After my kids and I saw the trailer of Where the Wild Things Are, my 18-year-old said, "Wow, that's the ultimate dream movie for Waldorf parents." My younger daughter attended a Waldorf public charter school (LAUSD's Ocean Charter School) from 5th through 8th grade, and both kids (not having grown up under The Waldorf Doctrine - read about the pedagogy here and here) were fascinated by the cloth-covered wicker lunch baskets, the natural fibers, the arts and crafts, the singing, and the emphasis on nature and (strangely enough) fairies.
The kids liked all this stuff just fine, but the parents LOVED it. I mean, kids will go for brightly colored plastic toys in a heartbeat - but parents eat up stuff like this. Wood, cotton, wool, and all things natural = good. Plastic, technology, and other signs of the modern world are to be avoided as long as possible.
So Max living in the jungle with his Wild Thing friends, being all nature-boyish and imaginative and all, does seem right up the Waldorf alley (or country lane). The soundtrack sounds pretty Waldorfian, as well, at least judging by the single "All is Love" by Karen O and the Kids. I mean, the title of that song alone...
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Where the Waldorf Parents Are...
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I can't remember the last time I was this excited about a movie. And I love the single.
ReplyDeleteYes, the trailer creates such an amazing atmosphere - I'm very intrigued.
ReplyDeleteI too am equally excited, one of my fav. childhood books. I mean doesnt like this book.
ReplyDeleteBut the chapter published in the New Yorker from the novel by Dave Eggars (from the movie, from the picture book) left me nonplussed. It explains Max's back story: family situation, his departure in his wolf costume, the voyage, and his first encounter with Wild Things on the island. I finished the piece, thinking, but it's all so wonderfully distilled in the Sendak book. Why a novel? (And I LOVE Dave Eggars.)
ReplyDeleteAs I'm about 2 months behind on New Yorker stories, I haven't read the Eggers story yet. My husband was perplexed - he wondered if this was some money-grubbing synergistic ploy to get more people to see the movie...
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