I spent last Friday night watching myself when I was a child. I sat through the games I played, the noises I made, and the frustrations I felt at not yet understanding the world in which I lived, nor my role in it. But last Friday, the child I was watching wasn’t me, it was a little boy named Max.

As I sat in the theater watching Where the Wild Things Are on the 6-story-high IMAX screen at the Pacific Science Center, I knew not everyone could appreciate the movie as I did.

I watched as Max underwent many of the same emotions I struggled with as a young child: the anger and frustration I felt so readily, feeling continually misunderstood by those around me, and trying to make sense of a world that seemed as if it made no sense at all. The movie stirred emotions I hadn’t felt for more than a decade. It explored a child’s mind honestly and without ridicule. And in that way, Where the Wild Things Are is the best movie I have seen in a very long time.

The people who will enjoy this movie are the ones who were like Max when they were young. They are the explorers of their imaginary worlds, not satisfied with the world in which they live, demanding more of an unjust place, not only hoping, but knowing more must be out there. I’m not saying these people had an unhappy childhood, they just felt their emotions differently than other kids they knew. Watching Max Friday night reminded me of how complex being a child actually was.

I’ve had the opportunity to work as a camp counselor for the past five summers at a residential-outdoor camp. Working there, I’ve been able to get to know some of the most incredible people I have ever met. These incredible people have mostly been kids between the ages of 11 and 16 years old. Each summer I am surprised when the people who have been most influential in my life have been kids who haven’t yet graduated from junior high.

Where the Wild Things Are serves as a reminder that kids are people too. We need to treat these people with respect and take the time to listen to what they have to say. We can help them through trying to understand the world, and they can help us to examine it. Our world is too removed from the older and younger generations, too isolated and too uninterested.

So allow yourself to enjoy this movie. It’s not going to do all the work for you, you have to be willing to explore where the wild things are without a need to understand everything around you. Allow yourself to go on an adventure; you might end up in an exciting place.

Reach Production Director Colleen Kirsten at production@dailyuw.com.