#127 Where the Wild Things Are
July 13, 2009 by clander
It is a guarantee that whenever it is announced that a popular book is being turned into a movie, white people will get upset. This is partly due to their fear that something they love will be made accessible to more people and thus enjoyed by more people which immediately decreases the amount of joy a white person can feel towards the original property. Yes, it’s complicated.
The other problem is that these announcements create a ticking time bomb where by a white person must read the book in ADVANCE of the release of the movie. This is done partly so that they can engage in the popular activity of complaining about how the movie failed to capture the essence of the book. But more importantly, once a book has been made into a movie, a white person can no longer read that book. To have read the book after the movie is one of the great crimes in white culture, and under no circumstances should you ever admit to doing this. Literally dozens of white friendships have imploded when it was revealed that someone read Fight Club after 1999.
So when it was announced that Where the Wild Things Are was being turned into a feature film, white people didn’t immediately get excited at the prospect of this film, in fact a great number of white people cringed when they first heard it was being turned into a movie. This was merely instinct. Immediately, those concerns quickly turned into an opiate-like peace when they found out that the film is being directed by white person favorite Spike Jonze and adapted for the screen by legendary white writer Dave Eggers.
Though the talent and the material has white people in a tizzy, the real excitement comes from the fact that this film is based off a book that is 48 pages long and made up mostly of illustrations. This means that white people do not have to re-read the book until the day they head to the movie theater. Thus freeing them up to watch The Director’s Series: The Work of Spike Jonze DVD which they bought years ago but only watched once.
Finally, and perhaps of most value to you is that the film has generously provided you with an excellent way to test out how many white friends you have. When the trailer was released a few months ago, you should have been inundated with emails, instant messages, and Facebook wall posts about how you need to see the trailer immediately. If you received no word that the trailer was available, then you currently are in possession of no white friends. If you received multiple notices, you should take note about who sent it to you first.





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I liked the book when I was 3/4. Saw a couple of the trailers for the movies, thought it looked decent but beyond that, I didn’t care.
I tend to prefer to read the book before I watch the movie but I don’t get too worked up over it. I watched Fellowship of the Ring before reading it. Of course, I then read all three books in the Lord of the Rings trilogy before The Two Towers came out. I enjoyed that movie more because I had more background knowledge of what was going on. There were, of course, a number of differences in those movies, but most didn’t annoy me beyond explaining that certain gaps in the movies were explained in the books.
I’m beginning to wonder what type of “white” people inspired this blog because I’m about as white as it reasonably comes and I think all of maybe five of them actually apply to me and a few more seemed like they would until I opened them. Of the ones that applied to me, at least three were just hating on the thing that “white people” do just because it doesn’t appeal to the author. I’d suggest a more open mind, only that would likely be another thing “white people” like.
I think the the words “White People” on this blog actually means, “College graduate culture”
I’m (mostly) white and admit that even though I love children’s literature, I HATE “Where the Wild Things Are” and always have, even as a child. The story and pictures are both boring!
If you’re interested in multicultural children’s literature, check out Lee & Low Books:
http://www.leeandlow.com/
Cue Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Even though my Asianic friend goes on about the differences between the movie and comics (including how the ending had to be different because the comics weren’t finished yet), we met a guy working at Hot Topic who seemed much more put off by the discrepancies. Time to play…Guess! His! Ethnicityyy!!
My white roommate just lent me Fight Club, which I’m trying to finish reading before I get back to school, and many of our friends are very upset with the fact that I’m just getting started now. Of course, I refuse to see the movie with them until I finish the book, even though one of the major spoilers has already been ruined for me. So true! :p
that bit about fight club is HILARIOUS. love it.
check out http://justsomepetpeeves.wordpress.com
and tell your friends!!!
The trailer was awesome. The movie was baaaaaad. It’s pretty much only good for 5 yr old white kids. And even they will bitch about how it didn’t follow the book.
I love this book/movie! And yes, I am white. I relate to most of these facts about white people
haha. They’re very accurate
http://imgur.com/QDHrB
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