History Literature / TheBadSeed

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Monica is described as an "amateur psychologist" but clearly doesn't have any ''actual'' expertise in the field. Her advice only serves to distress and upset Christine more and more, but she's totally blind to the fact that Rhoda is a serial killer. Nicely contrasts her employee Leroy who's a case of ObfuscatingStupidity.

* {{Motormouth}}: Monica Breedlove, Christine's landlady and a prominent figure in the community. A fan of Freudian psychology, she is constantly psycho-analyzing others, diagnosing Leroy as a paranoid schizophrenic, her brother Emory as a closeted homosexual, and herself as having [[BrotherSisterIncest incestuous feelings towards him.]] Worse, in the movie, she manages to analyze the reason her marriage failed... based solely on her ex-husband's name.
** In what is meant to be irony, despite her intelligence and insight, she spends so much time talking that she never actually observes what's going on around her, and thus can never apply her knowledge to a real situation. Rhoda has her wrapped around her little finger and she doesn't even realize it.

* ObnoxiousInLaws: Christine has one in the book's backstory. Kenneth's mother always thought there was something not right about Christine, and warned her son about marrying and having children with her. Worth mentioning, her name is '''Rhoda''' Howe Penmark--Christine named her daughter after her mother-in-law in an attempt to appease her, but it failed to improve their relationship.

* TheShrink: Monica -- she probably perceives herself as a Type 3 (Awesome Shrink) , but is pure Type 2 (Well-Meaning But Ineffective) all the way. As what goes along with Type 2s, she does not mean to hurt Christine with her psychobabble and only wants the best for her.

It was made into a play, which was then adapted to film in 1956, and a made for TV remake in 1985. For the play see, ''Theatre/TheBadSeed''. For the 1956 film, see ''Film/TheBadSeed1956'' and for the 1985 film see ''Film/TheBadSeed1985''.

''The Bad Seed'' is a thriller/horror novel by William March, published in 1954.

[[quoteright:279:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image22.jpeg]] [[caption-width-right:279:[[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon She may be cute, but she's the worst monster you'll ever come across with]].]]

It was made into a play, which was then adapted to film in 1956, and a made for TV remake in 1985. For the play see, ''Theatre/TheBadSeed''.

''The Bad Seed'' is a thriller/horror novel by William March, published in 1954. It was made into a play, which was then adapted to film in 1956, and a made for TV remake in 1985. For the play see, ''Theatre/TheBadSeed''.

Two unofficial sequels, ''Mommy'' (1995) and ''Mommy 2: Mother's Day'' (1997), star Patty [=McCormack=] (Rhoda in the original presentation of the play and the 1956 film) as the bad seed all grown up with a daughter of her own.

* AdaptationalKarma: Applied in the 1956 movie due to UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode: Rhoda,[[spoiler: who survived in the original novel, was [[BoltOfDivineRetribution struck down by lightning]] in the very last scene]] (and an epilogue right afterward has the actresses of Rhoda and her mother break character and, in a pretty [[MoodWhiplash comedic moment]], [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment Rhoda's actress gets spanked]]). Understandably, the epilogue is sometimes cut.

* CorruptionByAMinor: Rhoda and Leroy have a relationship that is disturbingly sexual, although they never touch each other.
** In the book he actually compares his relationship with her to an odd courtship.

** From the words of [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Robert Englund]] [[http://www.searchquotes.com/quotation/When_I_was_9,_I_went_to_a_birthday_party._We_were_supposed_to_see_a_cowboy_movie,_but_the_programmin/346075/ himself]]: “When I was 9, I went to a birthday party. We were supposed to see a cowboy movie, but the programming got screwed up and we saw ''The Bad Seed'' instead. Horrifying. For years I was frightened of girls with pigtails.”

* DoNotSpoilThisEnding: The film ends with one one of these.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Christine. She survives her self-inflicted gunshot wound in the 1956 film version.]]

* EveryProperLadyShouldCurtsy: Patty [=McCormack=], who played Rhoda, curtsies to the audience at the end curtain call.

* HighVoltageDeath: In the original book, and play versions, the story's Enfant Terrible Rhoda, survives an attempted murder by her mother and it's implied Rhoda goes on to killing her next victim. In the film version due to Hay's code being in effect at the time, and Executive Meddling they couldn't allow a criminal to get away with their crimes, so they tacked on a scene at the end where Rhoda is killed by a Bolt of Divine Retribution.

* IronicNurseryTune: "Au Clair de la Lune" will never sound quite the same again...

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Rhoda gets away with everything she's done in the book, the play and the 1985 TV movie, and nearly does so in the 1956 big-screen movie.]]

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Monica is described as an "amateur psychologist" but clearly doesn't have any ''actual'' expertise in the field. Her advice only serves to distress and upset Christine more and more, but she's totally blind to the fact that Rhoda is a serial killer. [[spoiler: The end of the story even makes it clear Rhoda's planning on killing her next.]] Nicely contrasts her employee Leroy who's a case of ObfuscatingStupidity.

* LargeHam: Christine expresses her horror at giving birth to Rhoda via a rather overblown gesture of repeatedly punching herself in the uterus. It gets a bit silly.

* MoodWhiplash: After the nature of [[spoiler: Rhoda's death]] the cheerful "curtain call" during the end credits seemed strange, especially the playfulness/comedic nature in which Rhoda is spanked.

* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler: Rhoda's mother tries to do this in the book, play and movie. She also finds out that her own biological mother, a famous serial killer, murdered her entire family, including her other children and almost killed Christine herself.]]

* PragmaticAdaptation: The book went into a lot more depth than the play or movie could do, especially concerning the Incomparable Bessie Danker.
** Leroy's dialogue was more vulgar and both he and Monica made a lot of references to sex that would have been unacceptable to use in a film at that time.
** Rhoda's school is run by the three Fern sisters: Burgess, Claudia, and Octavia. This is still the case in the adaptations, but only Claudia physically appears in the movie [[AdaptationDistillation to make things simpler]] and most of the plot points involving her sisters are [[CompositeCharacter transferred to her]].
* RecurringRiff: Rhoda is frequently seen playing ''Au Clair de la Lune'' in the 1956 film, which she manages to make sound creepy …
** … in fact, as creepy as her pigtails, her clothes, her tapdancing, and by the end of the film virtually everything about her.
* SchrodingersCast: Chistine's father Richard Bravo is alive and well in the play and movie, but had died before Rhoda was born in the book.

* SoundOnlyDeath: We hear [[spoiler: Leroy]] screaming, pounding on the door, being set loose, and screaming some more, before he dies, but all we ''see'' is Christine's reaction. It's still horrible.
** [[spoiler: Christine's [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]] is portrayed by a gunshot off-screen. In the book and play (and the 1985 TV version), she dies; [[SparedByTheAdaptation in the 1956 film, she survives.]]]]

''The Bad Seed'' is a thriller/horror novel by William March, published in 1954. It was made into a play, which was then adapted to film in 1956, and a made for TV remake in 1985.

* AdultFear: Discovering that your daughter is a cold, remorseless psychopath. [[note]] Though nowadays, the use of the term "psychopath" to describe a child would be considered inappropriate in most clinical circles.[[/note]]

* AdaptationalKarma: Applied in the 1956 movie due to UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode: Rhoda, who survived in the original novel, was [[BoltOfDivineRetribution struck down by lightning]] in the very last scene (and an epilogue right afterward has the actresses of Rhoda and her mother break character and, in a pretty [[MoodWhiplash comedic moment]], [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment Rhoda's actress gets spanked]]). Understandably, the epilogue is sometimes cut.

[[quoteright:279:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image22.jpeg]] [[caption-width-right:279:[[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon She may be cute, but she's the worth monster you'll ever come across with]].]]

* TheSociopath: Rhoda has neither conscience nor empathy and has no issues with killing to get what she wants. This line resume all her sociopathic personality.

[[quoteright:279:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image22.jpeg]]

* TheSociopath: Rhoda has neither conscience nor empathy and has no issues with killing to get what she wants.

* AdaptationalKarma: Applied in the 1956 movie due to UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode: Rhoda, who survived in the original novel, was [[BoltOfDivineRetribution struck down by lightning]] in the very last scene (and an epilogue right afterward has the actresses of Rhoda and her mother break character and, in a pretty [[MoodWhiplash comedic moment]], [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment Rhoda's actress gets spanked]]).

* HappilyMarried: Christine and Kenneth, despite Kenneth's job-related absences.
** Believe it or not, Leroy and Thelma.

* SerialKiller: By the end of the story, Rhoda has a body count of four: [[spoiler: her pet dog, a neighbor who promised her a snowglobe after her death, Claude Daigle, and [[HeKnowsTooMuch Leroy]].]] With the exception of the last one, they were all for hedonistic reasons.

* VillainProtagonist

* IronicNurseryTune: "Au Claire de la Lune" will never sound quite the same again...

'''''The Bad Seed''''' is a thriller/horror novel by William March, published in 1954. It was made into a play, which was then adapted to film in 1956, and a made for TV remake in 1985.

* LightIsNotGood: Rhoda, with her [[BlondesAreEvil blonde hair]] and spotless white dresses, is a classic example.

'''''The Bad Seed''''' is a thriller novel by William March, published in 1954. It was made into a play, which was then adapted to film in 1956, and a made for TV remake in 1985.

''The Bad Seed'' is a novel by William March, published in 1954. It was made into a play, which was then adapted to film in 1956, and a made for TV remake in 1985.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: In spite of readily admitting he is a mean and uncaring man who likes to get under a little girl's skin just for kicks, Leroy is genuinely disturbed when he realizes that kind of person Rhoda really is.

** From the words of [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Robert Englund]] [[http://www.searchquotes.com/quotation/When_I_was_9,_I_went_to_a_birthday_party._We_were_supposed_to_see_a_cowboy_movie,_but_the_programmin/346075/ himself]]: “When i was 9, I went to a birthday party. We were supposed to see a cowboy movie, but the programming got screwed up and we saw ''The Bad Seed'' instead. Horrifying. For years I was frightened of girls with pigtails.”

* LoveMartyr: A familial example: Rhoda's mother sacrifices her sanity, integrity, and [[spoiler: in the original story, her life]] out of the love she has for her daughter, who when asked if she truly loves her, only replies "You're silly!".

Two unofficial sequels, ''Mommy'' (1995) and ''Mommy 2: Mother's Day'' (1997), star Patty [=McCormack=] as the bad seed all grown up with a daughter of her own.

* SmugSnake / TedBaxter: Leroy, who as mentioned before overestimates his intelligence.

* TheAlcoholic: Hortense Daigle, mother of Claude Daigle ([[spoiler: whom Rhoda killed because she wanted his penmanship medal]]), became addicted to alcohol to dull the pain of losing her only child.