BH and I finally caught this movie!! We have been waiting for a good evening to watch the movie – no rain, next day no need to wake up early… so the fateful day was Tuesday! hehe.. Wed, we had dental appointment so BH kinda have 1/2 day off.
If you are thinking tt this movie is kinda like the book then I think you are somewhat correct? haha… The book and movie are quite ambiguous – It makes one think .. Just that in this movie, the director/script writer kinda gives more background knowledge of the child and his family, to make the movie more complete.
In my opinion, I think that this movie have more details than the book. It contains many philosophical values which requires one to ask questions and reflect on life! An artistic film one might say… erm… The monsters only appear abt 30mins into the movie.. and they are nt exactly those cute cuddly monsters.. they look dirty?
Anyhow, after the movie, I could see BIG question marks on BH’s head. I was very glad… coz this means there were room for discussions b/t the 2 of us.. haha.. so we were like talking about the significance of the monsters and the boy himself…
BH’s conslusion of the movie “It’s just a movie of a spoilt brat”
My conclusion of the movie “Big dreams trapped in a small boy”
There are many themes involved in this movie. Some themes include –
1) Family – The movie shows the relationship of the boy with his sister, with his mum and with himself. The father figure was absent in the movie ( and book!) , we only see a Globe which was given to the boy by the father. Mum moved on and met someone new, boy saw mum’s new man and threw a tantrum (Who was he angry with? Why was he upset?)
2) Appearance vs Reality – It’s interesting to note the behaviour of the boy when he have his costumes on and when he’s without the costume.. heh… it’s so cliche BUT it seems like he’s another case of ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ ( What is he trying to show when he wears the costume? Costume = super power?)
3) Dreams vs Imagination – Was the boy just playing a kiddo imagination game with monsters? is he actually dreaming ( sleeping kind of dreams)?
4) Needs vs wants – Does his new monsters friends fill up the boy’s emptiness for the lack of friends ( as compared to his sister) ? Or is it that he only needed his mother’s love and attention?
The final question “Did he go to monster land?”
-If yes: Can he really do so many things in monster land in only a day? Where does these monsters live?(Note: Mum was wearing the same clothes as when he left and returned)
-If no: Why is he so hungry? Why are his clothes dirty and wet?
Conclusion:
As an educator, I feel that ‘Where the wild things are’ is not only a good book for P4C ( Philosophy for Children), it is also a good film to teach children about values (esp. the last part, shldn’t the boy apologise to the mum for making her worried? or he didn’t apologise coz he didn’t run away from home?). Well, I will recommend teachers to use this as a trigger or a conclusion activity for the kids to reflect. It’s definitely a good movie to activate prior knowledge or just to get pupils to share and discuss their feelings and thoughts.
For adults, this is not a kiddy show! It’s a show that helps us to reminisce our childhood… recollecting our childhood games and toys! ( heh… i rem my sis and I like to ‘pitch’ tents using blankets and clothes pegs then putting our toys inside… haha) Brings back good memories to me 🙂
Watched the movie? Let me know what u think!!
