 2009 is Where the Wild Things Are, which turned out to be excellent on many levels and in unexpected ways. I've been terrorizing my Facebook followers with hordes of articles and reviews about the movie, and here's one of the best -- a detailed article about the making of the film from The New York Times. Enjoy!

Bringing ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ to the Screen

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