Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Author Jeff Kinney Weighs In On Whether Greg Is A Sociopath
It's not uncommon for writers to incorporate psychiatric disorders into their characters while working on their projects. "Fight Club" is famous for its twist ending, which (spoiler alert) involves the main character finding out he has Dissociative Identity Disorder. "Black Swan" is a dark portrayal of self-harm and schizophrenia. And while the DSM-5 might not have a specific classification for "Mean Girls" Syndrome, we wouldn't be surprised if it showed up in the future 6th edition.
Is this phenomenon happening in "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," too? Lots of people have been asking whether the franchise's beloved main character Greg Heffley possibly suffers from sociopathy. To be sure, there are some signs — like believing one day he'll be "rich and famous" (delusions of grandeur) and being annoyed by all the "stupid people" around him. Is his behavior just typical kid stuff, or is there something deeper there? "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" author Jeff Kinney recently gave a definitive answer to the question during an interview with ScreenRant, and some fans of the series may be relieved by the news.
Kinney insists Greg is just 'messy,' not a sociopath
In the ScreenRant interview, when he was asked point-blank whether or not Greg suffered from the (often misunderstood) mental affliction, Jeff Kinney explained that Greg is "a messy kid" — an "accurate" one, too, as he added — and wasn't intentionally written to be anything worse than that. And by "messy," he seems to be implying that people aren't black and white and that there's a significant gray area. Sometimes people do questionable things, and sometimes they do good. Greg is a very dynamic character in that sense, which is probably why people find him so relatable.
Kinney also talked about how Greg is a relatable character, not just to viewers but to himself as well. "A lot of things that Greg does and thinks? I did all those things," the author said. "And the people that criticize Greg for his behavior? I think they probably did a lot of those things, too."
People are talking about this hot-button issue right now because of the antisocial behavior clearly exhibited in the new movie of the same name recently released on Disney+. But a few negative personality quirks aren't a clear sign that someone is a sociopath. And it's likely that those negative traits are something Greg — and others who relate to him — can grow out of with time and life experience.