I just finished watching “Where the Wild Things Are,” and to be honest, I loved it. Before watching it, my friends were telling me that it was a horrible movie with no plot. So I was not expecting the best when I started the movie, but afterwards, I felt I followed the storyline directly.

All I can remember from the book as a child was that Max’s imagination grows rampant taking him on this adventure to an island where the wild things are. The movie does a phenomenal job of abstracting that idea into a full-length movie. The director and author together expanded that idea to get the viewer into the mindset of a child, playful and imaginative. Max was a child who was dying for friendship and relationship. Missing the “care” of his mother and sister gives him feelings of loneliness, and he does what almost any child would do and goes to dire lengths to get that attention from them. After running away, he discovers the boat where his imagination grows and takes him to the island where the wild things are.

On the island, he meets the wild things, whom become his friends. One of the wild things, Carol, becomes good friends with Max and shares almost the personality as Max, wanting that relationship and friendship. Once Max befriends some of the other wild things, Carol’s jealousy grows and becomes eager for Max’s attention, similar to how Max felt with his sister and mother. After seeing Carol’s and some of the other wild things behaviors, and he learns the irrationality of some of his own actions. Eventually, Max’s imagination leads him back into reality and into his mother’s arms.

Ultimately, I liked the movie because I could connect with it so well. My introverted personality truly values those close relationships and when it seems like those go sour, it feels hurtful. From Max’s disregard from his mother’s moments of love and acceptance of the few moments of inattentiveness, I realized that you cannot always receive the constant love from another person. We all want to be loved, but no love from anyone is perfect, except that from God. There will be conflict, but don’t allow that to destroy the relationship. We’re all human, and it doesn’t mean they don’t care. As a child, I definitely remember those Max moments where I was eager for someone to dive into my imagination with me. The past forms who we are today, and without reconciliation of the past, we cannot fully correct the present. I love how children’s movies teach us so much about ourselves and life.