Crushing Childhood with Matilda (Movie Commentary)

Matilda movie commentary
Matilda is a childhood classic, especially for Stef, so we really wanted to make this movie commentary for it. The themes are even more brutal to think about as an adult, but all the fun and whimsy of the movie still shine bright
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[@themoviebudz1988]

We're going to do a live stream on this channel again tomorrow (Monday the 6th, 9am Sydney time). Hope you can come hang out for a bit!

[@TaliyahHarris1025]

Can't wait! Would you guys do the musical?

[@kaylalezabeth7175]

I'll be there.

[@taneshadavis2432]

I love watching you guys analyze movies, you guys are great! Would love to see you react to and analyze the HP series I know there's controversy but the journey through the Wizarding world is so fun!

[@TaliyahHarris1025]

@@taneshadavis2432 That would be fun. Also the Wizard of Oz movies

[@taneshadavis2432]

@@TaliyahHarris1025 I agree

[@trinaq]

Mara Wilson will always be Matilda to me. Apparently, her mother Suzie was dying of cancer during filming, and Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman, who played Matilda's neglectful parents, were extremely kind and supportive to Mara and her family the entire time. After her mum had passed away, Danny revealed that Suzie had been able to see a copy of the final film before she passed away.

[@dextiemarie]

RIP to her mother I didn’t know this 💔🙏🏽

[@19Rena96]

She's also great as Susan in Miracles on 34th Street :)

[@furubaprincessyuki18]

@@19Rena96agreed. 2 very mature roles for such a young girl.

[@liamisaac1152]

Man I remembered my eyes watering when I heard about this. Such beautiful people with kind hearts.

[@tiffanykim2773]

oh that's so sad

[@sarabelbarrulldiaz7750]

Fun fact : the scene where Matilda tells Miss Honey that her favorite author is Charles Dickens and Miss Honey says "mine too" is a hint to the way they connect and see the world. Dickens used to write about abused people and that's why is their favorite author and that's why they connect with his writing and, in extension, with each other.

[@a.g.demada5263]

Oh, that's cute

[@trinaq]

Ah, I never caught onto that tidbit before. Thank you so much for sharing your insightful knowledge.

[@skid0799]

Oh my! I never caught that reference! Thanks for sharing!

[@videohistory722]

Another big difference from the book: at the end of the book, Matilda actually does lose her abilities. As it turned out, she was only able to do so because she wasn't being academically challenged in Miss Honeys class, so her brain had to make up for it somehow. But that all stopped once she was transferred to a higher, more appropriate grade, because now for the first time in her life, she's being actively challenged, instead of having her smarts go to waste.

[@irizjuh1321]

It's actually quite a beautiful metaphor because that intensity in gifted kids will translate into something else if it doesn't get challenged/channeled like anxiety, depression, or other ways of rebelling. Energy has to go somewhere.

[@Imbatmn57]

Kids should be allowed to exceed at their own pace, i was failing 5th grade because my teacher wanted me to "rise to the occasion". Then in middle school they put me in an advanced math class which was the subject i struggled most at, and when my mother complained they put me in the "lower level" classes in everything, i didn't like how they decided who was in the advanced classes at that school. I feel like my high school english class at my first school was so dumbed down too so they took the opposite direction from middle school. My teacher would let me take the honors spelling test when i regularly did well on the regular class spelling tests. I asked to move to honors when the kids in the regular class would throw balls of paper at me. The honors class wasn't that much better. Im glad i moved to a different high school because it felt like everything was getting worse and on top of that i'd get migraines first thing in the morning because of the smell in the chemistry room.

[@Imbatmn57]

My 1st grade teacher wouldn't let me get a book that was beyond my reading level, like my mother couldn't read it to me untill i could read it myself. I remember one time i read ahead in reading circles, so the reason the teacher gave was stupid. I would also get the higher test grades than the county at one point. Apparently i was close to flunking kindergarten due to home/health issues so the fact i came back doing so well is a miracle. My kindergarten teacher would go above and beyond to help me catch up.

[@sassylittleprophet]

"You were born into a family that doesn't always appreciate you, but one day, things are going to be very different." I saw this movie for the first time as an adult, and this line made me bawl. My parents are very abusive. I would play music, write in my journal, and like Matilda, read books to escape the hell that was my childhood. The local library felt safe and more like home to me than my parents' house. I left my family almost 4 years ago due to my failing mental health, moved 2 hours away. My life has improved exponentially, my mental health is still fucked up but more stable, and I continue to discover who I am and always wanted to be. My siblings don't even recognize me anymore because I've changed so much as a person. Honestly, they hate who I've become, even though I know I've changed much for the better. I went through a few friendships with abusive people, one affecting my mental health so badly that I drove myself to the hospital when I was suicidal. I thought I'd NEVER find people who would love me just for me, not because they wanted to get something from me. But shortly after, I found my best friend, and other good friends who I remain very close with. I've found my people. So that line, "You were born into a family that doesn't always appreciate you, but one day, things are going to be very different" -- said to Matilda and knowing her story, and especially coming from Miss Honey and knowing her story -- that line always hits me so hard. And the fact that this movie came out in 1996, which just so happens to be the year I was born, is like icing on a cake.

[@TotallySquirrel]

I'm glad you're in a safer place now, surrounded my people who care for you. Much love ❤

[@sassylittleprophet]

@@TotallySquirrel thank you! 💜

[@deadinside8781]

I left 4 years ago too! You got this

[@sassylittleprophet]

@@deadinside8781 good for you! 💜

[@justindenney-hall5875]

@@sassylittleprophet "If no one's told you this today, I love you." (Peter Vlogs)💙

[@videohistory722]

Miss Honeys house is very different from the book. The main difference being that there is literally nothing in there besides a small camping stove, and two wooden boxes. Matilda didn't decide to help her just to get justice for Miss Honeys father. She also did it because Miss Honey needed serious help.

[@strawberrysoulforever8336]

Not to mention the reason is that Miss Trunchbull is asking for money back for raising her as a child, so she's only getting a pound to live on. She basically lives on bread and margarine and the free lunch at school. And even that's better than living with her aunt.

[@shainewhite2781]

Mara Wilson, Matilda herself, retired from acting in 2000, but came back to do several stage productions. In 2017 she came out as bisexual. She has starred in several web series since then.

[@trinaq]

Mara even penned an article for Cracked on how child actors can grow up to be messed up adults.

[@Wawagirl17]

To me she will always be The Faceless Old Woman Who Lives in Your Home.

[@christopherb501]

She's certainly more interesting and worthwhile than her jackass cousins...

[@summerrose8110]

@Shaine White I read that Mara is gay, don't care if she is that's what I read.

[@thedrunkenelf]

Seeing how uncomfortable Stef was during the maths scene made me relate so much. I used to cry regularly during maths class and couldn’t understand why I just couldn’t get it. Now I’m a teacher (English and humanities, still can’t do maths) and I think it helped me actually have much more compassion to students that struggle a lot with school.

[@made-line7627]

When I was at boarding school, in year 7, I legit hid under a table because the math class was stressing me out _so_ much. It just makes me so overwhelmed haha

[@kai_winchester_66]

honestly I totally agree with Stef I have cried many times over maths

[@Imbatmn57]

I failed college chemistry because i hated that i always needed my mom to help me with school work so i wanted to do it on my own, and i ended up dropping it twice, my high school class was easier and less stressful.

[@ZariDV]

Good point about the portraying of Ms Honey being the nice woman who was feminine vs Ms Trunchbull who was wicked and masculine. I suppose it helps a bit to have Matilda's mother. She's also portrayed as feminine yet wicked too. It might have been nice to complete the spectrum with a woman who is portrayed as masculine and nice as well. I suppose there's not a whole lot of adult representation since it's so focused on the kids.

[@ianesgrecia8568]

Yeah. they seem to forget matilda's mother is a woman too

[@cniknik9863]

Same, I never got that connotation of the Trunchbull being masculine.

[@charliegoodwin1933]

Roald Dahl wrote this in like the 50s and 60s. He was a known racist. so I’m not really sure if it might’ve just been like a sexist thing that happened at the times

[@starrkitty1]

“WHY are all these women married?!” Bahahaha I forgot about that line

[@strawberrysoulforever8336]

A line taken verbatim from the book. There is a good reason for them all to be married - rhythm.

[@igamarurbytes]

@@strawberrysoulforever8336 oh my god, you could really bugger up the rhythm. Mrs D, Mz I, The Hon. F-F-I. Miss C, HM U, Dr. L-T-Y, PhD.

[@blainevanity6]

My dad convinced me that reading a lot will get you telekinetic powers. I tried to read as much as I can hoping to be like Matilda. I would practice every time I finished a book 😂 Anyway, that started my love for reading 😆

[@Br0nto5aurus]

I always thought Trunchbull was more ogre-like than masculine. I mean, she does have some masculine traits, like being physically strong and tall, but she has more grotesque traits: she eats like Shrek, she regularly abuses children (and Miss Honey), she has no control over her temper, she's disrespectful to nice people, just for being nice, the list goes on. If you associate her monstrous traits with masculinity, I think that has more to do with your view of masculinity than the character of Trunchbull.

[@adamo2125]

Shrek oh my she is

[@mmcreads]

And I’m curious how they’d represent a woman who is supposed to be physically abusive and physically intimidating without making her big and strong? Would her muscular physique have been ok if she were classically beautiful as well? Esp since the story is from the exaggerated perspective of a child 🤷‍♀️

[@IDrinkWeed]

@@mmcreadsnot to mention, she’s an athlete. I mean, she caught up to Matilda and Ms. Honey like is was nothing when both people have slimmer shape, she’s won awards for her javelin and hammer throws, she picks up children and launches them pretty far, and she single-handedly built a makeshift Iron Maiden in her office’s closet. And they expect her to look like Margot Robbie? I understand not liking stereotypes, they can be harmful, but this is ridiculous.

[@echowall5967]

Mara Wilsons (Matilda) mom was dying when she was filming Matilda and so Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman were there for her and gave her mom a unfinished copy of the movie so she could see her daughter act before dying. Mara was so scared to dance on the table so Danny and the rest of the cast danced behind the camera

[@broadwaybrook2319]

(About Danny and the cast dancing behind the camera) That seems like something DeVito would do cause he's such a funny guy.

[@Quessir]

Roald Dahl's books on his own life (Boy, Going Solo) recall the utter barbarity he experienced in the British school system, back in a time when health and safety and parents being able to do anything about the abuse going on in the schools was a novel concept. Not just the adutls - the incredible cruelty of older boys being able to dish out corporal punishment. The prefects at Repton seconday school devised horrific punishments for the students under their supposed care, and they have been described as "utmost sadists". Dahl said he could not get over the treatment he'd suffered at their hands. No wonder his books tended to have characters bigger than the protagonist in positions of authority which they abused to ridiculous degrees. And in this book, Miss Trunchbull. Likely he had a specific idea for the character - physical, literally throwing children around - and thought a male character would be too much. And so again, Miss Trunchbull. I don't think he wrote it to portray Miss Trunchbull as disgusting BECAUSE she was so muscular and powerfully built - that just helped sell the character because she's able to be so physically intimidating. There's nothing more intimidating to a small child than a big person. My uncle is one of the gentlest people I know and yet he still used to terrify us when we were toddlers, because he was so huge from our perspective. We now live in a time where body shaming is a concept we all understand, but I really don't think Dahl had it in mind when writing the book or intended it to be a way of looking down on women with a certain body type. Trunchbull isn't meant to be a realistic portrayal of a person. She's a caricature, an idea a small child would have of a particularly large and intimidating figure and believing the worst they could think of of that figure.

[@realSimoneCherie]

18:25 I don’t think Ms. Honey thought she could change the Wormwooods, but she did feel obligated to attempt to. In that way, I relate to her SO MUCH

[@MRoriz-ls8hg]

its funny to see people react so confusingly and shocked to characters like her parents and the principal. when you grow up around adults who hate children, watching this just makes perfect sense. and its unfortunately so massive the amount of children who are failed by their parents emotionally, and then grow up to have no compassion or understanding of their own children, or any child. people truly forget what its like to be so young and clueless, needing guidance and love. these characters feel SO real to me. this movie, like tangled and the hunchback of notridame, are sadly viscerally relatable

[@christopherb501]

With how unfortunately common parents/guardians like this are, it's always bizarre to me when people are earnestly shocked at seeing such in media. "Home Alone, worst family ever"? Sure, folks, sure.

[@BrokensoulRider]

@@christopherb501 the child abuse we see is actually not a common occurrence. It's only common in media and news because it is the most talked about when people finally come out, step up, raise their voice and make it known what type of people their friends, spouses, partners, parents, families are. It's sadly STARTING to become more common with what we see, but it was never a common thing.

[@missjillmars]

I watched this movie all the time as a child. My mom to this day still tells me "You're my only daughter, Matilda, and I never understood you, not one little bit." 😆

[@ashleydavall]

Pam Ferris, who plays Trunchball, is a really well-known British actress. But, at this point, in the USA she was probably most well-known for playing Ma Larkin in the Darling Buds of May (the show that made Catherine Zeta Jones a star) one of the most wholesome, sweet & kind characters to ever grace TV. So you can see why the role in Matilda appealed to her, it stopped her being typecast & showed her great range. It was a great choice by DeVito too, casting a relatively unknown actor in such a huge role.

[@kingcastlequeenbeckett]

She’s also the aunt Harry Potter blew up in Prisoner of Azkaban 😂

[@ladyhouseoflove]

Thankfully, Trunchbull's actress didn't always have Trunchbull-similar roles for her career. I mean she still played Aunt Marge in the HP films, which has not aged well for so many reasons (we really need to stop applying traditionally masculine traits to evil female characters). But she also got good roles too. She was great in Rosemary and Thyme (a cozy mystery series where she is a crime-solving gardener) and Call the Midwife (a gruff but beloved midwife nun in a community). She's really a talented actress. Hopefully, as we progress, we can give actors of different body types a more diverse resume.

[@petrastedman669]

Oh agree. I love her in R&T, esp in the episode at the boys' school where that guy falls so hard for her. My hands down favorite role of Pam Ferris is in Death to Smoochy. She's an Irish mob boss. She's *gorgeous* in the movie, wearing leather skirts and these incredible clothes, and just gets to be a saucy badass.

[@ladyhouseoflove]

@@petrastedman669 Oh, that sounds delightful! I will have to check it out!

[@kenna163]

That's why she was so familiar. I knew I'd seen her somewhere

[@made-line7627]

Oh my God, she was Marge?!

[@subtlesraf]

fat isn't a different body type, it's a normal body type. people need to stop the stigma and the rest will follow. enough assigning roles to body types and other types and just write actual characters who could be people

[@petrastedman669]

Read a thing a few years ago that had Matilda meeting Wednesday & Pugsley from the Addams Family. The kids take her home with them, and Morticia & Gomez say she has such a lovely last name and they all charm each other. The Addamses are very encouraging of her studying and smarts and basically adopt her. She studies fencing and has adventures with Wednesday, and she takes care of Morticia's plant, and knows a lot about poisons and explosives so she helps them with the things they like. At the end, they gift her the library (which contains my favorite line - there might be more books than even she could read in a lifetime, but the Addams family just smiled and said 'we'll see about that') and they all live wonderfully ever after.

[@EmonEconomist]

Oh lovely! Where can we find this story?

[@petrastedman669]

@@EmonEconomist I have no idea. 😥 I'm sorry. I remember the story, because I liked it so much, but I can't find the post anywhere. It actually may have been part of a thread, since I do remember seeing the bit of Morticia meeting a girl and saying 'Wormwood. What a lovely name' some time last year. If I find it again, I'll post a link. X my ❤️

[@christopherb501]

@@petrastedman669 PLEASE. DO SO.

[@E_btsot798]

The one thing I felt was missing from the Matilda musical movie remake was the anger from her family and brother that fueled her want to control her powers better… there was no buildup to her use of her powers in the 2022 remake…. It happened suddenly and really for no reason if there was one there was no backbone behind the reason…

[@plilly0709]

The 2022 movie musical isn’t a remake, it’s based off of the 2010 musical. And in the book, Matilda only uses her powers three times, because her powers aren’t the main focus of her character. Even if they were, the movie explains how she got her powers, it’s because her incredible mind.

[@MysticWolfMagic]

That was such a good time. I loved Sam’s reaction to Matilda just having the adoption papers ready.

[@secretlybees]

This was really fun. Matilda was definitely a movie that made me feel ... seen? as a kid. As for the femininity good/masculinity bad, I'd argue that Matilda's mom is very feminine in a different way from Miss Honey. I'm not saying it still couldn't be problematic, but I do think there's more than JUST that contrast c:

[@halloweenallyearround4889]

It's a bit of a classist take. Because yes, it's true that some people who didn't go to University scoff at the ones who did, but Matilda's mum femininity is what some would consider campy, "trashy" or kitsch. Contrasted with the classic upper class femininity of Miss Honey, it does a great disservice to the people who enjoy campy feminine self expression. Particularly POC who do, because a lot of those fashions come from Black culture specifically. So depicting her mum like that can be both classist and racist.

[@secretlybees]

@@halloweenallyearround4889 You could pick apart many things and conclude that the motive was hateful and racist or sexist... This story and movie is, in no way, an act of racial aggression or white supremacy. Spend your energy complaining about more worthy ventures. Or, perhaps you're bored and needed a stretch with how far you're reaching to make this a deeply prejudiced and malicious take. At worst, it has some misguided comparisons. Should all the women in the movie be feminine in the exact same way? Just because it encourages joy for school doesn't make it classist. It's based on a book whose audience is little book nerd outcasts who tend to be academically inclined. It's not classist to have a target audience. You can't represent every group perfectly in every piece of media that comes out. Representation matters, and we need movies that represent many groups, but we don't need every single movie to represent all at once.

[@cniknik9863]

​@@secretlybees completely agree.

[@maevav5645]

Yeah, Miss Honey just happend to be that way, and the other women in the movie too.

[@cdub3484]

Now that I realize it, Matilda is Harry Potter. Only differences are she lives with her bad parents instead of aunt and uncle and doesn’t use a wand.

[@oncerand_directioner]

Also she's the only one in her school with magic powers

[@christopherb501]

Also she's not built up to be a Status Quo Warrior.

[@vitinamorabito7283]

I loved this movie! Although as a kid I didn't clock the gender thing. I thought that Trunchbull was just supposed to be ugly in the face. I see it now, but I'm also just so impressed by how strong she is. Also, apparently the actor that portrayed her was as about as far as she could get from the character. She was so nice to the kids outside of filming and felt so guilty portraying her.

[@dzc2805]

The Amanda scene with Trunchbull in Latin Spanish it's hilarious "¿Eres africana Amanda?" - "Mi mami dice que son lindas" -¿Tú mami? ¡ES UNA TONTA!

[@kaylalezabeth7175]

Y'all, this was my MOVIE growing up! Omigosh, y'all could not watch "Matilda" with me because I would sit there and say every line word for word, lol! 😂😊❤️💖💕

[@SessVlogs]

I've had such a crappy week at work, it's such a beautiful surprise to see you've reacted to one of my comfort movies!

[@themoviebudz1988]

Glad you enjoyed this movie choice 😊 Nice to know they were all so supportive of her! - Sam

[@scientistservant]

One of my favourite childhood movies! Love how Danny Devito didn't just narrate and star in the film, but he directed it too! As a tomboy myself, I never thought of Trunchbull as a villain just because she's masculine -- It's much more than that, I think. She's very monstrous, loud and angry.

[@videohistory722]

36:11 Mara Wilson was really nervous about dancing on the table, so the whole cast and crew is dancing behind the camera with her.

[@besupaaa]

I loved this movie so much. Though it makes thing seem "lighter" through comedy, all those kids subjected to various forms of abuse made me feel so sad. I like how Matilda is this whimsical child with string morals who fights back, regardless of her powers. This is a hopeful movie, and I love it so much. The musical makes me cry more.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

‘Matilda’ is the wholesome sister of ‘Carrie’.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Someone in my family was exactly like Miss Honey so I love her character even more. Embeth Davidtz, the actress who played her was also in ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’. I mean, the range.

[@7_ty_]

She was also in Schindler’s List and most recently M. Night Shyamalan’s movie Old :)

[@PokhrajRoy.]

@@7_ty_ I didn’t know she was in the former.

[@justindenney-hall5875]

@@PokhrajRoy. And she played "Sheila" the female lead in "Army of Darkness" (1992) AKA "Evil Dead 3".

[@made-line7627]

Who was she in BJD? Was she in the first or second one? She's so great as Miss Honey 🍯

[@justindenney-hall5875]

@@made-line7627 I haven't seen it personally but under the search results for the cast she's listed as a character called "Natasha".

[@Electricviolet]

This came out when i was 9 and i never saw it as masculine woman= evil, feminine woman = good, because if you see Matilda's mom was very feminine but she was not a good person so 🤷‍♀, and the strong stomach thing i always saw it that if the painter made a mistake, then Trunchbull would punch him in the stomach sort of thing lol, and a little fun fact, the kid that catches the newt when it falls from the lamp, is Malcolm's friend Stevie from "Malcolm in the middle"

[@PokhrajRoy.]

To quote Damian from ‘Mean Girls’: “Oh My God! Danny DeVito, I love your work!”

[@Jemini4228]

Bruce Bogtrotter doesn't get enough credit for the sheer guts it would take for a kid to sass Trunchbull.

[@dyloosutherland3075]

Matilda is my childhood I can’t even count how many times I rewatched this movie does a great job with showing this from a child’s perspective and even humanises miss trunchbull the tiniest bit by making her scared of the picture in her house everyone kills there role in these movies and I’ve heard people say miss trunchbulls actress was a really nice women

[@abrielle13]

I related to Matilda a lot as a kid. I was in foster care for about 5 years and had several foster parents. Some were nice, some were really shitty and very damaging. I always wished I had her powers.

[@embran8486]

Seeing Mathilda's way of punishing her dad reminds me of Amélie. Totally want you guys to check that out at one point on the channel. Maybe a bit too artsy and less romance or teen flick as usual, but great fun.

[@hungryhungryhippocampus7889]

i would venture that mrs. wormwood-who, out loud declared that she chose looks-is stereotyped aesthetically as much as the trunch. seems that the good characters live life authentically, even in appearance, whereas the more 'evil' characters put on a facade for the world, regardless of the gender or expression of it

[@videohistory722]

There's a whole bit that mentions that the Trunchbull told her that now that she's an adult, she has to start paying her back for everything she did for her. The only money she had was a pound a week. The Trunchbull made her sign a paper that would redirect all of her paycheck directly into her bank. But what's really gonna mess with your head is the assumption is she killed the father for the inheritance, and we find out Miss Honeys inheritance was never touched all this time, so the natural conclusion here is that after the father died, Trunchbull was informed she wasn't entitled to the money part of the inheritance because it's in Miss Honeys name, and thus took it out on Miss Honey by stealing her wages.

[@ununiformplays]

One thing about the portrayal of Trunchbull is that with some of the things they talk about with her figure, it is shown, implied, and said that she uses that strength to harm the children. That's why I'm not concerned with the depiction, as a person on the bigger side. There were obviously some jabs about her appearance, but I think it was how she used her strength that is more important.

[@zefiro6829]

Ms. Trunchbull's always been my favourite character, but I was so pleased to see that her actor in the behind the scenes interviews is such a sweetheart! I love when wholesome people play antagonists.

[@nerd26373]

Matilda is such a great film that’s practically a well known masterpiece at this point. Great reaction as always.

[@michelle6337]

I love that Stef identified with Matilda because he liked to read, because that is 100% why I loved this movie so much. I was also super into supernatural stuff like psychic powers so that cinched Matilda as one of my favorites growing up. Incidentally, Belle was also my favorite Disney princess because she loved to read, and I coveted that sick library she had at the castle.

[@luciaelizabeth9233]

I had this movie on VHS and me and my sister actually ruined it from watching it so many times. It's one of my all time favorites.

[@RoseSparkz]

While many of the moments demonizing masculine traits in women are over the line, from a story perspective it makes a lot of sense that ms trunchbull is a physically overpowered and large figure, because it is the contrast to Matilda, who is mentally overpowered and small. It perfectly demonstrates Matilda’s arc of learning to overcome those who loom over her using her mind and bravery. Unfortunately because it’s a children’s story the result is that Matilda and her traits are the representation of heroic good, and trunchbulls traits are exaggerated and associated with evil. I also just realized that Matilda’s mom is the exact opposite of ms honey. (Their interactions make it pretty obvious) She is hyperfeminine, but is extremely individualistic and not compassionate to children and other adults (even her family) beyond what they can do for her. I think it’s interesting because this wouldn’t be so terrible if she did not become a mother and neglect her child. The one moment where she comes across as somewhat good is when she lets Matilda go to be with someone who can love her properly. (Another lightning strike to my brain) Also the only men in the story are the dads. One alive and dominating and selfish, and ms honeys is dead, loving, and generous. Overall lots of interesting comparisons of paternal/maternal figures in the lives of young children.

[@LovedayJourno]

The videos of the cast reunion and reenacting some of iconic scenes is hilarious and you can also see how close they were as a cast.

[@Glaceonmon]

12:50 what about Matilda's mom? She's also exceptionally feminine and is horrible... and they also show cased that exceptionally masculine (Matilda's dad) is not great... and what about all the traditionally masculine things that they do as friends? Like the bug hunting/exploring? They showcased that it isn't gender specific.

[@Mike90317]

exactly

[@soulbound2]

Agreed

[@CaptainPikeachu]

All of that doesn’t also mean they didn’t do gender specific stereotypes that are bad and problematic. It’s not a mutually exclusive thing. Not to mention the thing with Matilda’s parents are also in many ways stereotypes of certain aspects of feminine and masculine views on the different genders

[@idgafcba]

@@CaptainPikeachu but that's part of their character, the narrator didn't highlight these things as a good thing. To take challenging representations out of art is an argument against all art if you chose to sanitise it and remove the context to superficial box ticking of "acceptable" representation. It's a shallow take imo

[@broadwaybrook2319]

Mr. Wormwood: "Are you being smart with me?" Matilda: "Yes, because you are all so dumb."

[@amandaodom5732]

The joke hit too hard today😂 but for real though I’ve always loved this movie and the nostalgia it holds for me, absolutely love y’all’s channel!

[@themoviebudz1988]

Thanks so much 😊 - Sam

[@christopherb501]

28:15 Fun fact: The reveal here was the other way around in the book. Miss Honey was explicitly talking about herself with the story, and the last line of the chapter was revealing "Aunt Trunchbull".

[@BELLA-mf6hb]

Matilda.... the "Carrie" for children.

[@hauntedlemon]

my younger sister is very smart and very good at math. one time when we were 8/9, she couldn't sleep and decided to do multiplication tables in the kitchen. like multiple pages. our parents found them the next morning very confused but encouraging. she's graduating college this May in accounting and already has a good job lined up. i'm very proud of her :)

[@TotallySquirrel]

Not me desperately trying to move my cereal spoon with my mind when I was a kid... Still waiting for those powers to kick in. 😆 Loved this movie as a kid. There was a lot I related to in this story.

[@abrielle13]

In defence of your point about the masculine woman being bad and the feminine one being good, Matildas mom is feminine (not as soft feminine as Ms. Honey but still) and she's a bad person too.

[@a.g.demada5263]

I don't think she's really bad. For me, she's just snob

[@ky9933]

18:42 I also appreciate these guys for not falling into the trap of "You're not that good looking!" when they saw this line

[@kahmialavender8393]

The only reason she had the belt on and was sweaty because if you remember she was going to go practice/work out and then the car broke down so she had to push the car all the way back to the house.

[@Mike90317]

Yeap

[@kassiedelong7983]

As someone who works in a library, we do require a parent to have a card before the child can get one. But if parent maybe doesn’t want one or has big fines, then we have books that are donations that I let the kids look through and take home with them to keep. If the parent just has small fines I will waive them so the kids can get books. ❤❤

[@truthseeker9249]

That's so sweet.

[@samiraansari5686]

Depends on where you are, I think? In my town all kids get a free library card when they start primary school (completely without parental involvement- it‘s a cooperation between the school and the library) and you only have to replace it when you turn 18.

[@KayHarperOfficial]

I'll never forget watching this with my 8 year old niece about 2 weeks ago. It was her first watch and during the part where she almost catches them in the house her face was pure terror. Lol she then looked over at her brother like holy ish! 😂

[@warrenpowers108]

"Just because I have to look up doesn't mean you have to talk down." Dude. That is an incredibly powerful statement.

[@mikhalaa746]

Matilda and Annie are still my favorite movies. They just make me so happy🤗

[@cniknik9863]

I remember watching this movie, and when the Trunchbull said, "My idea of a perfect school is one with no children at all," I thought 'well why doesn't she just work at a college?" Now that I'm older, I realize that someone like Trunchbull likes the power of bullying people they consider weaker for the power. ALSO, this movie came out when I was in third grade, and my teacher looked and acted exactly like Ms. Honey. We all felt so lucky.

[@Darkjade93]

Another Ronald Dahl movie you should review is James and the Giant Peach. It'd be interesting to compare how he wrote the aunts in that - from what I recall they're pretty cold and distant and not caring for James, and are caricatured as being ugly too.

[@pascaleelliott63]

I remember this movie I love it growing up! From what I heard about the people who worked on it (Mara Wilson, Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman), and from what I recall, during the making of this movie, Mara's mother was in the hospital fighting cancer, ad Devito and the team did their very best for take care of her mum and of Mara. Devito and Perlman became aunt and uncle figures to her, aswell as a dear loving friend to her mother. Some time after her mother's passing, Devito and Perlman practically adopted Mara as one of their own. And even though at the time Mara was saddened that her mother didn't get to see their movie before she died (she passed away a few months before its due release), Devito revealed a few years after her passing that he indeed managed to show her mother the movie while she was in the hospital, to which the mother was really pleased she got to see aswell as being incredibly proud of her daughter, and to which Mara is still thankful to Devito for to this day.

[@mini3mayhem]

I only watched this movie once and it was when I was like 6, so the only thing I can solidly remember is watching the “glue in the hat” scene and then slowly turning over to my mom and staring at her. She of course caught onto what I was thinking (me being the little sadist I was) and started laughing her ass off and told me that if I did that to my dad he would murder me immediately.

[@Jonathanest90s]

Speaking of Matilda, I actually met Mara Wilson a week ago and she’s just wondering. We both had a great conversation about our lives and my connections to the movie. I think Mara Wilson is definitely one of the nicest actors I’ve ever met.

[@kaylagaymon4873]

This movie is amazing. There were so many twists, magical and funny moments. It feels like Matilda is me. If I had powers like her, people would be very impressed. Danny Devito played the father and the narrator 🤩🤩🤩🤣🤣🤣

[@linnflame]

I am glad you are watching the original!! the book was my favourite growing up, I love the movie too - my name is also Matilde and always related to this movie and Matilda's trauma in this, I love Ms Honey and wish I had met someone like her back then.

[@wattsink2009]

12:37 To be fair, there’s also Matilda’s mother to consider. She’s also arguably more traditionally feminine than Trunchbull, but she’s complete trash compared to Ms Honey. Also there is the librarian and the cook to consider. The librarian is a sweet old lady, and the first to catch a glimpse of how special Matilda is (even if she does very little for her). Whereas the cook is a disgusting old lady who seems to enjoy Trunchbull’s mistreatment of the children (even though the cook doesn’t harm them as far as we know). Also, to be in the Olympics (whether male or female), you have to be aggressive and borderline obsessive about physical fitness. She probably became a principal specifically to surround herself with children that are obviously smaller and weaker than her, so that she can convince herself that she hasn’t fallen too far, now that she’s passed her prime. Remember, Lavender said she USED TO be in the Olympics.

[@gluteusuterus5592]

Easily my favourite childhood movie

[@rebajoe]

Pam Ferris(who played Miss Trunchbull) was also Aunt Marge in 'Harry Potter'(same attitude as well)

[@zakthepenguin5106]

Guys, I think you need to realize that the actress who played trenchable, loves to play the sort of rolls, she’s not ashamed of her body, and she even developed the character while they were sculpting her fake nose, etc. So don’t think that she’s ashamed of her body, she wanted purposely to look like this, because that’s how she was in the book, they didn’t wanna make her a male figure, because it would be scary, or if it was a female principal …. Frankly, nobody likes principles, but what if she was physically terrifying?

[@alaynadoon2554]

was just talking about this movie with a coworker earlier lmao! you guys are great at comedic timing and all around the best!

[@Hazeljv3]

My fav movie commentary youtubers releasing a video for one of my favourite childhood movies on my birthday??? I am truly blessed today. Thanks for the great content, guys! 💕

[@ChrissaTodd]

my favourite quote from this movie is "chew your food, you're an animal" lol

[@ObserverAmanda]

I love that you two commented on family at the end as that is one of my favorite things in this movie. I am a huge proponent of chosen/found family. My family is "okay", but I have seen so many other people around me that have toxic and even abusive genetic relatives.

[@claussabrego]

When Stef said "Made me cry once" during the math scene, I was like saaaame I just had war flashbacks 🥲🥲

[@persgodiva]

Omg yes yes yes I LOVE this movie! Thank you so much guys, what a treat!!

[@chris...9497]

The actor playing Trunchbull is the same one who play's Vernon Dursley's sister, aunt to Harry Potter; the same aunt that gets inflated and floats out of the house and into the sky in "Prisoner of Azkaban".

[@maia98]

This is my all time favourite childhood movie. Was so excited to see your reaction to it

[@pokewifemcgill88]

As a kid this movie scared me, when they were in the house hiding from the principal and when she goes back at night to get the doll but I also always wanted the powers she had and the little house Ms Honey had with the honeysuckle garden lol Have you guys seen Harriet the Spy?! another classic of the same generation i had one of the original orange vhs tapes

[@leeannetaylor5784]

Harriet the spy!!! Read that book sooo many times and I remember the orange nickelodeon tape

[@zyxwh185]

This movie always makes me feel nostalgic. I related so much to Matilda growing up. Glad I got to watch it with y’all again and get some new insight too.

[@takijahrichardson8752]

This movie and the book MADE my childhood- to this day Matilda is still one of my favorites 🫶🏾

[@fambi1271]

This movie was everything to me. My father was terrible and always said if cops ever get involved, we'd(6 children total) get taken away from my mom and separated in foster care. Even though I love my mom so much and know she was a victim as well, little child me wished more than anything to be rescued like Matilda.

[@DanielSelk]

This movie is traumatizing as a kid and hilarious when you see it as an adult.

[@videohistory722]

The Dahl's chickens quote is a reference to the BFG, another Dahl book

[@LPSCANDY10]

Bro the timing of this channel is insane, I was just thinking about Matilda a few days ago 😭

[@spookygirl31]

matilda was one of the first characters in film that i related too not because of her ethnicity but because of the way she grew up and the kind of people around her but it took me almost two decades to be able to start to be more like her in her way of thinking and the way she views the world she was a lil punk in the making and i love her for it

[@EclipseSeth]

The book is good. But in my opinion, the movie is one of those rare movies that are better than the actual book.

[@liseyboop]

15:50 omg!! an late diagnosed adhd & autistic here & i relate to this so deeply!!! excelled in reading but math was a nightmare now i know it was a learning disability amongst everything else

[@wall-g]

I don't know if anyone else had said this yet but during the dance scene, Mara Wilson (Matilda) was very anxious about dancing, so to help her ease up a bit more, the crew was dancing right along with her just behind the cameras. Another thing, Mara's mother had died of cancer shortly after the movie had been released, and beforehand when she was in the hospital it's said that Danny and Rhea had taken Mara under their wing and even had a copy for her mother to see before she passed!

[@mcrrockspoft]

I can't WAIT to watch this! Such a beloved movie

[@strawberrysoulforever8336]

The bit where Matilda talks about Charles Dickens here was changed from the book. In the book, she remarks that she loved reading CS Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia), but she considered his failing was that there weren't funny moments in his books, and she thought children's books needed to be funny because children aren't as serious as adults.

[@katwebbxo]

Such a childhood classic. I watched it all the time growing up. 💖

[@Uta_Chandra.H]

22:10 You guys are the best commentators! And Matilda was one of my favorite stories and movies. Great metaphor for children in order for them to read more!

[@briannenurse4640]

I love that you went into the "humans only use 10% of their brains" thing. It's like, yeah, for any given task, maybe we only use a small percentage of gray matter, but every task requires different parts of the brain, and the brain is controlling multiple tasks simultaneously, including the ones we're not consciously aware of like breathing and digesting. We use 100% of our brains... just not necessarily in every single moment.

[@AliceTheChaosWitch]

I also loved to read as a child and loved Matilda for that

[@AliceTheChaosWitch]

I also cried because of math problems and times tables. Math gives me mad anxiety

[@Alphasnowbordergirl]

It's interesting you guys saw the parallels between masculine women being evil and feminine being good. I never correlated anything like that even at my age. She was a bad person so I just kind of accepted it. I think I accepted a lot of things at face value as a child. When it came gender in movies, I never thought, girls can't do what the male protagonist does.

[@derichawkins4938]

As usual amazing life lesson learned from you thank you.