Things In Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Only Adults Notice

Every year for the better part of two decades, writer and artist Jeff Kinney, best known for his immersive online world "Poptropica," delights millions of young readers with another entry in his "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series. A publishing phenomenon, each one sells millions (via The Hollywood Reporter) and provides more loosely connected and stick figure-illustrated stories about the life of arrogant, self-aggrandizing tween Greg Heffley. He suffers one indignation and relatable moment after another in his never-ending saga as a lazy middle school student and overlooked middle child.

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" has been turned into movies on several occasions, the first hitting theaters in 2010 and depicting the events of the first book in the series. It's a movie expressly made for children, but there's a lot within that adults can relate to, find funny, or might even only notice because they've got the luxury of wisdom and age. Here are all the things that only grown-ups will notice in the first "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" film.

The whole conceit of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," both the book and the movie, is that it's the life story of 11-year-old Greg Heffley, told as it happens, in the form of daily journal entries. Older viewers will understand that every single vignette in the movie corresponds to a diary entry, and every single one of them is well-written, perfectly told, and thoroughly polished. Beyond that, each entry contains a seamless beginning, middle, and end, all of which ties back to previous stories. That's extremely impressive on its own, without even factoring in that Greg illustrates his stuff, which he is equally nonchalant about.

In the real world, the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books are blockbusters written by an adult. But in the fictional universe of "Wimpy Kid," they're composed and illustrated by a child — which means that child is an accomplished, precocious, preternaturally gifted artist and storyteller capable of turning out work of bestseller quality. Adult viewers will recognize this, particularly how it's a contrast to how the character of Greg is presented — that he's kind of a dud, or literally a "wimpy kid." Greg is anything but, as this child clearly has a bright future.

The Heffley family dynamic, at least as presented through the perspective of Greg Heffley in "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," is one of chaos, dysfunction, and unfairness. Adult viewers may recognize their own messy upbringing in the ways the Heffley parents and siblings interact, and they might be made slightly uncomfortable by all that. 

Greg endures the classic middle child plight of being overlooked and ignored by his mother and father because older brother Rodrick and younger brother Manny always need attention or discipline. For instance, Rodrick is a sass-mouthed teen who lives like a slob and gets a dressing down from his mother for possessing a bikini magazine. Manny similarly lives a messy existence, as he is a toddler at the age where he's obsessed with his bodily functions and simultaneously toilet training. These issues seem to occupy all of Greg's parents' time, while Greg himself goes unnoticed.

Rodrick also bullies Greg, playing cruel pranks on him, like convincing him in the middle of the night in the summer that he's late for the first day of school. And Greg is the one who gets in trouble because he wakes up the whole house. His parents are especially irritated because once Manny is up, he won't go back to sleep. Rodrick, as usual, goes unpunished and heads back to sleep in the giant apartment-like bedroom which his parents have bestowed upon him. He's clearly the Heffley parents' favorite kid.

The action in "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" flies by with speed and attitude. It's understandable, as filmmakers had to cram every beloved bit from the monster hit of a source novel into a kid-friendly 90-minute running time while also adhering to 2010s-era family movie procedure and keeping things moving along at an energetic, break-neck pace. At the very least, this means that younger viewers will be busy absorbing the plot and comparing scenes to how they played out in the book. Meanwhile, older viewers who don't care as much about those details can stay on the lookout for secret jokes, Easter eggs, and things that capture their more sophisticated adult attentions. 

There are plenty of quickly appearing sight gags seemingly geared toward adult viewers who can appreciate a joke, hidden in images that kids might not even notice. For example, Fregley, the shamelessly weird geek whom Greg tries to keep at an arm's length, sits down for lunch on the first day of school bearing a strange meal — a half dozen or so plates topped with orbs of blue-colored gelatin. That's pretty strange, but funny. In another gag, cynical, older middle-schooler Angie is depicted reading "Howl," a powerful and incendiary work of modern poetry written by controversial Beat Generation figure Alan Ginsburg — someone adults will know, but most kids definitely will not.

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" is for and about tweens and kids around that age, and as such, the adult characters are minor. For the most part, they are purposely one-dimensional, buzz-killing authority figures in the form of parents and teachers. The audience surrogate, and the most relatable entry point into the movie for older viewers, comes in the form of Angie Steadman, an older kid at Greg's middle school. 

Amusingly to adults, this child that is just slightly older than the other children serves as a seasoned, wizened font of wisdom and life experience, a world-weary, friendly oracle that Greg and Rowley can consult, commiserate with, and come to for counseling and advice. Angie (Chloë Grace Moretz) is a reporter for the school newspaper and is often seen reading a book, which plays as both curious and mature, making her the character adults can identify with.

There's another side to Angie that's a bit perplexing, however. Angie isn't a character in the books but was instead written specifically for the movie. Her interactions with Greg and Rowley are so fleeting and random and yet so productive in providing exactly the words the two boys need to hear that older viewers may wonder if Angie is a figment of the main characters' imagination.