Matilda (film): Difference between revisions
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{{quote|"[[Child-Hater|They're all mistakes, children!]] Filthy, nasty things. [[Hypocritical Humor|Glad I never was one.]]"|'''[[Sadist Teacher|Agatha Trunchbull]]''', ''Matilda''}}
1996 film adaptation of [[Matilda (
The first half of the film deals with Matilda discovering how to use her intellect against her parents by playing tricks, like supergluing her father's hat to his head. The second half of the film pits her against a far more formidable enemy -- "The Trunchbull", her school's [[Sadist Teacher|sadistic headmistress]], as well as introducing the only person to truly recognize Matilda's amazing talent, Miss Honey. Matilda ultimately has to pit her prodigious intellect (and [[New Powers
The film stars [[Mara Wilson]] (''[[Miracle
{{tropelist}}
* [[Abusive Parents]]: Matilda's parents verbally berate her and neglect her every need. Later in the film, it's revealed that {{spoiler|Miss Honey was raised by The Trunchbull, who wasn't any less abusive to her than she is with the students}}. In the movie, Matilda's parents have no problem leaving her at home, and they left her in the car when they got home from the hospital after driving extremely recklessly with her unrestrained in the back seat.
* [[Actor Allusion]]: Pam Ferris plays an overweight, sadistic woman who acts incredibly cruel to an orphaned related-by-marriage child relative ( {{spoiler|her step-sister's daughter, Jenny Honey}}) and seems to believe that it's [[In the Blood]] when it comes to how rotten children are. Also, she is perfectly happy simply assuming how nasty children are without gaining any proof. And, really, compare these lines;
{{quote|
'''[[
** Ironic considering that she is ''quite'' a [[Jerkass|bitch]] herself in both roles.
* [[Adults Are Useless]]: None of the teachers at Crunchem Hall challenge The Trunchbull because they are absolutely terrified of her. It is eventually discovered that Miss Honey's fears of her are particularly justified. The parents, however, don't have much of an excuse. Not a single student manages to convince their parents that The Chokey exists. It's sort of justified by Matilda's theory that the various punishments from The Trunchbull are so over-the-top that the parents simply don't believe it.
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* [[And That Little Girl Was Me]]: Miss Honey telling Matilda about her own childhood.
* [[A God Am I]]: In the film, the Trunchbull manages to give a spiel to this effect in a classroom, to children, in a very [[Sadist Teacher]] kind of way.
{{quote|
* [[Ascended Extra]]: A couple of characters from the book, such as Bruce Bogtrotter, who only appeared a single chapter were upgraded into regular friends of Matilda's in the movie.
* [[Beauty Equals Goodness]]: Miss Honey.
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* [[Dartboard of Hate]]: Miss Trunchbull is seen to have a dartboard on her office door covered in photos of random students. She's able to throw about a dozen darts at the thing at once and accurately hit all of the pictures.
* [[Dean Bitterman]]: The Trunchbull.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: This is the Trunchbull's M.O. Hortensia tells Matilda that when the lady caught a boy named Julius eating ''two'' M&Ms in class, the Trunchbull forced him to spit them out and threw him out the window. As Hortensia put it, "Of course he wasn't okay." She also tosses Amanda Thripp over the fence for coming to school with pigtails and attempting to explain she can't cut her hair. That's not even going into the Chokey, where you can be locked up on suspicion of doing something.
* [[The Dog Bites Back]]: After Matilda telekinetically writes a message that is apparently from her deceased husband, and telekinetically reversed the thrown child to right back at her, Trunchbull is knocked out of the classroom, and looks up to find the entire student body, every single student that she had bullied since getting the job, glaring down at her with their lunchboxes before promptly pelting her with all of their lunch, causing her to leave in fear.
* [[Hair Decorations]]: In the movie, Matilda always wore a hair ribbon that she tied into a bow.
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* [[Evil Counterpart]]: Miss Trunchbull is this to Miss Honey.
* [[Evil Teacher]]: Guess who?
* [[Fantasy
* [[The Film of the Book]]: Like many Dahl books, this got a film adaptation.
* [[Force Feeding]]: Involves a overweight kid who is forced to eat chocolate cake, as punishment for supposedly stealing Miss Trunchbull's cake, while the whole school watches. In other words, he is not allowed to stop eating until he has finished the ''whole'' cake, and it's HUGE too (18 inches in diameter). Even if he gets sick, he has to keep eating.
* [[Genius Book Club]]: Matilda has already made significant inroads into the Western Canon by the time she starts school.
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: When Matilda's father is peeved at what his daughter is reading.
{{quote|
'''Matilda''': It's not trash, daddy. It's lovely. It's called ''[[Moby Dick]]''.
'''Harry''': (''reacts in shock'') Moby
** When Miss Trunchbull wrongly accuses Matilda for putting a newt into her cup of water.
{{quote|
'''Matilda''': For what, Miss Trunchbull?
'''Trunchbull''': For this
** When Miss Trunchbull is buying a car from Mr. Wormwood's lot.
{{quote|
'''Mr. Wormwood''': In a ''matter of speaking'', yes... }}
** When Ms. Wormwood has won a big bingo jackpot.
{{quote|
'''Mr. Wormwood''':
** Ms. Wormwood is chatting on the phone with an unseen friend of hers.
{{quote|
* [[Hair-Trigger Temper]]: Miss Trunchbull.
* [[Happily Ever After]]: Well, Matilda and Miss Honey anyway.
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** Agatha Trunchbull.
** Also, Harry Wormwood, whose used-car company sells cars made from stolen parts - at outrageous prices - that only survive for a few miles. Because their engines are filled with ''sawdust''. And then there's how he acts around Matilda.
* [[Gentleman and
* [[Kick the Dog]]: Trunchbull treats every student in the school like garbage, picking on them for little misdemeanors. She also literally kicks a cat for getting too close to her.
* [[Large Ham]]: The Trunchbull, especially in the film.
* [[Laughably Evil]]: Miss Trunchbull in the film.
* [[Mama Bear]]: This is ultimately why Miss Honey continues to teach under the Trunchbull's thumb; she says that someone needs to protect the children {{spoiler|from her aunt}}. She undoes Amanda's pigtails to keep the Trunchbull from tossing Amanda over the fence again, braves a trip to the principal's office to suggest testing Matilda's intelligence by transferring her to a higher grade, and tells off Mr. Wormwood for how he doesn't seem to care about his daughter's future. All the while saying that she's not a brave person.
* [[Maximum Fun Chamber]]: The Chokey, which turns out to be a non-lethal (as far as we know) iron maiden.
* [[Mind Over Matter]]: Matilda's telekinetic powers.
* [[Mind Screw]]: In the movie, Danny
* [[Only Sane Woman]]: Most of the kids have been beaten down by the Trunchbull's antics. Not Matilda; while Hortensia and Lavender calmly say Trunchbull is going to go for the hammerthrow when Amanda unwittingly talks back to her, Matilda is horrified when the Trunchbull grabs Amanda by her hair and spins her around to toss her over the fence. She later tells her mother, who refuses to listen, "The principal is insane!"
* [[Plucky Girl]]: Matilda.
* [[Pragmatic Adaptation]]: The movie expands the book with filler in most sequences (including Matilda going on a commando raid of the Trunchbull's house), significantly alters the nature and extent of Matilda's powers, gives her an age upgrade, foreshadows the authorities' interest in her parents' crimes, and turns her nice but dumb brother into a sadistic brat. None of this particularly alters the story itself though.
* [[Punishment Box]]: the sadistic headmistress is fond of [[Cool and Unusual Punishment|(among other things)]] using the "Chokey
* [[Real Song Theme Tune]]: In the movie, "Send Me On My Way" by Rusted Root. Watch the first few minutes of that film until the song comes up and just try not to smile, fondly remember your childhood, and then dance around crazily.
* [[Race Lift]]: Lavender. In the book she is white; in the movie she is black.
* [[Reality Ensues]]:
* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: This is how the Trunchbull gets away with such shocking cruelty to the students. Any parent who heard their kid tell them the principal threw them in a closed chamber with broken glass and nails jutting out of the walls for several hours would naturally assume their kid was lying.▼
** Matilda is horrified when she hears that the Trunchbull tossed a boy out the window for a small misdemeanor. She asked if he was okay. Hortensia lampshades, "From being thrown out the window? Of course he wasn't okay. He lived, if that's what you mean." The book itself explained that Julius was lucky that the Trunchbull had good aim, as he suffered "only" a few broken bones.
** The FBI agents Bob and Bill try to break into the garage, reasoning that a judge would look the other way about them lacking a warrant if they deliver evidence. Matilda busts them; she asks if they have a search warrant. She cites that per American law, breaking into a private residence without a warrant can lead to any law officer losing their job or going to prison. Bob and Bill exchange a mild [[Oh Crap]] look before switching tactics to intimidate her by saying her dad is the one going to jail.
▲* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: This is how the Trunchbull gets away with such shocking cruelty to the students. Any parent who heard their kid tell them the principal threw them out of a window or locked them in a closed chamber with broken glass and nails jutting out of the walls for several hours would naturally assume their kid was lying.
* [[Sadist Teacher]]: The Trunchbull, arguably the queen of this trope.
* [[Sleep Mask]]: Mrs. Wormwood wears one.▼
▲* [[Sleep Mask]]: Mrs Wormwood wears one.
* [[Smug Snake]]: The Trunchbull.
* [[Social Services Does Not Exist]]: It's not in evidence, anyway, despite all the child abuse going on.
* [[Spies in
* [[Sticky Situation]]: Mr. Wormwood + hat + superglue= restaurant scene, much to Matilda's amusement.
* [[Straw Feminist]]: A dash of this after the Trunchbull hears the "Mrs. D, Mrs. I" mnemonic for spelling "difficulty," whereupon she demands "Why are all of these women married?"
* [[Surrounded
* [[Too Dumb To Live]]: A boy named Julius tried to eat candy while the Trunchbull was overseeing his class, when everyone in the school knows how scary she is. She caught him, made him spit out the candy, and threw him out the window. He lived, but he wasn't okay.
* [[Traumatic Superpower Awakening]]: Matilda's telekinesis first displays itself when her father rips up her library books and tries to force her to watch TV with the rest of the family.
* [[The Unfavorite]]: Matilda's parents inexplicably hate her and refuse to believe she is any more intelligent than a lima bean (though, in the movie, Matilda's mother admits that she was mean to her because she never really understood her daughter), but favor her rather dim-witted brother Michael instead.
* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: While she doesn't seem to break down as much, the Trunchbull is obviously distraught that the children were able to get back at her which she didn't even
* [[Wham! Line]]: In-universe example, from the movie (in-universe as the audience is aware of {{spoiler|Miss Honey and the Truchbull's past}}, but the kids aren't):
{{quote|
** Also, the line directly before that one, spoken by {{spoiler|the Trunchbull to Miss Honey, her niece}}, may qualify: "{{spoiler|I broke your arm once, I can do it again Jenny}}."
* [[Wise Beyond Their Years]]: Matilda, big time. She's [[Good with Numbers|able to multiply large numbers in her head]] (eg. "13 times 379") [[Child Prodigy|in seconds]]. She says she likes to read just about anything. It's implied that the only reason she wasn't in advanced placement by now was because her parents don't believe in the value of education.
* [[Would Hurt a Child]]: The Trunchbull has no problem with this whatsoever.
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[[Category:Matilda]]
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Films Based on Novels]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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