Two Movie Allegories

Dictionary.com defines Allegory as "The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form."
Today's blog is going to talk about two movies that I saw today that seem to fit this category. One you will I'm sure quickly see as an allegory, the other may seem a stretch to you.

Before we begin...SPOILER ALERT FOR WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE & COUPLES RETREAT...

We will start with the more obvious Allegory of Where the Wild Things Are. This classic children's book was written to years before I was born. And with this new movie adaptation, it shows that it is aging Wildly and with quite a lot of style. Director Spike Jonze decided against using high tech CGI creatures, but went instead with what looks like upgraded versions of the Sid & Marty Kroftt saturday morning creations of my childhood (HR Puffinstiff, Land of The Lost). In this story Max gets in trouble for his wild behavior and runs off (in the book he's sent to his room, in the movie he runs away). He finds himself in a wild forest with The Wild Things. Here is where the Allegory kicks in. Each of the Wild things seems to represent different pieces of Max, or any child's personality. Carol is the selfishness and anger of acting out, Judith is distrust of others, paired with Ira who is low self esteem, Alexander is the feeling that grown ups never listen. You get it? each Character is part of Max, and in becoming King of the Wild things, he has to try to bring all these parts of him together, and bring them all under his control. Or maybe I'm reading to much into it, and its just the story of a rowdy kid and his wild imagination...

Anyway, moving on to Couples Retreat. I'm sure most people go into this movie just looking for rowdy laughs and a good time, and you can definitely come away with that. But I found in it an allegory, with each couple displaying a different problem one might encounter in their marriage. We see the man who's wife has left him, and he is trying to fill the void with any young thing he can find, though really still in love with his wife. We see the couple who has been together since high school, each with a wandering eye, not realizing they just need to look at each other with a fresh eye. There is the couple who are striving so he=ard to keep everything on track and on a schedule, that they don't realize they are losing the love that brought them together. And we have the couple that are each so busy with their own thing, they totally miss the fact that they are leading seperate lives together. I challenge you to go see this movie with your mate, and go into it not just looking for the cheap laugh, but looking for something to bring you closer. It's no FIREPROOF, but it might be the funny romantic kick your relationship needs...A Couples Retreat if you would.