History TearJerker / Matilda

->''"[[ResentfulGuardian My mummy]] says [[AbusiveParents I'm a lousy little worm.]]\\

My mummy says I'm a jumped-up little germ, that kids like me [[ThereShouldBeALaw should be against the law]].\\

[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Dad says I should watch more TV...]]"''

-->'''Trunchbull:''' I broke your arm once before, I can do it again, Jenny!\\

-->'''Trunchbull:''' I broke your arm once! I can do it again, Jenny!\\

* Amanda gets screamed at by her teacher for wearing her hair in pigtails (which she does because her mother told her they look pretty), grabbed by her pigtails and thrown across the courtyard. While it is PlayedForLaughs, imagine how traumatic it is from her perspective.

* "These books gave Matilda a comforting and hopeful message: ''YouAreNotAlone''."

* Miss Honey's introduction scene as she thanks the school children for the flowers.
-->'''Narrator:''' Miss Honey was a wonderful teacher, and a friend to everyone. But her life was not as simple and beautiful as it seemed. Miss Honey had a deep, dark secret.
* Harry tearing up Matilda's library book and makes her watch TV against her will. In response, she blows up the TV when she gets angry enough. Matilda's had it with pranks and calling out her father.
* TheReveal that Miss Honey's story about a little girl who grew up terrorized by the Trunchbull is about her, and the realization of just how horrific the sweet woman's life was.

'''Matilda:''' ''(smiling)'' The young woman was you!\\
'''Matilda:''' But then... no.\\

'''Miss Honey:''' ''(yanks her arm free)'' I am not seven years old anymore, Aunt Trunchbull!\\

* In an early draft of the book, Matilda died when trying to use telekinesis to lift a truck in a car accident. It was kept that way until Roald got the idea of Magnus' story, which is also very sad.

* TheReveal that Miss Honey's story about a little girl who grew up terrorized by the Trunchbull is about her, and the realization of just how horrific the sweet woman's life was.
** The Trunchbull [[FinancialAbuse deliberately gave Miss Honey crappy wages to keep her in line]], so when she left, she couldn't afford things like proper furniture, central heating or a bath, (she washes standing up) leaving this wonderful teacher, living in what amounts to an animal shed. The only things she can afford is enough food to get her through to lunch. Miss Honey still considers this better than the alternative: living with her aunt, cooking and cleaning for her and being her slave. Matilda theorizes that the bad wages were to keep Miss Honey at home and trapped.
** Miss Honey was half-drowned on a regular basis. Apparently, after her father died, the Trunchbull would make her bathe by herself, and if she thought that she hadn't done a good enough job washing up, she would ''hold her head under the bathwater'' to punish her.
** Miss Honey also doesn't believe that her father killed himself, but she doesn't want to consider Matilda's theory that the aunt killed him. There isn't any proof, and she still has to work with the woman.
* Mrs. Wormwood has a moment of worry when she comes home and sees Matilda sleeping at an odd time, waking her up and asking her if she's sick. It shows that for all her neglect, she does care for her children, more than movie Zinnia Wormwood does.

* Near the beginning, they mention Matilda had no friends before school, and her parents didn't really love her. As the narrator says this, we see a book she's reading as her tear drops fall on it.

* A ''very'' subtle one courtesy of the prop department, but despite the common areas of Matilda's house being full of expensive and tacky clutter, Matilda's room is another matter. The actual furniture and bedding are sparse and cheap-looking, and the only decorations are Matilda's drawings and a flower growing in a coffee can. Her doll, which she cuddles during the "you are not alone" scene mentioned above, is crudely stitched from and decorated with things Matilda presumably found around the house, including pipe cleaners, makeup, fake nails and bits of clothing that presumably came from her mother's closet. [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfAwesome Yet for all it demonstrates Matilda's superhuman self-possession and creativity]], it's also [[ParentalNeglect a sign of how badly the Wormwoods have failed their daughter]].

My mummy says I'm a jumped-up little germ, that kids like me [[ThereShouldBeALaw should be against the law.]]\\

* Listening to Matilda's ending to "Miracle" where she talks about what her parents say about her is particularly sad especially for anyone who's had {{abusive parents}}. Not to mention the adulation other adults such as Mrs. Phelps give her, telling her that her parents must consider her to be truly one-in-a-million and Matilda lies to agree while the audience is all to aware of how painfully untrue it is.

** The Trunchbull deliberately gave Miss Honey crappy wages to keep her in line, so when she left, she couldn't afford things like proper furniture, central heating or a bath, (she washes standing up) leaving this wonderful teacher, living in what amounts to an animal shed. The only things she can afford is enough food to get her through to lunch. Miss Honey still considers this better than the alternative: living with her aunt, cooking and cleaning for her and being her slave. Matilda theorizes that the bad wages were to keep Miss Honey at home and trapped.

* Amanda gets screamed at by her teacher for wearing her hair in pigtails (which she does because her mother told her they look pretty), grabbed by her pigtails and thrown across the courtyard. While it is PlayedForLaughs, imagine how traumatic it is from her perspective.

-->'''Matilda:''' This was your home.
-->'''Miss Honey:''' Yes.
-->'''Matilda:''' ''(smiling)'' The young woman was you!
-->'''Matilda:''' But then...no.
-->'''Miss Honey:''' Yes. Aunt Trunchbull. ''(sniffles)''

-->'''Miss Honey:''' Miss Trunchbull, I was the one who went by the house last night-- ''(gets her arm grabbed by Trunchbull)'' Ow!
-->'''Trunchbull:''' I broke your arm once! I can do it again, Jenny!
-->'''Miss Honey:''' ''(yanks her arm free)'' I am not seven years old anymore, Aunt Trunchbull!
-->'''The School Children:''' ''(gasp)''
-->'''Trunchbull:''' Shut your holes!

* "These books gave Matilda a comforting and hopeful message: ''YouAreNotAlone''."

* Trunchbull kicking the black cat. Poor thing.

-->''[[ResentfulGuardian My mummy]] says [[AbusiveParents I'm a lousy little worm.]]''
-->''My daddy says I'm a bore.''
-->''My mummy says I'm a jumped-up little germ, that kids like me [[ThereShouldBeALaw should be against the law.]]''
-->''My daddy says I should learn to shut my pie hole. No one likes a smart-mouthed girl like me.''
-->''Mum says I'm a good case for population control.''
-->''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Dad says I should watch more TV...]]''
---> - '''[[TheWoobie Matilda Wormwood]]''', "Miracle"

'''''Per site policy, Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies to all TearJerker pages, so all spoilers here are unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!'''''

* From the musical, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0tRDhEmdO4 ''When I Grow Up'']] (which involves the students singing sentimentally about their adult lives, and at one point Miss Honey joins in as though she believes she hasn't grown up yet) and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3TRIVWqWzo ''Quiet'']] (in which Matilda is angry at being told to be quiet). Also the sheer hopelessness and despair dripping from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_03np9IqKg ''The School Song'']].
* From the Musical, the tale of the Escapologist and the Acrobat. They're basically a married couple who have been trying for years to have children, without success. Filled with despair, they begin preforming more and more dangerous acts, until finally they announce their most dangerous act of all time, which involves the acrobat being covered in dynamite, the Escapologist being stuck in an elaborate straitjacket, and their lives on the line. But wait, just before they perform the act, they announce that the Acrobat is pregnant, so they don't have to preform the deadly trick after all! However this is just a hope spot that gets cruelly snatched away when the Acrobat's Sister, who organized the entire show and publicity, demands that they honor the terms of their contract...
--> "A Contract is a Contract is a Contract!"

* Listening to Matilda's ending to 'Miracle' where she talks about what her parents say about her is particularly sad especially for anyone who's had abusive parents. Not to mention the adulation other adults such as Mrs. Phelps give her, telling her that her parents must consider her to be truly one-in-a-million and Matilda lies to agree while the audience is all to aware of how painfully untrue it is.
** Then it comes to a head just before 'My House', where Ms Honey tells her the same. Matilda faces away and begins reciting her bit ("Oh yes" etc.), but stops halfway through and tells Ms Honey the truth about her home life.
* From the musical: Bruce gets sent to Chokey in between acts. For most of the second act, he wears a sign stating that fact (probably to intimidate other students). When all the students in Matilda's class stand up to the Trunchbull, he's the only one who stays in his seat and does absolutely nothing, still wearing the sign. The Trunchbull's methods are incredibly messed up, but incredibly effective.
** Fortunately, he gets better, seeing how he leads the beginning of "Revolting Children".
* During "Knock on the Door", Miss Honey calls herself pathetic for being too scared to knock on Miss Trunchbull's office door.

* The sheer AdultFear Miss Honey undergoes when Miss Trunchbull physically abuses the students while sitting in on their class. She keeps shouting at Miss Trunchbull to stop because she could seriously hurt them, but Miss Trunchbull doesn't listen. Miss Honey afterward asks how the students are, and futilely advises Nigel to not mouth off at her. She's quite serious when Nigel promises to grow big enough and beat Miss Trunchbull because "no one has gotten the better of her yet".

* Mrs. Wormwood has a moment of AdultFear when she comes home and sees Matilda sleeping at an odd time, waking her up and asking her if she's sick. It shows that for all her neglect, she does care for her children, more than movie Zinnia Wormwood does.

!!The book

!!The movie

!!The musical

* During "Knock on the Door", Miss Honey calls herself pathetic for being too scared to knock on Miss Trunchbull's office door.

-->'''Trunchbull:''' ''(yanks her arm free)'' I am not seven years old anymore, Aunt Trunchbull!

* From the musical, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0tRDhEmdO4 ''When I Grow Up'']] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3TRIVWqWzo ''Quiet'']]. Also the sheer hopelessness and despair dripping from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_03np9IqKg ''The School Song'']].

** Fortunately, he gets better, seeing how he leads the beginning of "Revolting Children".

-->'''Miss Honey:''' But then...no.

--> "I broke your arm once! I can do it again, Jenny!"

* Mara Wilson, the actress who played Matilda, lost her mother to breast cancer during filming. Her adult co-actors, like Creator/DannyDeVito and Rhea Perlman, noted how bravely and maturely Mara dealt with it, and the film ended up dedicated to Suzie Wilson's memory.

* Miss Trunchbull casually mentions that she and "Jenny" have regular heart-to-hearts. This means that Miss Honey faces her abuser and her boss on a ''regular basis'' and but does it anyway for the benefit of her students.

* From the musical: Bruce [[spoiler: gets sent to Chokey]] in between acts. For most of the second act, he wears a sign stating that fact (probably to intimidate other students). When all the students in Matilda's class stand up to the Trunchbull, he's the only one who stays in his seat and does absolutely nothing, still wearing the sign. The Trunchbull's methods are incredibly messed up, but incredibly effective.

* Mara Wilson, the actress who played Matilda, lost her mother to breast cancer during filming. Her adult co-actors, like Creator/DannyDeVito and Rhea Perlman, noted how bravely and maturely she dealt with it, and the film ended up dedicated to her memory.