MovieChat Forums > Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (2016) Discussion > So, this movie is about idiots?

So, this movie is about idiots?

posted 8 years ago by CthulhuWept
13 replies | jump to latest

Seriously, are we supposed to root for some idiot kids just because they don't like following the rules? The rules exist for a reason, dumbass. Even if that reason isn't one you like, the rules are still there. You have to follow the school's rules if you attend that school. Don't like the rules? GO TO A DIFFERENT SCHOOL! Uh oh, all schools have their own rules, so what do you do if you don't like the rules at the next school?

What's next? A movie about a guy who starts robbing banks for the sole reason that he doesn't like how much he gets paid, even though it's a big enough paycheck to cover all of his expenses and leave a little for savings and spending?

Just watching the trailer, I said multiple times, "How are these kids not expelled?" Once or twice, I said, "Okay, how are they not arrested?"

Why can't we see someone slap these kids right in their stupid faces and yell at them, "What the fuch do you think's going to happen when you're out of school? That you can do whatever you want? Rules are necessities for civilized society. What you're doing is anarchy. Also, you're fuching kids! Shut the fuch up and do what you're told!"

[–] fixations_of_a_fallen_po 8 years ago

Well, you completely missed the point of the entire movie, didn't you? That takes skill.

[–] CthulhuWept 8 years ago

I didn't watch the movie, and I never said I did. I based my OP on my viewing of the trailer, which makes these characters seem stupid. Tell me, what is the point of the entire movie? Does the movie show the kids being abused in some way? Are they somehow justified in their actions? What does the school's administration do that warrants the (in many cases, criminal) "pranks" that the main character apparently pulls?

If the entire message is "be free and a unique snowflake," that's fine. But that can be done without saying that the only way to follow that message is via anarchy. Rules exist for a reason, and that reason is typically to protect those that must follow the rules. There'd better be a damn good reason that this school's rules are perfectly fine to not just break, but to destroy.

[–] GSmith9072 8 years ago

Exactly. The advertisements for this make me sick. That's what entitled kiddies need, a movie that teaches them that the 'rules are for fools'. So many kid's movies where adults are bumbling fools that get taught a lesson by 'clever' kids. Then adults complain about how screwed up this generation is.

BUGS

[–] kidbot899 8 years ago

You are both so wrong. You are saying that these kid should be arrested and are entitled felons. That is not the case. The main charecter is dealing with the loss of his best friend/younger brother due to cancer which causes him to lash out and gets him kicked out of his school. So he goes to this school which is his final option. Once there he realizes the school is run by a bully who destroys his beloved notebook and stifles all creative output in the school. This principal literally frames an entire class of students so that they can be suspended which will cause them to miss a standerdized test so the schools ratings go up and he can get a bonus from the state. He also says that the test grades are more important than the students which is something very true in the US education today. The kids obviously cant go to the adults as they are the ones behind the whole scheme so they take matters into their own hands and take a stand for creativity. Your opinions on this movie are unwarrented, incorrect and honestly make you seem exactly like the adult villians in this movie.

[–] CthulhuWept 8 years ago

See, it wasn't so hard to give a reason why the kids do what they do beyond, "He destroyed my notebook, blerrggh." The suspension to keep them away from standardized testing sounds like a valid plot point. I could see why some sort of retaliation could be in order.

However, I refuse to believe that the only recourse for the main character is to pursue the criminal pranks. You say that they couldn't go to the adults because they were "behind the whole scheme." Does that include their parents? Is it really that difficult to say, "Hey, mom and dad, we're being falsely accused of things and suspended so that we'll miss the standardized testing"? Parents go to the administration and the school board and the local media, and bang, problem solved. I guess that doesn't make for a movie with entertaining hijinx, though.

[–] kidbot899 8 years ago

True. Although the thing with the parents is that tge main charecters mom was dating this guy who was exactly like the principle and was going to ship the kids off to military school. Also as it was the last school in the district that would take him the mom would have said that he had to deal or get shipped off.

[–] CthulhuWept 8 years ago

So? If he was doing what he was supposed to do, why would there be any threat of being shipped off? The suspension would have to have come as a result of the children doing something wrong. Even if they were framed, that framing would only have happened if the children had done something in the first place to indicate to the principal that they would need to be suspended.

What was the inciting incident? Basically, who did what first? Did the kid start doing things because the principal destroyed his notebook? Or did he destroy the notebook because the kid did something? And why would it matter if the notebook was destroyed? Was it stuff that the kid could never reproduce?

Lastly, if the kid knew that this school was his last shot at avoiding military school, why in the hell would he do ANYTHING that would get him in trouble? If he wants to avoid military school at all costs, he keeps his head down, graduates, and then does whatever the hell he wants, just like everyone else who's never been referred to as a delinquent.

[–] kidbot899 8 years ago

The guy the mom was dating wanted to send him off to military school because he didnt like him. The princpal destroyed the notebook because 'creativity has no place in a school'. The kids did nothing but get 70s on a practice exam. He could have kept his head down but if you were locked in a school for 7 hours a day, not allowed to talk to friends, go to the bathroom, doodle or participate in any club thats not a sport or even fundraise for a charity wouldnt you speak up or do something. Also remember this is middle school. Do you really think a kid is going to do everything properly and by the book. All the kid does is use sticky notes to turn the walls into a mosiac, spray paint art and procreativity messages on the wall, put some hair dye in a hat, turn a trophy case into an aquarium and put paint in the water sprinklers. All very beautifully and skillfully done btw. Yes technically illegal and the kid couldve just sucked it up but then again it is a movie and would be boring if he did.

[–] CthulhuWept 8 years ago

Again, if he misbehaved he was to be sent to military school, so he felt his best course of action was...misbehaving?

The kids couldn't talk to their friends AT ALL? Or just during class? I find it difficult to believe they weren't allowed to chat between periods. They couldn't go to the bathroom AT ALL? Or just during class? I find it difficult to believe they weren't allowed to chat between periods. School is school. It's not a garden party. You go to school to learn things.

And, again, talk to your mom about what's happening. Who cares who she's dating? If you've done nothing wrong, then you have nothing to fear.

Doesn't matter, though. I won't be seeing it, because I don't like watching stories that could be fixed by a single line of dialogue. Have fun with it. I won't be back.

[–] bettyo1 8 years ago

Thank you! I don't think the others actually watched it, I hope not anyways!

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] bettyo1 8 years ago

This movie was about how a child dealt with the death of his brother.

[–] weird_beard 7 years ago

Well, they changed it then, because in the book he doesn't even remember Leo, apart from the persona he gives him.