History Film / WhatsEatingGilbertGrape

* LetThePastBurn: The family's solution [[spoiler:to how to deal with their dead mother's immovably heavy corpse at the end of the film: light the house on fire to burn, along with their deceased morbidly obese mother who is on the top floor, as this is the only way to dispose of her body without public humiliation.]] In this case, the fire symbolizes protection.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The ''Pinball/{{Fire}}'' {{pinball}} game that Arnie plays in the cafe [[spoiler:is a hint of how the family eventually deals with Bonnie's obese corpse.]]

** The kids of Endora likes to hang around the Grape residence, hoping to have a chance to catch a glimpse of and laugh at, the morbidly obese Bonnie. Curiously enough, they are never shown to bully Arnie, and are actually very accepting of him, however, some of this might be because of Gilbert's "Nobody Touches Arnie" rule.

* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Ellen Grape.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In the novel, Arnie is overweight, and one of his eyes is prosthetic. Amy is also described as "not bad looking", but gradually eating herself into another version of her mother.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:After climbing to her original bedroom for the first time, Bonnie dies in her sleep... with Arnie discovering her body... still on his 18th birthday. In order to spare their mother from becoming the town joke, the Grape children decide to burn their house with her inside. A year later, the Grape children's lives have brightened up - Amy has a job in a bakery. Ellen is switching schools. Both Gilbert and Arnie are picked up by Becky and her grandmother so they can travel with them, thus allowing Gilbert and Becky to continue their romance.]]

* ResentfulGuardian: Gilbert is constantly on edge due to being the sole carer of Arnie and looking after the family. Arnie is already a handful, Bonnie is reclusive and underappreciates Gilbert, Ellen either ignores her duties or is too rough with Arnie.
* SmallTownBoredom: Welcome to Endora, Iowa, where they look up to the majestic happenings of Des Moines, Iowa.

%%* TwoPersonPoolParty: With their clothes on no less, and while Arnie watches...

* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler: Bonnie's death in her sleep]], which is most likely due to her being so morbidly obese and the activities of that day causing a strain that her body couldn't take.

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''What's Eating Gilbert Grape'' is a 1993 drama written by Peter Hedges, based on his novel of the same name, and directed by Creator/LasseHallstrom. It stars Creator/JohnnyDepp as the eponymous Gilbert Grape, with Creator/JulietteLewis and Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio. The story deals with the Grape household and their friends and acquaintances from Endora, Iowa. Picking up a few years after the suicide of Gilbert's father, we see its impact on everyone involved.

''What's Eating Gilbert Grape'' is a 1993 drama written by Peter Hedges, based on his novel of the same name, and directed by Creator/LasseHallstrom. It stars Creator/JohnnyDepp as the eponymous Gilbert Grape, Creator/JulietteLewis and Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio. The story deals with the Grape household and their friends and acquaintances from Endora, Iowa. Picking up a few years after the suicide of Gilbert's father, we see its impact on everyone involved.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_9309.jpg]]

* DisappearedDad: Mr. Grape to his children since he committed suicide seven years prior to the movie.

* {{Hikkikomori}}: Bonnie became this after her husband's suicide. As of the beginning of the film, she hadn't left the house for seven years. When the police detain Arnie, she breaks this.

* {{Hikkikomori}}: Bonnie became this after her husband's suicide, staying inside for seven years. When the police detain Arnie, she breaks this.

* PromotedToParent: Gilbert and his sisters, Amy and Ellen, are all this to Arnie after their father died and their mother became too morbidly obese to take care of them. However, Gilbert is definitely the main one as he's the oldest, and Ellen tends to either ignore or be too rough with Arnie.

* ResentfulGuardian: Gilbert is constantly on edge due to being the sole carer of Arnie and looking after the family. Arnie is already a handful, Bonnie is reclusive and underappreciates Gilbert. Ellen either ignores her duties or is too rough with Arnie.

* YourCheatingHeart: Mrs. Carver cheats on her husband with Gilbert.

* FatGirl: When Gilbert says his mother is the size of a beached whale, he's not far off.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The ''[[Pinball/{{Fire}} Fire!]]'' {{pinball}} game that Arnie plays in the cafe [[spoiler:is a hint of how the family eventually deals with Bonnie's obese corpse.]]

* TwoPersonPoolParty: With their clothes on no less, and while Arnie watches...

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy[=/=]GracefulLoser: Mrs. Carver graciously releasing Gilbert to Becky, knowing she has the youth and joyful heart to give him the happiness she never could.

* InspirationallyDisadvantaged: Completely averted with Arnie, who's been described as an "uncomfortably accurate" depiction of a mentally retarded person. He's definitely not a bad kid, and people are nice to him, but it's clear that taking care of him is an incredibly heavy burden on his family.

* PromotedToParent: Gilbert and his sisters, Amy and Ellen, are all this to Arnie after their father died and their mother became too morbidly obese to take care of them. However, Gilbert is definitely the main one as he's the oldest, and Amy and Ellen tend to either ignore or be too rough with Arnie.

* PromotedToParent: Gilbert and his sisters, Amy and Ellen, are this to Arnie but Gilbert is this moreso, as he's the oldest, his mother is so morbidly obese, his dad's dead, and the latter either ignoring or being too rough with Arnie.

''What's Eating Gilbert Grape'' is a 1993 drama written by Peter Hedges, based on his novel of the same name, and directed by Lasse Hallström. It stars Creator/JohnnyDepp as the eponymous Gilbert Grape, Creator/JulietteLewis and Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio. The story deals with the Grape household and their friends and acquaintances from Endora, Iowa. Picking up a few years after the suicide of Gilbert's father, we see its impact on everyone involved.

* One from his friends when he lifts up a little boy to gawk at his obese mother like a sideshow attraction.

* WhatTheHellHero: When Gilbert lifts up a little boy to gawk at his obese mother, his friends chastise him for it.
** His family also give him this when, wanting to spend time with Becky, he leaves Arnie alone in the bathtub all night.

** His family also give him this when, wanting to spend time with Becky, he leaves Gilbert alone in the bathtub all night.

* BigSleep: [[spoiler:Bonnie goes upstairs to her bedroom for the first time in ages, goes to sleep in her bed, and dies there.]]

* PromotedToParent: Gilbert and his sister, Amy and Ellen, are this to Arnie but Gilbert is this moreso, as he's the oldest, his mother is so morbidly obese, his dad dead, and the latter either ignoring or being too rough with Arnie.

* DisappearedDad: Mr. Grape to his children since he committed suicide a year prior to the movie.

* GracefulLoser: Mrs. Carver graciously releasing Gilbert to Becky, knowing she has the youth and joyful heart to give him the happiness she never could.

** The kids of Endora likes to hang around the Grape residence, hoping to have a chance to catch a glimpse of, and laugh at, the morbidly obese Bonnie. Curiously enough, they are never shown to bully Arnie, and are actually very accepting of him, however, some of this might be because of Gilbert's "Nobody Touches Arnie" rule.

* TheLoad: Arnie is developmentally disabled and constantly causes nothing but trouble for the family, while his mother Bonnie is rendered useless by her morbid obesity.
** To some extent and as she admits, Bonnie is this, as her depression and morbid obesity had made her rather unable to be proper parent to her kids.

* PostStressOvereating: The reason as to why/how Bonnie became so obese, as she took to watching [=TV=] and eating since her husband died.

** His family also give him this when, wanting to spend time with Becky, he leaves Gilbert alone in the bathtub.

** The kids of Endora likes to hang around the Grape residence, hoping to have a chance to catch a glimpse of, and laugh at, the morbidly obese Bonnie. Curiously enough, they are never shown to bully Arnie, and are actually very accepting of him.

* LetThePastBurn: [[spoiler:The family's solution to how to deal with their dead mother's immovably heavy corpse at the end of the film: light the house on fire to burn, along with their deceased morbidly obese mother who is on the top floor, as this is the only way to dispose of her body without public humiliation. In this case, the fire symbolizes protection.]]

** At the beginning of the movie, Arnie - the mentally challenged young man - kills a grasshopper by beheading it, and then cries to Gilbert about it[[note]]Leonardo De Caprio did accidentally kill the grasshopper, despite people from animal protection supervising[[/note]].

* PleaseWakeUp: [[spoiler:How Arnie, and later the rest of the family, reacts to the discovery that their mother has died.]]

* SuperDrowningSkills: Arnie fears that he has this and refuses to go in or near water after he is left in a bathtub overnight. (One gets the feeling that Momma may have told him that he "could've drowned" and that Artie took her literally.)