Wild Thing
I’m a movie addict and ever since I saw the preview for “Where The Wild Things Are” I’ve had it on my short list. The book was a favorite of mine as a child and I was intrigued to see how Hollywood would bring it to “life”. (Computer-generated imagery).
I asked Hannah to join me and she agreed on the condition she bring a friend. Driving the girls to the theatre, I tried to prep them a bit on the premise of the movie. I wanted them to understand it was not going to be anything like The Notebook or Pride and Prejudice. Thank God. “This was my favorite book when I was a child. Funny thing about it, there are only 10 sentences in the entire book”, I boasted. Taylor, Hannah’s friend piped up, “Mr Dean, is that why you liked the book so much?” Ugh.
We found ourselves to be the only people in the joint for this 4:30pm matinee which was perfect because when Max encounters the “Wild Things” they all begin to growl at each other. And since we owned the theatre, I growled back at the screen. Hannah and Taylor just looked at each other like I was the Thing Gone Wild. Who would have thought this movie would have a ”Rocky Horror Picture Show” feeling ? However, the girls did put their foot down when I wanted to dance in front of the screen.
Max was a typical boy. Throughout the movie, he wore his favorite costume, his face was dirty and his hair was always a mess. We saw how Max had trouble connecting with his older sister and locked horns with his single Mom. And just like in the book, Max got in trouble and was sent to his room without dinner.
Driving home after the movie, I explained to the girls why this movie hits home with boys and… well, to be honest, Men. It contained all the ingredients guys love in life:
Adventure, hiking, boats, costumes, good guys vs bad guys, sticks, rocks, kings, castles, crowns, weapons, forts, fighting, battles and as Max gets a little older…girls.
After I gave my it’s how a boy lives speech, Hannah and Taylor looked at me for a moment with their heads sort of tilted to one side with that “Huh?” look on their face.
I thought to myself, years from now I hope they have a Max of their own. MANY years from now.
