Tear Jerker / Diary of a Wimpy Kid

This series is built on the main characters being made absolutely miserable. And while it can most often come off as funny, other times, it's just plain depressing.

Books

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

• The day after Halloween, Greg and Rowley ride the bus to school to find that the teenagers that chased them last night completely vandalized Gramma's house, covering it in eggs and toilet paper. Not only is it going to take a lot to clean up, but Gramma has to suffer all because Greg and Rowley hid there.
• During the Wizard of Oz play, Manny calls Greg "Bubby" in front of the whole school. Thinking quickly, he decides to make it look like he was saying it to his fellow tree Archie Kelly. Sure enough, it's not long before he starts seeing Archie being pushed by bullies while they call him Bubby. What's worse is that Greg does not show a single shred of guilt for throwing him under the bus, as he only talks about being grateful he is not attached to the nickname.
  • Greg even manages to ruin the entire play after he throws an apple at Patty Farrell because she gave him and the other trees a dirty look for not singing, and because she had ruined his plan to cheat his way to a high score in a test earlier. This leads to a scuffle that leads to Patty's glasses breaking and the whole play being shut down. All those hours that went into putting the production together were entirely wasted, all because Greg couldn't put aside his grudge.
    • Susan even brought him a bouquet of roses to congratulate him but ends up throwing them in the trash on the way out.
• The Giving Tree guy accidentally gets the video game meant for Greg, instead of the wool sweater he was intended to get, because Susan used the same wrapping paper for both and accidentally wrote down the wrong names. And since he had no TV or game system, it was useless to him. In fact, Greg's illustration wonders if the needy man will think they were just playing a sick prank on him.
  Giving Tree Guy: Jerks.
• Rowley breaks his hand after Greg throws a football that lands under the front tire of his Big Wheel. Despite being the one who caused the injury, Greg decides to capitalize on it by bragging about causing it, and later faking an injury himself solely to gain sympathy.
• Another instance comes from the part where Rowley gets suspended from the Safety Patrol after Greg was caught terrorizing the kindergarteners with worms. Since he was wearing Rowley's coat, the neighbor who spotted him mistakes Greg for him. This creates a lot of friction between the two that is not resolved until the end of the book.
  • To put this into perspective: Greg, as Safety Patrol, is in charge with walking the kindergarteners home. Since he's their authority figure, Greg is responsible for their safety and well-being. And yet, he still could not miss the opportunity to chase them with worms and make them all afraid of him.
  • When he explains the situation to Susan, she tells him that he needs to go to Rowley and "do the right thing" and tell him what actually happened. And while Greg does comply, he makes things worse by saying that Rowley also shared some of the blame for sharing his coat with him, resulting in the mix-up. Thus, Rowley is understandably angry at this and quits being friends with Greg.
• The teenagers finally catch up to Greg and Rowley and decide to make the latter eat the Cheese. On the walk home, he is clearly traumatized by what he was forced to do.

Rodrick Rules

• Peter Utger was once the smartest kid in class who always answered the teacher's question. That was until fifth grade, when kids started picking on him for having the initials P.U. Now, Peter never raises his hand and his grades have suffered dramatically.
• At Rowley's birthday party, Greg finds a kid hiding in the ball pit. It turns out he was from the party before theirs that happened an hour ago. So, the poor boy is left there crying as he realizes that everyone at the party left him behind and forgot about him. This can be relatable to any child who has been separated from their parents in public spaces.
• Rodrick had two chances to get a good-quality video of his band performing to send to record companies. But both were ruined when Susan started dancing, which led to her shaking the camera she was holding and the cameraman for the TV broadcast focusing on her for much of the duration. One can't blame him for being angry.

Hard Luck

• Fregley, despite his unnatural behavior, is revealed to be very desperate for companionship. Greg takes a notice of this and offers to fill that role not for Fregley, but for himself to replace Rowley. He essentially plans to turn Fregley into Rowley 2.0 and likely treat him just as shoddily. Luckily, Greg’s plan backfires and Fregley becomes more popular at the end due to his belly button abilities.
• The Hero Points program, where kids get prizes like extra recess for doing good deeds, seems to imply that everyone at Greg’s school is horrible and selfish; they're only doing good deeds for the promise of a reward, and turning the other cheek if there isn't. Then, the program gets ruined by a group of hoodlums who sell forged coupons, causing the school to start sending kids to detention should they try and turn in more than a certain number of points at a time, which gets a really friendly kid sent to detention for a month (something which even Greg states is unfair). Now, nobody is willing to be kind because of no extra recess, as shown in an illustration where a boy with a broken foot is asking for help carrying his lunch tray, with nobody acknowledging him.
• Susan's sisters get greedy and start fighting over their grandmother's ring, which nearly causes their family to be destroyed. Later on, Greg finds the ring, but thankfully decides to keep it hidden, as "it's not worth breaking up the family over it."
• The reveal at the end, where it turns out Abigail was just using Rowley to make her ex-boyfriend jealous.
  • What's worse is how Rowley found out; he made his way over to the couples table to eat lunch with her as usual. When he got there, he finds Abigail sitting with her ex and feeding him pudding. Keep in mind that she never even dumped Rowley at that point. Even Greg admits that it was a cold move.

Wrecking Ball

• Rowley's reaction when Greg tells him he has to move: he cries. What's worse, he breaks down at the slightest thing that reminds him of Greg moving.
  • And at the party, Greg gets choked up when Rowley gives him a gift: a collage of some of their best memories. One page later, both of them are hugging it out, weeping.
• The ending, where the last two pages of the book completely ruin the Heffleys' chances of getting a better house in a better neighborhood. It even appears they’re homeless now because of it. Just goes to show how cruel the books can be. Fortunately, Status Quo Is God.

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Films

• Each of the first three films has a Deuteragonist that Greg struggles to get along (or find common ground) with, which reaches its heartbreaking climax that arguably serves as its biggest tearjerker.
  • In the first film, it's his Best Friend, Rowley. Greg, being a popularity seeker at first, feels burdened by Rowley's unusual and childish interests. But it's the scene in the first movie where Rowley has finally had enough of Greg's self-centeredness and ditches him that Greg begins to realize that he’s the one who is lost without Rowley (not the other way around, as he stated earlier). Yes, Greg deserved it for being a Jerkass, but he slowly starts to fall apart without Rowley around — especially when the latter finds a new best friend in Collin.
    Rowley: You know what, Greg? You're not a good friend.
    Greg: Whoa! How could you even say that? I'm a great friend!
    Rowley: If you were a great friend, you would have told Mr. Winsky the truth!
    Greg: Okay, one thing. You can't get mad about just—
    Rowley: You only care about yourself. You hated my cartoon. You made fun of my clothes, you disrespected Joshie. You broke my hand and you didn't even seem sorry!
    Greg: That broken hand was the best thing that ever happened to you!
    Rowley: (beat, then shakes his head) Don't call me. Don't come by my house. We’re done! (walks away, leaving Greg standing in dismay)
  • In the second film, it's his older brother, Rodrick. The movie dives much deeper toward Greg's tumultuous relationship with Rodrick, but it seems to have turned for the better after Greg defends Rodrick for the party when Susan interrogates the former. Then, their forbidden party is exposed through Frank's camera, resulting in a domino effect that leads to Rodrick feeling betrayed that Greg told Susan and lied about it. Rodrick becomes very bitter toward Greg and ends their friendship in the process.
  Rodrick: (to Greg) You're my brother... but you'll never be my friend. (walks away sadly)
  • In the third film, it's his father, Frank. The movie expands on Frank's disapproval of Greg's addiction to video games — and does everything he can to bond with him (which only results in a massive Epic Fail). However, it is Greg lying to him about having a job at the country club (alongside paying $270 for smoothies) that definitely reaches its peak in their strained relationship. And unlike the books, Frank doesn't snap at him. Instead, he just expresses disappointment and ignores Greg (even on the scouting trip), which makes the latter feel even more remorseful.
• When Patty says that Rowley has the Cheese Touch, everyone begins turning on him and it brings the poor guy to tears, until Greg speaks up about how awful the school can be.
  Greg: The wrong friends...the wrong lunch table...the wrong butt...it's all meaningless—just like this cheese.
• The entirety of Frank and Susan's punishment toward Greg and Rodrick for the party. While Greg being grounded for two weeks without video games isn't portrayed as a big deal to audience, it's Rodrick's punishment that really sets the tone. Simply put, Susan forbids him to play in the talent show — dashing all hopes of Rodrick making a name for himself in the community. Rodrick's reaction is genuinely hard to watch.
  • And prior to that, the entire Heffley family (minus Manny) gets into a massive commotion after Rodrick's party is exposed. There's the aforementioned enigma between Rodrick feeling betrayed by Greg, but Frank himself feels betrayed when Susan knew about this prior, and Susan feeling guilty for hiding it.
  • Even worse, the last thing that is said in the scene is Rodrick's "You are so dead" catchphrase, but it does not come off as the laughable threat you'd expect; Rodrick is clearly hurt by Greg's unintentional betrayal and has nothing but hatred for him.
  • Later on in the talent show, Rodrick gets kicked out of the band that HE founded. One can't help but feel for him.
    Rodrick: You can't go on without me. I started Löded Diper! I'm the backbone!
    Bill: Well, we got a new backbone now, dude- this guy! (gestures to a random teenager) That's rock 'n roll, bro.
    (Greg watches in dismay as Rodrick turns to away with a look underlying a mix of both anger and sadness)
• In the fourth movie, there's a scene in the convention where Rodrick plays an arcade game called Rock Drummer in an effort to win the money to fix his van. Unfortunately, he loses and is seen wiping away tears while Greg feels guilty for him.
  Greg: (voiceover) I guess Rodrick won't be getting his van fixed anytime soon...
  (An animated cutaway shows Rodrick driving his van, which then abruptly breaks down, saddening him.)

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