Taming the Wild Things

I just saw the trailer for "Where the Wild Things Are."

They're making a MOVIE out of "Where the Wild Things Are." A movie. Can't we let ANY beloved classic books just be books?

Nope. Gotta turn it into a movie. Gotta milk a few million more bucks out of it. I guess it was just a matter of time. From now on, whenever the story is mentioned, whenever I wear my Wild Things tie, some poor little kid will say, "I have that movie!" Just like Robin Hood. And the Jungle Books. And Peter Pan. And pretty much every other children's story that's ever been written.

But this is worse than those. This story is imminently unsuitable to be turned into a two-hour movie. The book is only a few short pages long. It is simple, as beautiful for what it leaves unsaid as for what it says. Full of great themes and deep meanings unsaid, allowing the story to be read as just a fun story. It is more poem than novel.

Making a story like that into a movie destroys this magic. And, just in case that isn't stupid enough, it's rated PG. "Not suitable for Children." How on earth can "Where the Wild Things Are" not be suitable for children? What is WRONG with these people?

I take this rather personally, I'm afraid, because like most men who were once small boys, I was and am Max. That story is about me. And now they've gone and made a movie out of it.

Another wild thing tamed. The world is a sadder place.