It's beautiful in Chicago lately, and so I rode my motorcycle to see Where the Wild Things Are; my wife and kid took the car.
Cristie reported that Scout cried all the way home in the car.
Which would have alarmed me, I guess, had I not cried all the way home on the motorcycle.
So, I guess that would be a “two tears up” from the Murray & Murray movie reviewers, then?
You can listen to the soundtrack in its entirety here: http://tinyurl.com/ycalhjg
All the songs were composed by Karen O. from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I thought she did a beautiful job.
p.s. my evil step mother is named Judith.
I can’t risk listening to, watching, or thinking about anything associated with that movie while I’m at work.
It was sad? I had no idea. All I heard was that it was way more adult than you’d think it would be, seeing that it’s a children’s story. Did you watch it with different eyes since you knew more about Maurice Sendak, David?
C.S. Lewis said, “No book is really worth reading at age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty…Those of us who are blamed when old for reading childish books were blamed when children for reading books too old for us. No reader worth his salt trots along in obedience to a timetable.”
This was Sendak’s philosophy to a tee. “Tell [children] anything you want,” he says, “as long as it’s true.”
The idea that children can’t “handle” subjects like death and fear and loneliness is as questionable as the notion that adults have all that stuff under control.
So: When Scout turned to me in the movie theater looking to see if I thought the boy’s departure from the land of the Wild things was sad, she looked relieved to see tears streaming down my face.
We’ve got to be strong for our kids, and we’ve got to protect them. But not from the kinds of feelings they’re already feeling–and the ones from which they’ll never be immune.
Oh my goodness!! I’m having paroxysms of ecstasy!!! That Lewis quote is absolutely MARVELLOUS!! I cannot believe I’ve never come across it before!!
I don’t know where you found that, but I’ve appropriated it now, because it’s the story of my life in one sentence!!! Just brilliant!!!!
P.S. I see in re-reading my comment that I have now exhausted my lifetime’s allotment of punctuation, and must now die. It’s been just lovely knowing you all.
Kristen, we hardly knew ye. Glad you liked that C.S. Lewis quote; it was deeply instructive to me when I read it and it still gives me courage.