Where the Wild Things Are (on the big screen, that’s where)

 

movie poster

 

 

So Sarah and I took the boys to see WTWTA. I’ve read many reviews, so I felt a little spoiled going into it. But I was pleasantly surprised. I had heard so much about kids being bored and asking to leave and it being an adult movie about kids, etc.

But what I saw was a ten-lined story expanded the way one would fill in any elliptic adventure. It was one man’s view (well, two if you count Dave Eggers) of what went on WTWTA. Max and the monsters were one. They were naive and innocent just like Max, but yet filled with a misguided rage and the by-product of civilizing any little barbarian: mild sadism, violent outbursts and dirt clod fights.

Our 8-year-old loved it. He said he was going to buy the DVD. From our discussion on the way home, I think he could relate to the emotions that were presented and the experiences Max had dealing with them. The monsters were the perfect vessels in which to pour the fear, confusion, anger, loneliness and even the burgeoning logic of the pre-adolescent mind.

Our 4-year-old also enjoyed it. The emotional intensity had his attention from the beginning and I think he was taking in Max the same way he takes in his big brother. Just watching and taking notes.

He did get a little freaked out at certain points, abandoning his movie snacks to crawl into Sarah’s lap – “Hold me, mom!”

And it wasn’t until the last minute of the film, when it was obvious the end was very near, that he asked, “Is it time to leave now?”

This film was so much fun to watch and it was strange also. Max’s world was completely untainted by adult influence. It did the best job of representing the pre-adolescent psyche of any film I can remember.

 

My son, the chow hound.

Noah, 4,  and I were making our way through crosstown traffic to pick up Caleb, 8, from school. I was tired at the wheel and discussing the finer points of CandyMonster with Noah. CandyMonster, he informed, was a creature he had made up. “You should draw me a picture of that one,” I said. “Eh, it’s pretty hard to make him on paper, dad.”

It was already dark; not quite 5:30. “The days get shorter in the winter time, buddy.”

“Dad? I want macaroni for dinner. With chef on top.”

I was stumped. “What kind of stuff?”

“No, dad, CHEF!”

Beefaroni. Macaroni noodles with ground beef and tomato sauce, made by the chef, as in Boy Ardee. He had been asking to have it for breakfast. His appetite has been through-the-roof lately. “You really like the Chef, don’t you, buddy.”

“Yeah, dad. A lot. Can we keep buying and buying it?”

“Alright, Chowdy Doody, you can have macaroni with Chef on it when we get home. But you’ll have to pick a vegetable, too.”

“You called me Chowdy Doody…”

Vaccinations

Who will take the shot?

Like marriage, inoculating our children is a personal subject that we all share with the government. The jab du jour is, of course, the H1N1 vaccine. Will it cast your child’s brain into Guillain-Barré hell? It did happen with the swine flu vaccine of 1976. Will it pollute little Billy’s brain with it’s mercury-based preservative? Or is it just as innocuous as a tuna sandwich?

The decision to jab or jive should be up to the parent. And the media’s long shadow contains many points of view on the subject to help parents make up their minds. Let’s just hope that the majority of parents are as media savvy and literate as they need to be to read between the lines.

– Wired Magazine has posted at length about what they see as the absurdity and conspiracy theorizing about vaccines, including H1N1

– Austria’s Jane Burgermeister maintains a website concerning The Flu Case

– Poland says no to H1N1 vaccines

– Germany endeavors to inoculate entire population

– Israel waiting to jab pregnant women and sick kids over safety of vaccine additives

– Health Department urges jab

– A Virginia teen has suffered a rare illness after the swine flu shot

– “Just get your damn vaccine!”

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!