WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Kendra and I just saw this movie, and wow.. what a trip... Walking out of the theater, I just about broke down and cried as I talked with Kendra, relating the movie to my childhood..

"Where the Wild Things Are" really hit a nerve within me.. I have not (yet) read the book, but I heard that it was initially written to be used as a psychiatric tool to help young children come to grips with the 'wild things' that are in their minds.. Essentially, the plot of the movie is this:

A young boy goes off into his own mind to confront each 'wild thing' which is adversely effecting his behavior in the real world when he encounters stress..

Not every child has an emotional battle raging war on their adolescence, but this boy, along with many others, has 'wild things' to confront..

The Psychology behind it all is fascinating..

The 'wild things' are a response, or a behavioral pattern for the child to follow in order to deal with whatever circumstance the boy is confronted with.. It could be aggressive and violent, passive and non-confrontational, or crazy and hyper-active.. Each monster is competing for time to be 'on', where the 'wild thing' is given full control to handle the circumstance, and sets the course for the emotions that the boy feels.. This is a theoretical concept, but I believe in in full-heartedly..

This movie is going to stick with me because I can relate to this concept.. I remember when the '7-monsters-of-Mike' were competing for their time to shine back when I was in grade school.. All too often, I gave in to the hyper-active and occasionally the aggressive 'wild thing'..

Watching this film brought back all sorts of memories of what it was like to be adolescent again.. and oh boy, I was a HELL-SPAWN of a child.. All too often, I had raging emotional outbursts where I would lose control of myself, much like the boy in the movie.. When the crazy monster-of-Mike won over my emotions, I would lose control and my friends would get freaked out by my crazy outbursts.. My teachers insisted that I be put on Addoral or Ritalin, and when the moment passed and regular-Mike returned, I ended up feeling like I deserved to be alone, depressed, and unloved because of what I had done..

I would get overwhelmed by the adrenaline that flowed through my veins and I could not handle the emotions.. Something in my brain would SNAP and I would explode into irrational behavior.. I would do things without thinking, things that I normally would not even consider.. It was comparable to a 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' episode.. I would over react to the slightest opposition with violent rage.. I would get emotional because I had only a blue pen when I wanted a black one..

I would treat the ones I loved with the worst, vile behavior I could muster, only 5 minutes later to return to the state of the quiet, soft-spoken, curious child who was desperately seeking their approval..

I was 13 or 14 when I learned to get a grip on those emotions and took control of those outbursts.. But this movie reminded me what it was like to be a 10 year old boy again; to be emotionally unstable, in-over-my-head with LIFE, and learning to cope with the new, powerfully overwhelming emotions that come with it..

This movie is a reminder of what it is like to be a child; attempting to establish your identity in the world..

Somehow, I've always known that I will have a special connection with kids.. Perhaps it's because I am just a big-kid at heart.. I've always wanted to be the kind of Dad that could talk to his kids and relate to what they are feeling, and all 'the wild things' that run through their heads..

I hope that I can remember what it was like to be 10, so when my kids lose control, I won't be too hard on my 'HELL SPAWNS', because I am sure that the apple won't fall far from this tree..

The part of the movie that really drove it home was toward the end after the boy returned home and his mother sat at the table watching her boy eat before going to bed.. somehow, the director of the film captured the EXACT look that my mother gave me so many times throughout my life.. That penetrating eye-to-eye look that only a mother can give their child.. absolutely perplexed and fascinated at the same time.. desperately trying to imagine exactly WHAT could possibly be going on in that little mind of his.. at the same time, it is a very soft and loving stare, wondering if the boy knows even a fraction of what he is truly capable of..

At that moment, the mother's thoughts race to understand her boy.. all the while, his simple thoughts are care free, and he casually eats his cereal..