Monster House

Today I took a break from studying and went with some friends to see the movie Monster House. It was a very interesting movie. I enjoyed it, but I think that it would terrify a lot of little kids...or at least, I would have been terrified. All in all though, I liked it. The plot was a bit predictable, but not in an ordinary way. I did find some of the unnecessary crudeness annoying, and disliked their stereotyping of law enforcement. But other than the usual annoyances....

*SPOILER*

In order to stop Constance, Mr. Nebbercracker had to become her. When they show
Constance before she falls, her reaction to the children is almost the same as Mr Nebbercracker's reaction to the kids on his lawn. So to stop her, he had to become her. But it didn't work. It ended up destroying her, and almost destroying him, and imprisoning them both for 40 years.

I also thought it was interesting that despite the occasional crudity, femininity played a very wholesome role. The mother is rather clueless, but she had a point in trying to make the dad tell his son that he loved him. "Z" had a point in kicking Bones out for disrespecting her (isn't it sad that like a lot of girls, she didn't have the confidence in herself to leave him out). Then you have Jenny spurring both Chowder and DJ to heroic deeds. They would never have had the gut to do what they had to if it hadn't been for her, but she didn't overpower them. They were definitely the main players.

Monster House was also a story about what it means to grow up. It starts out with DJ not quite sure of himself, somewhere between childhood and adulthood. He wants to be grown up, but somehow he's just a wanabe. But by the end of the movie, he has learned to be responsible, but is okay with having fun and acting like a kid. That is maturity.