Wes Anderson’s 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom appears to bring about the idea of the kids being the adults in certain situations.
The kids in Moonrise Kingdom seem to have things figure out even more than the adults do. This comes about due to the segregation of children from adults. Though children are connected to adults in a way, they are largely alienated from them all the same. In Moonrise Kingdom this is set about by parents sending their kids to the Khaki Scout camp for an entire summer.
Sam Shakusky has been an orphan for most of his life while giving the foster homes he was placed in a difficult time. He lost his family at a young age so he simply never had much of a family to be there for him. However, the Khaki Scouts is the perfect place for Sam. It has trained him to be an adult for himself at a young age.
Sam was thrust into the adult life and embraced it by learning to fend for himself. When he couldn’t do that, he had to rely on the undependable extended family. For Sam this came in the form of a scout leader who was unable to keep an eye on him and allowed him to escape.
Suzy Bishop runs off with Sam so they could be together as they believe they should. They venture off into the wilderness with their supplies and each other. They are placed into a situation where they are forced to become adults if they weren’t to be considered as such already. They explore adult experiences at an early age.
The adults are shown throughout the film to be somewhat subordinate to the children. The kids all over the island, whether they’re a Khaki Scout or not, are the ones who are running things. The Khaki Scouts are the ones who are even able to track down Sam and Suzy while the adults never seem to be able to do so. The adults even react in ridiculous ways to the stress of the entire situation of dealing with their children. Suzy’s parents purchased books about how to deal with her. Her father acts in a silly manner by simply going to chop down a tree instead of talking to his
daughter. Suzy’s siblings can even be seen not reacting to anything that’s going on; they simply continue to play their game.
Sam and Suzy are simply trying to escape the ridiculous world the adults have set up for them to live in. “These young explorers conduct themselves in a way not expected from people who are marginalized, condescended to, and explained away. They are centered, wise, judicious, and brave. They bring the highest level of seriousness to the emerging carnival of their sexual and political emancipation. It is the adults who are benighted, hysterical, fanciful, and vulnerable. The great triumph of the kids in the movie is finding a way to live wisely without being distracted by grown-up follies. That is the true running away that is depicted here” (Beck 2013, 91).
It’s only after Captain Sharp realizes that he can be a father to Sam, that the adults become accepted by the children. After constantly fighting to stay away from the adults for so long, Sam agrees to allow Captain Sharp to assume the role of a father for him.
Bibliography
Beck, Bernard. “Young Campers in Love: Who are the Grown-ups in Moonrise Kingdom.” The Journal of the National Association for Multicultural Education 15, no. 2 (2013): 88-91.
Film Genres 