The memories of our school experiences can have negative lasting effects on our lives. Shy and nerdy children could be forever scarred by being bullied, while popular and athletic children may look at life as an everlasting school break, never
The memories of our school experiences can have negative lasting effects on our lives. Shy and nerdy children could be forever scarred by being bullied, while popular and athletic children may look at life as an everlasting school break, never growing out of their immaturity.
High school might as well be the apex of delusions of what’s to come in life, but it is in middle school that it all starts. Writer Jeff Kinney nailed it when he created his book series, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” describing the struggles of a child going through middle school.
Following the giant success of the book series, the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” movie just came out.
Greg Heffley, played by Zachary Gordon, goes through his first year of middle school desperately trying to fit in. He knows the distinction between being popular and nerdy, and would rather hang out with the popular crowd, but all his friends are nerd outcasts.
Greg will stop at nothing in his pursuit of being featured in his school’s yearbook, not even if it means burning his best friend. In the process, Greg will learn valuable lessons.
“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is funny and light-hearted despite reflecting a harsh reality of segregation in schools. Grown-ups can watch it and chuckle at their own experiences. Children will have a laugh at things to come, or things that have already arrived.
The silver screen, however, sugar-coats reality. Watching bullies and nerds clashing is a whole different sensation than actually experiencing it first-hand.
Film director Thor Freudenthal put Kinney’s real-life experiences into reel life, crafting a movie in which many adults will be holding a mirror and questioning their parenthood. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” though funny and enlightening, is also a slap on the face of parents who silently let their children suffer through the school years.
The ambiguities of growing up can be hurtful, and even though the movie is more appropriate for children, parents could and most definitely should learn (or remember) a few lessons that could help their children cope with school’s stress.
That said, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is a movie for the whole family.
Gordon’s honest interpretation of Kinney’s famous creation gets a huge help from the supporting cast, especially the children.
Robert Capron plays Greg’s best friend, Rowley Jefferson. The plump Rowley enters middle school oblivious that he should already have worked in a transition to his pre-teen years, running the risk of being ridiculed by other students.
Poor Rowley endures the humiliation, but the child is so truthful in just being himself, other than someone just trying to fit in, that the nerdy character becomes a role model for real-life children who are caught in this battlefield called middle school.
The overly-cute Chloe Grace Moretz plays the brainy and ethically-correct Angie Steadman, a student way ahead of her years, having already figured out how crucial issues such as fitting play no important role in adult life, but can influence children to a point that they may become failures.
Angie is actually nowhere in Kinney’s books. The character was introduced in the movie, perhaps to bring some gender balance in the relationship between Greg and Rowley, or maybe some sort of romantic interest in future movies.
Little actor Karan Brar, playing Indian child Chirag Gupta, unfolds the infamous “cheese-touch” tale, which will be central to the story’s plot. Whoever touches the decaying cheese slice will be doomed with universal rejection (not actual worldwide rejection, but school children tend to think the world is their school).
The “cheese touch” represents the core of all evil in middle and high school: segregation. This senseless discrimination will most likely carry on to adult life, shaping many grown-ups into racists and social snobs. To a point, this discrimination has driven unsuspecting children into sad and frequent acts of barbarism in schools nationwide.
“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” will not stop the “cheese touch,” but it touches (no pun intended) the issue in a light-hearted manner, making us laugh at ourselves, thus alleviating the problem. Well, at least for us grown-ups.
For the children — and adults as well — the lesson is up for grabs. We can learn and evolve so much more just by accepting others and their differences. We all want to be unique, but we still have preconceived limits preventing us from accepting others with differences that stretch beyond those limits. Once we question ourselves why, we’ll find empty answers.
Lance and Cherie Logan brought their son, Sequoia Logan, to watch “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.”
Lance liked the movie, and said the best thing about it was the friendship lesson learned by Greg.
“It was fun and entertaining,” said Cherie, admitting that she usually falls asleep in the movies. But she stayed up for the whole time in this one. She liked Angie, the “smart and aggressive” young girl.
Sequoia said the movie is just like the books. “It’s funny, and I think they picked the right kid for it,” he said.
