Posted on Thu, Oct. 22, 2009

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Who's afraid of a little suspense?

Reporters keep asking author Maurice Sendak whether his just-released, PG-rated "Where the Wild Things Are" movie is appropriate for children.

What does he say to parents who think the film's too scary?

"That's a question I will not tolerate," Sendak, 81, told a Newsweek reporter recently.

"If they can't handle it, go home. Or wet your pants. Do whatever you like. But it's not a question that can be answered."

Preach it, Mo.

The author's point, I presume, is that yeah, the movie's kind of scary. The monsters are big and furry and loud. There are times kids will wonder, maybe with a nervous whimper, what happens next. It's not all Technicolor Care Bears and unicorns.

And so what? Lots of kids' movies are scary. Many of the films I loved as a child scared me quite thoroughly.

The wicked witch and flying monkeys in "The Wizard of Oz" gave me the creeps. So did the talking trees. So did the Oompah-Loompas in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," and that freakadelic boat scene.

Even Count von Count — Sesame Street's adorable Muppet vampire — prompted one of my most memorable childhood nightmares, in which The Count chased me through every house and yard in my neighborhood, laughing his insidious bwaa-haa-haa laugh, until I was finally rescued by Mr. Snuffleupagus.

My children have their own peculiar phobias. Jack hates the distorted look produced by fish-eye camera lenses, as well as illustrations of wide-eyed people. We had to skip whole pages of the children's book "Bedhead" because Jack couldn't bear the pictures.

I don't actively try to scare my kids — save the occasional "boo!" from behind the door — but neither do I mind when something spooks them a little. We love the "Harry Potter" books and films largely because of, not in spite of, their hair-raising parts.

I'm not saying youngsters should watch "Saw VI" or "The Silence of the Lambs," but a little old-fashioned suspense — yes, even fear — may not be such a horrible thing.

Holly Willett, an expert on children's literature, told the British newspaper The Guardian recently that a good storyteller "knows that kids have many difficult feelings, as well as feelings that adults have forgotten about."

As long as there have been fairy tales and bedtime stories, children have faced fears — the Big Bad Wolf, the Headless Horseman, the giant rats in "The Princess Bride" — and along the way, learned courage and bravery. Like Max in his wolf suit, they meet fearsome Wild Things and conquer them "by staring into their yellow eyes without blinking once."

A good storyteller, Willett says, doesn't shy away from dark material. Neither, perhaps, should we.

Let the wild rumpus start.

Reach Suzanne Perez Tobias at 316-268-6567 or stobias@wichitaeagle.com.

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