History YMMV / WorldsGreatestDad

** Is Lance a scheming opportunist who shamelessly uses [[spoiler:his son's death to finally receive the recognition and adulation he craves, or just a grieving father trying to give his son's horrible existence a little bit of dignity and meaning]]? Maybe a little of both?

** [[spoiler:Kyle's death. His breakdown when he realizes his son is dead and his anguished sobs being drowned out by the film's music are really something to behold. The audience only cries because they're sad for Lance, not because they miss Kyle, obviously.]]

** Kyle. The movie simply makes him out to be an asshole, but he was still a teenager who could have potentially grown out of his asocial behaviors, had he been given the help he clearly needed instead of being left to his own devices by his father. But then again, the film's title is meant in full irony.

** [[spoiler:Kyle's death, at least for Lance. His breakdown when he realizes Kyle is dead and his anguished sobs being drowned out by the film's music are really something to behold. The audience only cries because they're sad for Lance, not because they miss Kyle, obviously.]]

** Kyle. The movie simply makes him out to be an asshole, but he was still a teenager who could have potentially grown out of his asocial behaviors, had he been given the help he needed instead of being left to his own devices by his father.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Claire can be this depending on whether or you believe she was cheating on Lance (which the film never explicably confirms or denies). If she wasn't, then while she did blow Lance off all the time and became obsessed with his fame and how it relates her, she was one of the people who least [[spoiler:glorified Kyle's death and seemed to genuinely care if Lance was okay. And on top of that, at the end of the movie, she learns that her boyfriend has been lying to her for weeks and sort of used his son's death to sleep with her]]. Even if she is stuck up, she seems at least much less fake than the rest of the school (though again [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation this is only if she wasn't cheating on Lance]]).

* MisaimedFandom: Probably intentional. There are posts on this film's IMDB board about how "awesome" Kyle is.

** Is Kyle really an unpleasant asshole for the sake of it? Or does he have some deep-seated personal issues that he's internalized? Considering his father is a bit overbearing, his mother is deceased, his father's girlfriend is possibly stringing Lance along, and he isn't well-liked in school, it could point to someone who is genuinely troubled. [[spoiler: Perhaps Lance's fake story is just his own interpretation of Kyle's true feelings?]]

** Is Kyle really an unpleasant asshole for the sake of it? Or does he have some deep-seated personal issues that he's internalized? Considering his father is a bit overbearing, his mother is deceased, and he isn't well-liked in school, it could point to someone who is genuinely troubled rather than just unpleasant for the sake of it. [[spoiler: Perhaps Lance's fake story is just his own interpretation of Kyle's true feelings?]]

** Is Kyle really an unpleasant asshole for the sake of it? Or does he have some deep-seated personal issues that he's internalized? Considering his father is a bit overbearing, his mother is deceased, and he isn't well-liked in school, it could point to someone who is genuinely troubled rather than just unpleasant for the sake of it. [[spoiler: Perhaps Lance's fake story just his own interpretation of Kyle's true feelings?]]

* CatharsisFactor: Seriously, how many people were actually upset [[spoiler:when [[HateSink Kyle]] died?]]

** Is Kyle really an unpleasant asshole for the sake of it? Or does he have some deep-seated personal issues that he's internalized? Considering his father is a bit overbearing and his mother is deceased, it could point to someone who is genuinely troubled rather than just unpleasant for the sake of it? [[spoiler: Perhaps Lance's fake story just his own interpretation of Kyle's true feelings?]]

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Lance a scheming opportunist who shamelessly uses [[spoiler:his son's death to finally receive the recognition and adulation he craves, or just a grieving father trying to give his son's horrible existence a little bit of dignity and meaning]]? Maybe a little of both?

* HarsherInHindsight: Lance Clayton states that suicide is not a permanent solution to a temporary problem and that it should be avoided. Robin Williams committed suicide in 2014 - and his death was attributed to asphyxiation, [[spoiler:which is how Kyle dies in the movie]].

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Lance a scheming opportunist who shamelessly uses his son's death to finally receive the recognition and adulation he craves, or just a grieving father trying to give his son's horrible existence a little bit of dignity and meaning? Maybe a little of both?