History YMMV / Matilda

--> "This is Dahl, not [[Creator/VladimirNobokov Nabokov]]!"

--> "This is Dahl, not [[{{Literature/Lolita}} Nabokov]]!"

** Dahl's [[NewMediaAreEvil anti-television bias]] is pretty blatant here, even more so than his portrayal of Mike Teavee in ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory''. Matilda's family, who love television, are unpleasant, unintelligent people, especially the father, who is a [[ConMan con artist]] selling cheap, barely-functional cars. Meanwhile, Matilda, who loves books, is a kind-hearted genius. Since it has become accepted that there is nothing wrong with watching television as long as it's in moderation, and that both books and television have their advantages/disadvantages, Dahl's beliefs has started raising some eyebrows.

* WhatAnIdiot: Mr. Wormwood's approach to selling cars. He essentially cuts so many corners on the "repairs" he does on the crappy, broken down cars he buys for resale that they're not so much "repaired" as "capable of feigning quality for two miles before breaking down". It never occurs to him that his dealership might get a negative reputation and eventually receive no business at all because everyone knows that the cars are little more than spray-painted junk.

** Dahl's [[NewMediaAreEvil anti-television bias]] is pretty apparent here, even more so than his portrayal of Mike Teavee in ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' over twenty years earlier. Matilda's family, who love television, are unpleasant, unintelligent individuals with emphasis on the father in particular, who is later revealed to be a [[ConMan con artist]] selling cheap, barely-functional cars. Meanwhile, Matilda herself, who loves books, is a kind girl and literally described as a genius. Since it has become accepted that there is nothing wrong with watching television unless it becomes an obsession, and that both books and television have their individual advantages/disadvantages, Dahl's "Television makes you a stupid, horrible person" beliefs have become questionable.

* CompleteMonster: [[TheDreaded Agatha Trunchbull]] is the [[DeanBitterman headmistress]] of Crunchem Hall Primary School who rules the school with an iron fist. Shying away from illegal caning, the Trunchbull opts for more torturous methods easily dismissed by parents as wild stories. A ChildHater extraordinaire, the Trunchbull subjects the children to near-fatal punishments, her favorite being "the Chokey"--a refurnished cupboard laced with broken glass and nails. [[spoiler:Out of greed, the Trunchbull murdered her brother-in-law for his inheritance, and [[EvilAunt violently abused her niece]], Jennifer Honey, breaking her arm in a spur of rage. Unrepentant, the Trunchbull threatens to break Miss Honey's arm again when she stands up to her.]] A psychotic disciplinarian who prides herself with never having a childhood, the Trunchbull set the standard for {{sadist teacher}}s everywhere.

* CompleteMonster: [[SadistTeacher Agatha Trunchbull]] commits all the acts from the book, along with additional crimes. Trunchbull is a former Olympic hammer thrower, who is depicted in onscreen flashbacks as making money from a circus where she forced her trapeze artist sister--who was pregnant--to work at the circus or face jail, with Trunchbull eventually killing her sister by cutting the rope. The baby--Jennifer "Jenny" Honey--survived. Trunchbull was then invited by her oblivious brother-in-law to help care for Jenny, regularly [[EvilAunt abusing]] the latter when her father wasn't home and scaring her into submission. When Jenny's father came home early one day to find his daughter starved and tied up in the cellar, he went to confront Agatha, only for Trunchbull to murder him and [[NeverSuicide frame it as suicide]]. In the present day, Trunchbull became [[DeanBitterman headmistress of a school]]. She commits all the acts of [[WouldHurtAChild child abuse]] seen in the book and locks Matilda in a [[IronMaiden torture box]] known as a Chokey, which she regularly used on children. The Trunchbull's cruelty expands in scope when the climax of the musical has her attempting to replace all classrooms with Chokeys to create a school system where children will be tortured and "neither seen nor heard". Already known as one of the most preeminent {{child hater}}s in adolescent fiction, this version of the Trunchbull still stands out as truly monstrous.

* TheScrappy: In all adaptations, Agatha Trunchbull is despised by readers, viewers and fans alike because of her abusive attitude and personality towards Matilda, Miss Honey and children and for being overall unlikeable. In every single adaptation of Matilda, she has absolutely no fans at all.

** SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped.

* Also counts as TruthInTelevision, and SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped.

** Harry Wormwood, thanks to Danny [=DeVito=] pulling double duty as the narrator. One could infer that the narrator is actually Harry regretting the way he treated Matilda.

* GirlShowGhetto: Subverted. While the film was a disappointment at the box office, it acquired a huge fanbase not restricted to a female audience- regardless of Matilda being the protagonist.

* GirlShowGhetto: Subverted. While the film was a disappointment at the box office, it acquired a huge fanbase of both genders - regardless of Matilda being the protagonist.

* TheScrappy: Agatha Trunchbull is extremely despised by fans for her tyrannical behavior and seriously cruel treatment toward kids in the school and for being irredeemable douchebag overall. She has absolutely no fans at all.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped:
** Sometimes your biological family are just plain terrible people and it's in your best interest to get away from them. Both the film and book end with Matilda getting away from her parents and living with Miss Honey who provides her with the love and support she was denied at home and this is presented as being a happy ending. It's an important counterpoint to the message that people should stick by their biological families no matter what, which can be taken sadly internalized by many kids that they should put up with abuse and mistreatment due to supposed parental love that, in too many instances, just isn't there.
** Lampshaded by Matilda, just because someone is an adult, that doesn't necessarily make them right. And specifically in the situation of Matilda's family, adults (through a number of reasons) [[ParentsAsPeople may be incorrect in their decisions and can hurt their children]], even if their intentions are not necessairly ''evil'' per se. You can see that the Wormwoods actually believe that their form of parenting is in Matilda's best interest since they see nothing wrong with the way they (and their older child Michael) were brought up and believe Matilda is just acting out.

[[folder:Book (plus all adaptations in general]]

** With a dash of JerkassHasAPoint. The establishing scene for Matilda's father has him grumbling over the $5,000 hospital bill for her delivery and care, with particular annoyance that $9.25 was charged for a bar of soap. Whilst the intention is to establish him as a petty-minded, uncaring man with skewed priorities, a British viewer (or by extension, any viewer from a country with taxpayer-funded health system, such as the United States) can't help but sympathise a little with his disgust.

!! All adaptations

!! 1996 film

* GirlShowGhetto: Subverted. While the film was a disappointment at the Box Office, it's acquired a huge fan base of all genders - regardless of Matilda being the protagonist.

!! TheMusical
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Compared to the FlatCharacter in the book or the JerkAss chip off the old block in the film, Michael in the musical is an AdaptationalDumbass who spends most of his time staring slackjawed at the telly and barely comprehending anything around him, and he doesn't take part in any of his parents verbal abuse towards his sister. While it's clear that his parents favor him over Matilda, he's obviously being neglected in a different way by not receiving any proper parenting. And unlike Matilda, Michael isn't smart enough to realize it and doesn't have any supportive adults in his life. It's easy to feel sorry for him when, through no fault of his own, he ends the show with the same horrible parents Matilda escapes from.

* WTHCastingAgency: After the announcement that Creator/RalphFiennes would play Trunchbull, the film then broke the OriginalCastPrecedent by dropping Fiennes and casting Creator/EmmaThompson apparently due to fears that a man in the role would anger the transgender community, something that never occurred in London or New York. While casting a woman in the role isn’t necessarily bad, the fact that Thompson has none of the character's hulking physique (tall for a woman, but positively tiny and slender compared to other Trunchbulls) and isn't a strong singer doesn't help. And even then, there's the matter of many fans saying that Bertie Carvel should've been allowed to recreate his role due to perfectly shaping it and still being regarded as the the greatest Trunchbull after many others followed.

* CompleteMonster: [[TheDreaded Agatha Trunchbull]] is the [[DeanBitterman headmistress]] of Crunchem Hall Primary School who rules the school with an iron fist. Shying away from illegal caning, the Trunchbull opts for more torturous methods easily dismissed by parents as wild stories. A ChildHater extraordinaire, the Trunchbull subjects the children to near-fatal punishments, her favorite being "the Chokey"--a refurnished cupboard laced with broken glass and nails. Out of greed, the Trunchbull murdered her brother-in-law for his inheritance, and [[EvilAunt violently abused her niece]], Jennifer Honey, breaking her arm in a spur of rage. Unrepentant, the Trunchbull threatens to break Miss Honey's arm again when she stands up to her. A psychotic disciplinarian who prides herself with never having a childhood, the Trunchbull set the standard for {{sadist teacher}}s everywhere.

* CrossingTheLineTwice: While Trunchbull's [[DisproportionateRetribution over-the-top reactions]] to minor things like sneaking M&Ms into class or ''having pig-tails'' are excessive and cruel, half the time they are ''so'' over-the-top that one can't help but laugh at them. The book has Matilda remark that this is exactly the point: [[RefugeInAudacity since she is so over the top, even if one of the children were to talk to their parents about what she does at school, it would sound so fanciful and unlikely nobody would believe it.]]
* FanficFuel: Matilda [[Literature/HarryPotter turning out to be a Muggle-born witch and going to Hogwarts]] is a common crossover theory.

** While expressing indignation at Matilda asking him for a book, Mr. Wormwood talks about how the family already has "a lovely telly with a twelve-inch screen". Nowadays, you can buy televisions with ''much'' bigger screen sizes than twelve inches for a reasonable price, and would actually have more trouble finding a twelve-inch screen television for sale.
** Pam Ferris would go on to play a much nicer headmistress in ''Film/{{Nativity}}''

* LGBTFanbase: Between Creator/MaraWilson having come out of the closet and the heavy focus on female relationships and found-family, it's picked up one. Wilson was [[{{Squick}} rather miffed]] at the discovery that [[TeacherStudentRomance Matilda/Ms. Honey was a ship]], though she appreciates the stories about how more than a few younger girls had a PrecociousCrush on the latter.

* HilariousInHindsight: While expressing indignation at Matilda asking him for a book, Mr. Wormwood talks about how the family already has "a lovely telly with a twelve-inch screen". Nowadays, you can buy televisions with ''much'' bigger screen sizes than twelve inches for a reasonable price, and would actually have more trouble finding a twelve-inch screen television for sale.