Movie Review of “Where the Wild Things Are” Using the Critical Theory

    Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 film directed by Spike Jonze. The film is an adaptation of the 1963 children’s book written by Maurice Sendak. The movie is about a boy named Max who arrives on an island inhabited by the “Wild Things,” who chooses Max as their king. Max Records plays Max, alongside actors such as Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini, and Mark Ruffalo (IMDb n.d.).

Summary: Max is an imaginative boy desperate for his mother and sister’s attention. One night, Max accidentally bites his mother on the shoulder when she tries to order him to behave and instructs him to tell his sister to clean her mess on their table for dinner. Upon realizing his mistake, Max runs out of their house and finds a small boat which he uses to get away from their house. After days of sailing at sea, Max comes ashore on an island inhabited by a group of seven creatures. Initially, the creatures try to eat Max but he avoids it by telling them that he is a King and has magical powers. Together, Max and the creatures build a fort where they can sleep on. Max even promises to protect the creatures and to keep them happy. He also manages to bring back K.W. who once left the group for her owl friends, Bob and Terry. For a while, things are going good for Max and his monster friends. However, all is destroyed when K.W. and Max brings Bob and Terry to their place as this causes Carol to become jealous of the owls. Eventually, the group is ruined when Carol finds out that Max is just an ordinary boy. Max escapes Carol’s wrath by hiding into K.W.’s belly. After talking to K.W., Max decides to go home to his family. Before he sails away from the island, the monsters bid goodbye to Max. He then arrives safely back to the house and when his mother saw him, she hugs him tightly. The final scene shows Max’s mother watching him sleepily as he eats the food she gives him.     

            Critique: The method employed in the analysis of the movie is based on the Critical Theory. But before delving into the review itself, we must first delineate the meaning of the aforementioned theory. Critical Theory in a sense, seeks to question the existing conditions of the society, those that we deem as “normal” and “typical” aspects of our life. In that, it always asks “why” things have been this way or that way. However, Critical Theory is not only confined to criticizing and examining what we think as ordinary but rather, it aims to question these stuff in order for it to bring positive change, a change that will bring growth to the development of the society and the individuals that constitute it.

            Three distinct intellectual phenomena are also going to be utilized in the Critical Theory. These are Post-Marxism, Postcolonialism, and Post-structuralism. Firstly, Post-Marxism questions Marx’s theory of human emancipation (Tormey and Townshend 2006, 5-6). This also regards that inequality is not only based on the issue of class and economy but other factors contribute to it as well. Secondly, Postcolonialism tackles the idea of examining the influences of the colonizers on their previously colonized territories. These influences extend to the current representation of the said country on the idea of race, ethnicity, culture, and human identity (Encyclopedia.com n.d.). And lastly, Post-structuralism argues that in order to understand an object, it is essential to study the object itself and the systems of knowledge used to produce the said object. Thus, context comes into play. This is because it holds the notion that the study of underlying structures is in danger to biases and misinterpretations because it is culturally conditioned (New World Encyclopedia n.d.).

           

            Post-Marxism is manifested in the following scenes in the movie:

1.      When Judith questions Max as to whether he, as the king, plays favorites among his subjects, she contends as to whether everyone is equal or if someone is better than the others.

This scene shows that inequality is not only based on economic relations or class struggle but that it is also a matter of political aspect. It is political in the sense that power is involved in the form of Max as a king and as a ruler. Although he does not really favour anyone in the group, Judith sees it that way. In a sense, for Judith, she is oppressed because she is affected by the inequality in the group.

Postcolonialism

1.      When Max lied about being a king and having some magical powers, he actually represents the way the colonizers used these kinds of stories to subjugate the people in the territories that they want to colonize. As such, Max’s story about himself left a lasting impression in the minds of the monsters that even though they already found out that he was only an ordinary boy, they still refer to him as a king. This is shown in the scene where he bids goodbye to everyone before returning home as Judith says that he is the only “king” that they haven’t eaten.

2.      Even though Max had already left the monsters in the island, the monsters will always remember him and will always have a lasting impression of who he is. In short, when Max entered into their lives, he had already influenced them in a way that even though he is already gone, will stay forever just like how the colonizers affected the lives of their past colonies.

Post-structuralism

1.      Max’s mother told him that he’s out of control when he bit his mother. Max also said this to Carol when he tore Douglas’ arm. This shows the way how an “acceptable behavior” is being portrayed in the movie. This also applies in real life when the notion of social norms and values comes into play as one can question what it means to be called “in control”.

2.      When Max was held as a King, what does it mean to be one? Is there a universal idea of a King? In the movie’s context, one can see that for the monsters, the idea of a king is someone who will protect them and ensure that the group stays together. It also means that for them, the king is someone who has powers. But more than that, in order to understand fully the monsters’ idea of King, one must bring also into context the forces that shaped the way the monsters view the said idea.

3.      Post-structuralism is also manifested in the scene where Max came into the island and entered the monster’s lives. In becoming a King, one might ask if Max knew the history of the group and the reasons the monsters act in a certain way. For instance, when he helped Carol destroy the monsters’ houses, did Max understand that not all of them wants to help Carol in what he wants to accomplish and that the reason for Carol’s behavior is because of K.W.? Moreover, when Max became a King, one can also notice that the existing social structure in the island has been changed. This was because before, when the monsters had no king they have to form a consensus when dealing with matters but now that Max as a king entered the scene, they have already developed a sort of hierarchy when it comes to decision-making.

Critical theory, as mentioned before, seeks to examine the normal and typical aspects of our life. The film takes us through the life of a little boy who has all of these emotions that you expect from a boy his age. We are given more understanding when you realize that the creatures that he encounters, befriends, and rules over are actually manifestations of his emotions. As the film progresses, Max faces these emotions and realizes that, as just a little boy, he needs the care of his mother and realizes her importance to him. After all, as king, he acted as the mother to these creatures. We can look at this as a growing up cycle that all human beings go through.

When we apply the concepts seen in the film to the real world, the film could be telling us that not only children have these “out of control” emotions, but that adults tend to have them as well. This can be seen when Max’s mother shouts at him for misbehaving which results to Max “running away.” It shows that our emotions can affect our decision-making, whether it is a small-scale or a big-scale situation. The film tells us that we must face these emotions which then lead us to a greater understanding and better decision-making.

As such, using critical theory in the analysis of the movie also enlightens us to the idea that we must not take things at their face value. Instead, it invites us to dig deeper and provide a comprehensive understanding when dealing with such issues because sometimes when we employ methods to help others make their conditions better, we do not realize that we have created more destruction than the help that we are aiming for. Although our intentions are good, just like Max when he attempted to protect the monsters from sadness and loneliness, we often fail to see the big picture. Thus, it is more appropriate to be able to examine all the sides of the issue that we are dealing with.

                                                                                                                                         

References:

“Postcolonialism”. Encyclopedia.com. Accessed November 5, 2017. 

                 http://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/postcolonialism.

“Post-structuralism”. New World Encyclopedia. Accessed November 5, 2017.  

           http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Post-structuralism.

Tormey, Simon, and Jules Townshend. 2006. Key Thinkers from Critical Theory to Post-Marxism.             London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

"Where the Wild Things Are (2009)." IMDb. Accessed November 05, 2017. 

            http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386117/.