The kid was such a spoiled brat... I had a hard time of thinking of him as anything but throughout that entire movie...
Part of the reason I didn't enjoy this film was because of how much of a jerk the kid was...
He wasn't spoiled....
That's how Max was in the book, sooo.....
Loriginals#3
"Let the wild rumpus start!"
He was spoiled. The chocolate cake at the end?
I thought that was part of the point, though. He's a brat. Not a two-dimensional character, but a brat nonetheless.
Oh, and I thought Max Records did a great job. Certainly better than any of the (miscast) monster voices.
shareUghhh he was very unlikeable. I wanted to spank his bootay myself. How do you bite your mom, how do you stand on the kitchen table, of all things the place you eat, and yell and scream in defiance. It was his mother's fault. And then again I thought maybe the kid had some kind of mental issues.
I think they did a good job making the kid unlikeable because that is certainly how I feel.
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I spanked my kids. And they are straight A students. Better than have them be spoiled brats.
share[deleted]
Who cares? The real question is: do they contribute to society? Do they participate in volunteer work? Do they help the environment? Do they visit the old folks' homes to make them feel less lonely? Those are the things that matter. Your kids sound like they were raised not to be good citizens but to be people their parents can brag about on the internet. That is not a good thing.
shareOK this ONE time. I will entertain my THREE YEAR OLD COMMENT, since it bothers you so much that you responded to it.
Straight A students are bound to contribute more to society than spoiled brats.
And doing volunteer work, helping the environment and visiting old folks home sound more like hipster douchebag stuff to brag about in their circles. Doesn't mean you are a better person. It just means you are trying to CONVINCE others that you are good. LMAO.
I will answer you next comment in another three years....LMAO!
Devo-McDuff, I'll tell you.
1- Because children react to the psychotic world in psychotic ways. Kids reflect the world's unconscious behavior. First, it starts with the parents, then friends and their parents and neighbors and school teachers, etc as they age and become acquainted with the crazy world in general. Why do they do this? Because everyone else is doing it. It's expected. And people call it "normal" (it isn't. It's just common).
2- The crazy, psychotic world in general (parents, friends, teachers, neighbors, etc) is largely unaware of their own flawed nature and hypocritically whines that the child needs a spanking and/or psychiatric evaluation and/or military school and/or religious intervention, only making matters much, much worse. Anytime the child speaks up about the insanity and hypocrisy, the parent/neighbor/teacher vomits out a profound wisdom like "The world isn't fair so you'd better get used to it."
3- As long as no one breaks the cycle, the child grows up to adopt the idea that it is a dog-eat-dog world and the only way to get by is to be the biggest, meanest dog on the block. One day, that dog has puppies and around and around we go. This is how serial killers are made.
If you doubt any of this, remember when you were a kid and how you saw your parents and the rest of the world and how frustrated you were about the state of things. Look right now at these posts about WTWTA, all the brats posting comments going on and on about how much they hate Max. Look how they whine, bitch and moan about how he's such a brat and needs a spanking and needs to get his head checked. Right. Wake up.
Hope this helps.
I've woke up now. Though your post did knock me out for quite a while, yawn.
Complete load of tosh.
http://helloyouitsme.com
Mom isn't really providing any discipline, and she probably can't. Should spend more time with grandpa (assuming grandma didn't divorce him...)
shareTotally useless, pointless and dismissive reply. You're the living embodiment of the idiom about casting pearls before swine. If you disagree with that post, why not reply to it properly? Because you're an ass? The other option is that you didn't understand it, which makes you a dolt. And still, an ass.
shareHours in the day Chief, hours in the day,
But hey, at least you got the chance to throw in a few fancy idioms and insults. Winner winner, chicken dinner.
http://helloyouitsme.com
Max in the book was like a 5 year old. This guy is a 'tween and acts like a 5 year old.
Do you know the way to Shell Beach?
And what of Claire? She wasn't spoiled more than Max?
Max wasn't spoiled at all and he definitely wasn't a jerk.
Yeah but she didn't throw a hissy fit while standing on a table and then bite her mother...
shareyou've GOT to be kidding me.
i felt AWFUL for Max in the movie, but not in the book. in the book he was a dick for no reason.
but here, he's just looking for a playmate, someone to play w/.
he asks claire to come play but she's too cool, and her friends are dicks to max and max has lost one of his best friends in claire.
max's mom and dad are divorced so now the dad is out of the picture. there goes another best friend.
max's mom works a ton, and is trying to advance a relationship, there goes another.
i think max has the right to be angry, i'd be angry.
Yeah. I really felt for him, because I was able to understand how he felt. I love Max to pieces. :)
Loriginals#3
"Let the wild rumpus start!"
And I would have preferred Max was torn to pieces when the monsters decided to "eat" him.
The kid was a jerkass to the core except when he was playing "problem solver" and trying to comfort the Retard Monsters.
I agree with this comment SFM!!! Book-Max was much more dickish, because his actions were never given a cause.
But, the friends I saw the movie with a second time, said Max was spoiled because his mother gave him chocolate cake for dinner, rather than the frozen corn. I don't know. My mom would've given me chocolate cake, too, because she would've felt like it was her fault I ran away in the first place.
and all that is grounds for someone to bite his mother? excuse the fact that he has a roof over his head, food on the table, clothes to wear and all the free time in the world. not only this, he's not being abused (physically or sexually) by his family. you're right, what a terrible life.
max has the right to find a constructive hobby, not the right to throw useless tantrums and BITE his own mother who is trying to give him a father figure. sorry kid, the world doesn't revolve around you, now deal with it.
also, don't forget he's the one that instigated the whole snowball thing. not once did i hear him say "don't smash my igloo" or any other phrase that might actually provoke the slightly more mature kids to stop. there's actually a lesson there. don't throw things at people and not expect to get your face stomped out and your hut smashed. i'm sure the next time he'll think twice.
all you silly geese that are feeling sorry for this kid need to visit a 3rd world country and get your worldview in order. your lives have all been too easy.
Coming from a broken home (where the parents weren’t at all nice/kind), I empathized with Max’s feelings. I disapproved of his actions.
In saying that, I agree w/mastyrmynd’s thinkning about how this child clearly had no concept of (in)appropriate behavior (at least not at the beginning of the movie) or how good he really had it.
HOWEVER, unlike what seems to be the majority opinion here, I don’t think it’s Max’s fault. If growing up, you got constant attention from anyone/everyone you wanted it from, whenever and wherever you wanted it, then you’ll automatically think you’re entitled to it b/c that’s just the way the world works. Similarly, if you grow up never ever suffering negative consequences for your actions (s/a destroying other’s property, yelling/screaming inappropriately, biting or throwing things at people), then in your mind there’ll be nothing to deter you from committing those actions. In this case, it’s the mother who is acting inappropriately.
Consider the snowball incident—Max sees people who can potentially give him attention, so he tries to get attention from them by throwing (non-harmful) things at them. Luckily, the other kids respond favorably & start playing with him, returning fire. Now, during the course of the snowball fight, Max NEVER gives any indication that he wants the older kids to stop pursuing him once he runs into the igloo. He’s even laughing up to the point where the one boy jumps on the igloo, ruining his hard work.
Now, Max could’ve learned something here- he could’ve learned that you shouldn’t start a snowball fight unless you’re willing to finish it (& risk losing some of your things in the process). He could’ve learned (as mastyrmynd said) that you shouldn’t throw things at people and “not expect to get your face stomped out and your hut smashed.” But alas, bad parenting to the rescue. Later when he tells his mother about the igloo, his mom’s all “I would’ve done something about that,” as if those nasty older kids were maliciously trying to hurt Max & destroy his igloo on purpose. She actually defends his actions instead of telling him the reality of the situation that that kind of thing can in fact happen if you start a snowball fight w/someone (a perfectly reasonable outcome if you ask me). Max wasn’t hurt, the boy who belly-flopped on the igloo seemed concerned that he might’ve hurt him, so it wasn’t like he was intending to clobber him. All that happened was the play went further than Max would’ve liked, & his mom just reinforces the idea that he can do whatever he wants & expect a lack of consequences for it.
"and all that is grounds for someone to bite his mother? excuse the fact that he has a roof over his head, food on the table, clothes to wear and all the free time in the world. not only this, he's not being abused (physically or sexually) by his family. you're right, what a terrible life.
max has the right to find a constructive hobby, not the right to throw useless tantrums and BITE his own mother who is trying to give him a father figure. sorry kid, the world doesn't revolve around you, now deal with it.
also, don't forget he's the one that instigated the whole snowball thing. not once did i hear him say "don't smash my igloo" or any other phrase that might actually provoke the slightly more mature kids to stop. there's actually a lesson there. don't throw things at people and not expect to get your face stomped out and your hut smashed. i'm sure the next time he'll think twice.
all you silly geese that are feeling sorry for this kid need to visit a 3rd world country and get your worldview in order. your lives have all been too easy. "
What stupidity. You must have gone from 3 straight to 30 and been the perfect son/daughter.
What stupidity. You must have gone from 3 straight to 30 and been the perfect son/daughter.Agreed. It takes a supreme level of ignorance to think that any of the bollocks written in that post is true. Unless that jackass was thinking like a rational adult at the age of nine -- which would make him a freak -- it shouldn't be hard to work out that kids do not think like adults.
I thought he might have some mental disorder or something myself. In the book yes he was a jerk but learned if you stay on the wild side you will always be lonely thus his return home. In the movie, he starts the snowball fight with the other kids then gets upset because they actually are playing with him and fighting back up until the fall through his igloo. I felt like he kind of had it coming if he didn't want his igloo destoryed he shouldn't have started the fight. I also felt like instead of him running off and happen to be float off it would have been better and more true like the book if he had run back to his room and his room had magically started to change .
share[deleted]
He's a jerk because of what he did to his sister's room after that. What a little psycho.
share[deleted]
you've GOT to be kidding me.
i felt AWFUL for Max in the movie, but not in the book. in the book he was a dick for no reason.
but here, he's just looking for a playmate, someone to play w/.
he asks claire to come play but she's too cool, and her friends are dicks to max and max has lost one of his best friends in claire.
max's mom and dad are divorced so now the dad is out of the picture. there goes another best friend.
max's mom works a ton, and is trying to advance a relationship, there goes another.
i think max has the right to be angry, i'd be angry.
I completely fell for Max. I love those kinds of kids. It is perfectly natural to seek attention from your mom and sister, especially when they aren't giving it to you. I'm not saying that Max is right, but that is what kids are like. I loved Max, he is a very sensitive and creative kid. The ending with his mom was just amazing, so powerful. Furthermore, Max Records played Max brilliantly. He truly understood the character and is issues, he carried the weight of the film on his shoulders. kudos to Max Records, brilliant performance and the standout of the whole film.
shareI just think Max was wild... which was kind of annoying.
shareNo, claire doesn't really come back into the picture when she leaves with her friends. She's out there doing god knows what.
shareare you kidding? There was something seriously wrong with this kid, at the very least he was autistic and needs help! And would people stop saying he was like this in the book, the book is about 7 pages long with about 45 words, how do you get an indepth opinion of a boy from that? Max ruined the film for me
shareAutistic?
Autism: a pervasive developmental disorder of children, characterized by impaired communication, excessive rigidity, and emotional detachment.
If anything, he was the opposite.
I was just like Max. My little brother is just like Max.
I love myself and my little brother.
Max is real, Max is bomb =P
if that's true you both need to find hobbies and stop making other peoples' lives miserable because you're an attention whore that is constantly seeking validation and comfort from others.
it's funny that you say you love yourself because that is exactly the problem.
I couldn't stand him. He was just a brat. I know that's how it was in the book. But, in the book, I didn't have to listen to some brat shriek for 2 hours.
I felt bad for the mom. All this kid did was act out, and I think that he deserved to be spanked or yelled at or something. He was just a little punk kid.
Animation is viagra for art
You're all acting like he was an adult, he wasn't, he was a child. Children react to their surroundings and the atmosphere created, he had obviously just lost his Dad to divorce and his mother was starting a new relationship which confused him. He felt alone and felt like his mother was abandoning him like his father did, not to mention abandoning the memory of his dad. On top of that, he felt like his sister wasn't on his side, after they had probably gone through the divorce together and helped each other cope.
Children act badly, that's how kids are, they don't know why they do it sometimes, but they do it. I was a bad kid as well, because my family was falling apart around me when I was young and I fed off that.
I remember the book and I definitely thought the child was worse, even though it was short I still got that impression; because we weren't given a reason for his actions.
Max Record's performance was fantastic for a young actor and if you can't empathize with the character then it's more likely to be your fault than the movie's, or the character's.
The kids helped ruin the movie. There is no sympathy for a child who antagonizes all those around him.
Kansas Critic, My Video & Writen Reviews:
http://www.vaughnonmovies.com
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No. He was adorable and infectious, and when he lashed out in confusion you not only understood him, but you remember when you were once like that.
shareSounds like you're alone in this one OP. My suggestion: don't ever have children. You won't have the patience, understanding or empathy for them.
sharePlease, that kid was such a brat. There is absolutely no excuse for disrespecting your mother in such a way. He bit her, for crying out loud. On the other hand, she was such a wimpy mother, begging him to get off the table and all. Give me a break. Had she asserted herself a little better, perhaps her son wouldn't be so out of control to begin with. Also, running away and being gone for hours is grounds for punishment, not a reward of chocolate cake.
The fact that Carol was meant to be Max's counterpart only further illustrates how obnoxious the kid was. His counterpart was a bullying wild thing who knocked off his best friend's arm. Nice.
ps - Max started it with his sister's friends by throwing snowballs at them. Maybe they took it too far, but he couldn't expect no reaction from chucking snowballs at people. C'mon.
I thought Max seemed to have ADHD and was Oppositional Defiant. He seemed so much like me when I was a kid. I never bit my mom (that I can remember) but I did kick her once in hard sole shoes so hard that they were covered in bruises and she cried and said she thought I'd broken her legs. That was 30 years ago and I to this day have major guilt about it, but when you are an out of control kid you can't just turn it off, and its not about discipline or parents controlling their kids or anything or even respect of their parents. When there is that sort of problem with a child they really can't control it. These kids aren't bad kids. They just have problems that a child really can't deal with.
That said, they never really explored that as an issue in the movie so its just speculation. Who knows. Maybe Max was just angry and the younger a child is the harder it is for them to express their anger in appropriate ways. That is why little kids have temper tantrums. They need an outlet for their anger and sometimes when there is no outlet it comes out in violent bursts that closed minded adults who don't remember what its like to be little just don't understand.
"I'm nobody, and nobody is perfect. Therefore, I'm perfect."
Peace and Love
Deni
i actually really just wanted to kill that kid and feed him to all the monster
shareI too had little empathy for him. He was really cute when he was on the floor telling his mom a story, but the rest of the time, pretty annoying. I agree that with Carol as his counterpart, it shows how obnoxious and unable to interact well with others he was.
His mom was way too nice to him. At first it seemed right; she was gentle and caring when his feelings had been hurt. Then she was just weak, and at the end just ridiculous. It wasn't moving at all to see him gobbling down cake and her all dopey-eyed. Her I'm-just-so-glad-you're-back attitude only made it seem like next time it would be totally fine for him to jump on the table with dirty shoes, bite her, run away and have no explanation upon returning.
One more eye-rolling point: when Carol lumbers out to try to say goodbye as Max is leaving in the boat. The lameness of the howling. I know it was supposed to be all touching and sad but it was emotionless.
Her I'm-just-so-glad-you're-back attitude only made it seem like next time it would be totally fine for him to jump on the table with dirty shoes, bite her, run away and have no explanation upon returning.How would you have reacted upon his return if you were in her place? My guess is in a way that would have made Max wish he never came back. So maybe next time he wouldn't.
A superhero never reveals their true identityshare
"The fact that Carol was meant to be Max's counterpart only further illustrates how obnoxious the kid was. His counterpart was a bullying wild thing who knocked off his best friend's arm. Nice. "
And the whole point of the movie was that he learned from Carol and the others, saw himself in the confused and vulnerable monsters, and matured some as a result. And clearly and truly appreciated his mom in the end.
Laugh while you can, monkey-boy.share
-- Lord John Whorfin
Let me ask something to people who didnt like the cake scenes
Would it have actully made thematic sense in the movie to end with him getting the SPANK or whupped think about
First part- Kids act bratty, confuse, escape
Second Part- Meets the monster, dangerous monster become their king, has fun
Thrid Part- See the monster are dangerous crazy
4th part- He see that he been acting like a MONSTER..a Jerk. Learns how hard it is to be an ADULT, a parents. tries to make amends before he goes
5th part- Comes home..fully appreciating his mother, learn his lesson. Mother hugs them on a warm embrace. Touching scenes with mother and son while hipster music plays
Now Imagine if it was this
5th part- comes home...fully appreciating, his mother, learn his lesson. Mother whup the EVER LIVING *beep* OUT OF HIM. I mean just a good old fashion, get my belt BIG MAMA, TYLER PERRY MOVIE, level ass whupping. Kids cries...CREDIT roll. With the song SINGING...L O...V E...love love...love
Would that actully FIT the tone of the movie. Would it actully be a good act to end on
Not saying the kid had a butt kicking coming, but wouldnt be the BEST ENDING..in my book at least
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1070584060
I've spent a good portion of my life around kids, and I can tell you that very few have been as rotten as Max.
You can't "spoil" a story.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/11/spoilers-study_n_924413.html
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