Line #10 YMMV/WhatsEatingGilbertGrape


1	----
2	* AdaptationDisplacement: There is a book of the same name that came out 2 years before the movie; this is a little known fact.
3	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
4	** Some think that Bonnie knew [[spoiler: the strain of walking up the stairs would kill her and went upstairs to sleep in her bedroom for the last time]].
5	** Ellen's bratty toward her family, but it's entirely possible that she's been bullied and teased by other kids for years over her intellectually disabled brother, her obese mother, the fact that her father committed suicide before she was born, and the family's overall poverty. She could be trying to distance herself from her family simply so she can be accepted by her peers, or she could be suffering from the same very valid stress and resentment as Gilbert, but lack the maturity to bottle up her feelings the way he does. Considering what happens when Gilbert finally snaps, Ellen's form of venting might be cruel and annoying, but it also might be more healthy than Gilbert's.
6	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: After Gilbert cracks from Arnie shouting "We're not going anywhere!" and Ellen's awful trumpet playing, he starts his car up and stares at Ellen who promptly flips him the bird. After he revs the attention and she smirks, he proceeds to back over close to her to scare her. Her shocked and annoyed reaction says it all.
7	* HarsherInHindsight: While she had lost a significant amount of weight by the time it happened, it's eerily prophetic that Darlene Cates, like her character, eventually [[spoiler:died in her sleep]].
8	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct:
9	** Darlene Cates, who had no previous acting experience and was only cast because no professional actress was big enough, displays her natural talent for performing when Bonnie confronts the Sheriff at the police station.
10	** Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio as Arnie. At the time of the film's release, Leo was a relative unknown, so there were a significant number of people who didn't realize he wasn't actually developmentally disabled, as his performance shows it in all its discomforting glory.
11	* ParodyDisplacement: Many people discovered this movie through the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Irregarding Steve," which features a b-plot of key scenes from the film being reenacted by squirrels.
12	* RetroactiveRecognition: The cast list features a veritable Who's Who of future big-name actors.
13	** As mentioned above, this was one of Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio's first starring roles, three years before he'd become a household name with ''[[Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet Romeo + Juliet]]'' and four years before he became a bona fide superstar with ''Film/{{Titanic\|1997}}''.
14	** This was also one of Creator/JohnCReilly's first big roles and while he'd have plenty of other over the next decade, both dramatic and comic, it wouldn't be until ''Film/{{Chicago}}'' that he'd become one of the biggest stars of the 2000s. In 2012, he would go on to voice the title character of ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph.''
15	* TheWoobie: Practically the whole Grape family. It's implied that they were all pretty messed up to begin with, but it was the senior Mr. Grape's suicide that sent them all over the edge.
16	** Bonnie. She's eaten herself into morbid obesity at the expense of her good looks and is now the laughing stock of the town, to the point that her family decide to [[spoiler:burn their house with her body inside it just so she won't suffer any further humiliation in death by trying to get her immovably heavy corpse out by crane]], and it appears she cares about nothing but food and being waited on. Yet toward the end of the film, Gilbert is surprised to learn that Bonnie is painfully aware of what she's done to herself, her family, and especially to him.
17	** Gilbert himself is more of an IronWoobie: He goes through a lot out of his love for his family, even though it's shown that he has his limits.
18	** Arnie, to a certain extent. His condition makes him a burden on his family, nobody can do anything about it, and Arnie himself is completely unaware of how much trouble he's causing. It all clearly takes its toll on the Grapes, to the point that Gilbert becomes frustrated enough to beat him, and yet there are frequently moments where it's plain that Arnie is more than capable of great and genuine love, particularly for Gilbert.

Context YMMV / WhatsEatingGilbertGrape