“Please don’t go. I’ll eat you up, I love you so.”…and I knew what KW meant: when you love something, you’ll do almost anything to keep it close.
“Where the Wild Things Are” wasn’t at all what I expected. I had hoped for a dense, well crafted story–what I got was a beautiful picture to feast my eyes upon for 90 minutes. It should be known that I was one of the rare oddities that didn’t obsess with the book as a child either. I was too involved with “Katy Caterpillar,” “Poochie,” and ballet lessons to care about a reckless little boy who gets in touch with his id. I wasn’t at all introspective as a child, I loved anything purple and anything pretty. Life was simple and the muted blues of “Where the Wild Things Are” just didn’t appeal to me.
So, when I went to see the film I thought it would be my chance to redeem myself for being so off trend as a child. It was not. Once again, I left a theater feeling dumber than the rest of America. Some hype, I just don’t get and I can’t beat myself up over it.
What I did extract was a gloriously painted picture, a world created impeccably and with great consideration to detail. Waves crashed on isolated rocks, branches stood barren of foliage, bark and dirt lay over the ground…it’s a world I’d escape to too. Something completely bare of anything extraneous, just the bones of nature. It’s pure in its desolation. It’s quiet. I imagine all you could do in such a place is think deeply and simplify.
And I think that’s why above all KW spoke most to me. She just wanted things to not be complicated. We all have the ability to make life hard, or make life easy. And the same goes for Love. You can convolute it, or you can realize that it’s not always perfect and that’s OK. Everyone’s story is different, and it takes a truly open mind to release your Love from the expectations of the status quo. Things come along to test its purity, some of us even do provocative things in order to REALLY get to the bottom of someone’s intentions, but in the end, if it fails, which axiom do you follow, “If you love a little birdie you have to let it go” or “Please don’t go. I’ll eat you up I love you so?” I think the choice is tricky, and perhaps some of us need to sail away on a boat to an island filled with mythical creatures for an answer while others who deeply (and truly) love stay consumed by their choice to finally let someone in; even if their Love has already sailed away…
October 25, 2009
Beautiful observations. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Just a question, what about the movie made you feel dumb or felt over your head? Just curious because it seems you came away with a lot and I haven’t seen the movie but would like to soon.
October 25, 2009
Thank you! I do recommend seeing it, it’s sweet in alot of ways.
After hearing and reading how poetic this take on the book was, I think I went in with too many expectations (which is an obstacle I have to overcome as a critic…maybe). I found myself waiting during the film–waiting for the moment reviewers and audience members were referring to that made it so revolutionary. I walked out of the film and sort of just shrugged my shoulders in a “that was nice” sort of way when my friend asked me my thoughts. Perhaps I set myself up for disappointment because I wanted to take alot away from it. I think I wanted more Freud and less Picasso, or perhaps a more delicious melange of both. If I dissected the film I could get whatever I wanted out of it, but it seems like too much work for a movie I thought I’d just be “wowed” by according to the rest of America (of course, that’s a sweeping generalization…). I needed to be honest about that moment of self doubt….
I’d be interested to know your thoughts after you see it.
October 28, 2009
I hope your love sails back to you. Based on your eloquent writing, he’d be stupid not to give you a chance. My wife and I went through alot together, I messed things up pretty bad, but it’s our love…like you said, not perfect, not normal by any standard, but worth it. Thank you for sharing this.