00:00hi everybody I'm here in an operating
00:01room have you ever lied on your resume
00:03before somehow the interview went well
00:05and they just dumped me in here to do an
00:07operation on someone who probably
00:08deserves better now I have a decent
00:10amount of memories in medical places and
00:12a lot of weird times like that time I
00:13ate cat food that time I broke my arm
00:16falling off the couch and especially
00:17when I got the Cheese
00:20Touch yeah I couldn't think of a good
00:22transition this sure is a series The
00:24Diary of a whippy kid franchise is weird
00:26but I can see why it's beloved it's a
00:27collection of tales written by a kid in
00:29your class who you would never talk to
00:31outside of school and you're forced to
00:33sit next to them and somehow despite the
00:35formula never changing and really only
00:36having six actual characters that matter
00:39whenever I see people talk about Diary
00:40of a whiy kid it's one of three things
00:42all of them about the main family it's
00:43either how rodri's the only normal one
00:45how Manny is some sort of eldrich [Â __Â ]
00:47or how Greg's a bad person a sociopath
00:50even now I totally agree with two of
00:52those things namely that rodri is
00:53absolutely one of the greatest fictional
00:55characters of all time he managed to
00:56throw an absolute rager without alcohol
00:59and yeah Manny probably dreams about
01:01unearthing all the horrors of the world
01:02upon the populace but Greg's entire
01:05existence and argument about his
01:06character in my opinion is flood there
01:08is a discussion to be held regarding
01:10Greg's character I think a lot of people
01:12namely note his potentially sociopathic
01:14tendencies his moderate abuse to his
01:16closest friend Rowley and his
01:18personality especially as some of the
01:20factors used for this argument but but
01:22honestly no not really Greg's just a kid
01:24who writes himself as cool and as
01:26victimized as possible so when he's rich
01:28and famous in the future all his life
01:30story is already documented he said that
01:31since day one cool this is an unreliable
01:34narrator so in my eyes that argument
01:36definitely falls apart when you consider
01:38those facts Greg is using his books
01:41written from his perspective to make
01:42himself look more interesting and then
01:45sometimes those moments slip through the
01:46cracks the very first book does a pretty
01:48good job illustrating his growing yet
01:50flawed character when he joined the
01:51patrol to bring kindergarteners home and
01:53Chuck them into a ditch only to have
01:55rowy take the blame like yeah that was
01:57that was pretty shitty of him there's
01:58also times where he's down right
02:00oblivious to what exactly is going on I
02:02stopped reading at old school and had to
02:03read all the new books up to this point
02:05for this discussion a lot of vacation
02:07ones for some reason uh at one point
02:09they try renovating their house and that
02:10goes horribly wrong I like the time
02:12their school ran out of money for a hot
02:14minute and its name gets changed to 1
02:161800 dead bugs Middle School that that
02:18was a little silly but I think of all
02:20them big shot had one of the funniest
02:22moments Greg joins a basketball team and
02:24when the opposing team needs an extra
02:26player he joins accidentally wins for
02:29them and then they take him out for ice
02:30cream while his mom's in the background
02:32driving everyone else home in my opinion
02:34that's the funniest outcome he probably
02:36didn't get fed that night though and
02:37besides that I've always seen the movies
02:39as what actually happens in these
02:41stories versus what Greg wants us to
02:43know about them this child is not a
02:44credible resource if you have any
02:46writing or stories you wrote in
02:47elementary or middle school I guarantee
02:49you they are exaggerated or graced
02:51through like this so I really can't
02:53blame him he doesn't know better as a
02:54middle schooler and it really really
02:57becomes obvious when you consider the
02:58rest of the main cast the the hefley
03:00family they're a massive threat to their
03:02small town of planville and even more to
03:05themselves but what's this family
03:06Dynamic like though well Greg of course
03:08Middle School child very egotistical and
03:10I can see him being infuriating be
03:12around in almost every situation so a
03:14middle school child but then there's the
03:16rest of the family rodri of course the
03:18best one he's just got his band not too
03:20great of a work ethic his sharp stubby
03:22Stu hairs he's not an issue nor a
03:25special case rodri's not even that bad
03:27of a sibling or person Greg just writes
03:28him as this massive threat ignoring the
03:31fact that Manny looks like what someone
03:32who's never seen a turkey before would
03:34imagine what a turkey looks like he's
03:35the first real problem I can't justify I
03:38understand Manny's like a toddler or
03:40whatever but he's going to end up
03:41committing World harm we should smash
03:42him with hammers while we still have a
03:43chance some of his atrocities include
03:46hiding his power levels by being
03:47intentionally held back in daycare for 4
03:49years destroying Greg's Xbox 360 and as
03:51an apology gifting slw warning him with
03:54a prototype of his planned weapon for
03:56mass destruction he displays his
03:58Precision when using the family art
03:59vegan deep end to fill this gap on a
04:01bridge probably one of the most glaring
04:03offenders is in Cabin Fever when Manny
04:05turns off the electricity in the house
04:06and nearly freezes everyone else to
04:08death on account of his inability to tie
04:10his shoes now typically a normal family
04:12hierarchy sees the parents at the top
04:13with the children in a fluctuating order
04:15based on the situations but from what it
04:17seems like Manny is secretly puppeting
04:19and manipulating all the other family
04:21members with his absurd toddler brain
04:23he's the real villain and it's further
04:25enabled thanks to Susan hefley Miss
04:27hefley is inconsistent so sometimes
04:30she's genuine with her kids sometimes
04:31she's a goofball who thinks she's doing
04:33the right things but almost always she's
04:35a problem and I think a good chunk of
04:37that comes from how Frank just allows it
04:39as well Frank is indifferent usually un
04:42bothered by his kids lives unless it's
04:44something he's interested in he just
04:45allows Manny to force AZ Tei and
04:48prophecies to the world to become a
04:49reality just so he can spend more time
04:52on his Civil War reenactment in his
04:54basement the first couple years in
04:55Greg's endless time loop as a middle
04:57schooler proves he loves the Civil War
04:59more than and all of his children
05:00combined and honestly a lot of failings
05:02of the family come from Frank not truly
05:04being present or some crucial fatherson
05:06moments for any of his kids that's why
05:07rodri thinks he can accomplish so little
05:09and get away with it and that's why
05:11Greg's fighting for attention in his
05:12middle school environment because he has
05:14severe parental affection famine and
05:16that's why Manny knows demonic rituals
05:18now from this point on I want to talk
05:19about the movies but first I got to talk
05:21about how they're actually connected
05:23according to the internet and the scary
05:24voices in my head Diary of a Wimpy Kid
05:26has separate continuities for the books
05:28and the movies now I'm going to be doing
05:30this hip and cool thing called ignoring
05:32that I like to see it as even though
05:34there's obvious plot holes doing this
05:36the movies being what actually happened
05:38and the books being how Greg wants us to
05:41see it so they're not nearly as accurate
05:43I don't know what you expected I mean
05:44look at him he's a flawed writer and the
05:47opposite of a role model and I like the
05:48idea of trying to make the main books
05:50and movies fit into one continuity
05:52surely that won't go wrong now I also
05:54hear that little dabasaurus in the back
05:56of our imaginary classroom going but
05:58what about the Disney plus special
06:02go well little Jimmy you're probably
06:05right there's probably a Multiverse the
06:07one where they look like disheveled
06:09potatoes is its own thing Jeepers and
06:11ant Jima dud that's flipping bananas now
06:14I don't have to talk about them they
06:17have and will continue to mean nothing
06:18to me these characters look like they
06:20smell like the worst kind of cheap
06:22rubber the liveaction trilogy are
06:24Recreations of the first four books with
06:25the last two having major events
06:27combined together in the the book
06:28argument that is a child who writes
06:30badly sure is flimsy when you consider
06:32this but it does say a lot about Greg's
06:34character like the first movie
06:35introduces this one girl who I forgot
06:37the name of and and she's with them the
06:39entire year Greg does Greg just doesn't
06:42value her enough to mention her at all
06:44but shirat Gupta he he gets to stay he
06:47he knows about the Cheese Touch This
06:49movie Mostly grazes over the home life
06:51and instead emphasizes Greg's
06:52relationship with his closest friend
06:54rowy now row is more of a foil towards
06:56Greg's ego because don't get me wrong he
06:58definitely has one might try to make
07:00himself look good but he's still a dick
07:02in rowley's own Diaries of an awesome
07:04friendly kid proves this rowy has the
07:06chance to accidentally show how pure of
07:08heart he is and how much control Greg
07:10usually has over their relationship it's
07:11not world-ending in my eyes but it's
07:13still too toxic rowy is a sweet summer
07:15child he deserves the world all he wants
07:17is coolly to make silly comics and watch
07:19Joshy you don't deserve any of this the
07:22Roger rules movies in the book is when
07:24family stuff really starts happening
07:26right off the bat Manny used an
07:27immediate instigator trapping the back
07:29of the car car with exposed chocolate
07:31that then leads to a church disaster
07:32with rowy doing the funny look rodri and
07:34Greg Bond through having the greatest
07:36party of all time and then the Middle
07:38School child is once again a bit of a
07:39rambunctious Rascal for example
07:41pretending his classmate sharro doesn't
07:43exist oh no the sociopath beh no no it's
07:47not that's just what children do
07:49sometimes I'm sure Greg hefley's name's
07:51been uttered at least in a couple of
07:52therapy sessions his classmates might
07:55have but who hasn't and then going back
07:57to rodri like yeah he's he's fine this
07:59is what people his age do the band is
08:02the only thing I guess he he gets to
08:04pass not these guys though I am really
08:06struggling to justify these two they
08:08really do cause the most problems think
08:10about all the events and conflicts and
08:12flakes of challenges the family faces
08:14they all involve these two to some
08:16extent unless it's exclusively about
08:18Greg and Rowley attempting to do
08:20something by themselves they are the
08:22cause of all the bads that is until the
08:24last straw in Dog Days the main
08:26relationship Greg has to work on in here
08:28is with his father and this is easily
08:30where we get to see the most of how
08:31Frank thinks and functions to an extent
08:33I would argue Frank sees himself more as
08:35a bad parent he definitely compares the
08:37failings of his own kids to his
08:38seemingly more successful neighbors and
08:40co-workers the main problem he has
08:42though is he fails to recognize why he
08:44sees his family as flaw he's very much
08:46going through all the motions and then
08:48wondering why his kids aren't going down
08:49the paths he likes and it gets really
08:51interesting when you learn about his own
08:53childhood see Greg's grandpa is the
08:56father of Frank because that's how
08:57families work families have people and
08:59them why did I not remove this from the
09:00script fres also got two younger
09:02brothers Joe and Gary from the little
09:04tidbits I gathered across the series it
09:06seems like his childhood was about the
09:08same as GRE and Rodricks the only
09:09difference was apparently he was
09:11significantly more involved he he was
09:13class secretary that's enough for me his
09:15siblings have shyish confusing is
09:18relationships also apparently his dad
09:20might have been the same to him Grandpa
09:22happily runs over Frank's childhood dog
09:24nutty and then lies about it when I
09:26remembered this I thought about that one
09:27time Frank lied about going on a diet to
09:29make himself look better Frank also had
09:31a dorky friend in his childhood gills or
09:33gues I'm going to I'm going to say gues
09:35and they would always go on funny little
09:37adventures in plane view
09:39where son of a [Â __Â ] this is GRE and
09:42rowy again these are the same person
09:45it's almost like they're related or
09:46something Frank's biggest problem is his
09:48hypocrisy he doesn't like or trust rowy
09:51even though he had a friend exactly like
09:53that he gets mad at Grandpa hefley for
09:55lying to save his own back but then does
09:57it again multiple times in the old
09:59school book Greg goes to camp and Frank
10:02acts like it sucks and has to watch a
10:04cabin of kids when in actuality a lie he
10:06set up 30 years ago lets him hang out in
10:09his nice hidden cabin that's not chup
10:11approved no sir fortunately or
10:13unfortunately I guess I don't know I'm
10:15not your psychiatrist that's how a
10:17majority of Frank's parenting seems to
10:18be very much letting it ride a lot of
10:20fallacies a lot of being unable to see
10:22his younger self within his kids and
10:24using his own experiences to help out he
10:26is a flawed individual and the only way
10:29he can get out is if the family actually
10:31takes the time to talk about some of the
10:33problems they're having with each other
10:34and that happens at the end of the third
10:35movie there's this ongoing fear where
10:37Greg thinks he's going to be sent to
10:39boarding school at the end of summer or
10:40start of summer if you're reading the
10:41last straw these books are probably
10:43different universes but that's fine I'm
10:47ignoring it in their confrontation Frank
10:49says stuff like hey Greg this pizza's
10:52pretty good I'll try to be less
10:56way next is Long Haul ignore the four
10:59books that got skipped I guess they just
11:01weren't cool enough to show his movies
11:03that's my argument of the day and this
11:05continuity is as sturdy as used dental
11:07floss this movie looks and feels the
11:10same as chewing mud I'm going to assume
11:12the flood in Cabin Fever caused a gas
11:14leak in the house or something which is
11:16why everything looks different they're
11:18about the same family Dynamic but that
11:19gas leak really does some damage on the
11:21family Greg styled it down in terms of
11:23being any sort of egotistical guy him
11:25and Rowley just watch a let's player all
11:27the time now his name's dig I'm going to
11:29call him Wario Markiplier his name is
11:32warer do not idolize warer the rest of
11:34the family is just all right Frank's
11:36about the same if I'm being honest
11:38everyone was a little too mean to the
11:39actors none of them are bad they they're
11:42they're fine though rodri's character is
11:44really stupid in this one that's not the
11:45actor's fault at all though it's just
11:47because the movie sucks ass and of
11:50course there's her this is the best time
11:53to discuss why Susan's the root of all
11:55the familial problems she's an enabler
11:58for Manny and does show concern about
12:00the relationships of the rest of the
12:01family but the gas leak really ruined it
12:03and you can see that more when you look
12:04at her own childhood unlike Frank Susan
12:07lived with four sisters she's not as
12:09used to the amount of men in her life
12:10and it's kind of implied that she
12:11doesn't have that good of a relationship
12:13with any of her siblings and as such I
12:15do believe she wants her own kids to not
12:17have relationships like her so she
12:19clearly nudges them in a certain
12:20direction in hopes of getting them
12:21closer together she accidentally
12:23massively improves how Greg and Roger
12:25see each other when not going on
12:26vacation with them not Manny though he's
12:28a cause that ship is sailed I think the
12:31larger age gap between Manny and the
12:32other hefle is a huge reason why he's
12:34stuck with Susan and after two kids
12:36she's accidentally raising the
12:38Antichrist what do you do the fact Greg
12:40draws Manny like this immediately
12:42implies that it it's a lost cause you
12:45you you can't help this it's her idea to
12:47go on a road trip this trip would
12:48include things like poor environments
12:50her children running off or moderate
12:51amount of their things being lost on the
12:53freeway thousands of dollars of car and
12:55boat damage also a pig the family gets a
12:58few pets throughout the Run the dog
12:59Sweetie doesn't matter that much more of
13:01an impulsive response from Frank
13:03learning about the original dog's death
13:04uh and then in this one Manny wins a pig
13:07not only does he do that this Pig gets
13:08raised exclusively through Manny and
13:10Susan they try to get rid of him but
13:12Manny learns Spanish just to get the pig
13:14back in its last few appearances it
13:16starts becoming a humanoid creature
13:17according to Greg's book which I don't
13:19believe but in that possibility I I I
13:22I'm horrified you can really be
13:23impressed by Susan's trip planning her
13:26actions across this trip were designed
13:28to bother me in every way possible this
13:29movie in general is pretty good at that
13:31it's not a movie it's a torture method
13:33when watching this I was too upset to
13:34cry you know I never really clicked with
13:36Susan's inconsistencies I know they're
13:38meant to be real people and parents or
13:40whatever but I feel like nobody set up
13:41barriers with Susan there's so many
13:43moments where I'm looking at this family
13:45and I'm getting peeved ultimately this
13:47movie ends with everyone coming together
13:49to be a family and do family stuff I
13:51think they're going to attempt to be a
13:52better family a big part of Wimpy Kid is
13:54figuring out how to make your own way
13:56through life and understand the people
13:57closest to you might prevent goals
13:59that's not necessarily A Bad Thing a lot
14:01of families are like the half flawed one
14:03way or another and they all have their
14:05own problems that's all right don't get
14:07me wrong though there's clearly problems
14:09with this family Greg's got a terrible
14:10case of being 12 rodri's figured out how
14:12to take advantage of his parents and do
14:14whatever he wants Frank's forgotten his
14:16own childhood pathologically lies and
14:18doesn't try enough as a father and
14:19Susan's trying too hard there's no
14:22proper way to be a family but hey maybe
14:24if they get out of their endless time
14:25Loop where nobody ages they can all grow
14:28as people and move on from the
14:30generational trauma where it's there so
14:32in conclusion Manny hefle belongs in a
14:34meat grinder wowers trousers what a real
14:37pouch of peanuts well I think that's
14:39enough of that time to take a look at
14:41this vict person who I'm going to be
14:43operating on it says here the lucky
14:46person is the president of the United