Yahoo Lifestyle 21 Movies And TV Shows Where People Realized The Kids — Not The Adults — Were Actually The Villains All Along
Recently, Reddit user Tall_Ad_9844 asked, "Which teen movie makes you side with the adults more as you get older?" and there were a LOT of good points made. Here are 21 movies and TV shows where, TBH, the parents/adults were kind of in the right.
1."Twilight. Charlie got put through so much because Bella just HAD to date a vampire."
"Charlie is the most underrated character. He was so loving the whole time. He knew in his heart he couldn't protect Bella, but he tried his absolute hardest."
"I'm currently watching the Twilight Saga for nostalgia reasons, and Charlie Swan was trying so hard to be a good dad to Bella and man, it's painful watching her be an asshole teenager."
2."Ferris Bueller's Day Off. As a teen, I thought Ferris was the coolest, but now, as an adult, I totally get where the adults are coming from. That kid was trouble!"
"100%. Obviously, Mr. Rooney lost his mind and does some very inappropriate (and illegal) things in trying to catch Ferris, but he's right to think he's a little asshole that gets away with murder. Ditto for the sister. Ferris is also terrible to Cameron."
3."The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Mr. Moseby was just trying to keep the hotel and its (and his) reputation from being royally ruined by two reckless kids."
4."Pretty Little Liars. Why did they make it out like Aria's parents were the villains because they wouldn't let her be in a relationship with her teacher, who was in his early to mid-twenties when she was about 16? I'd be thanking them."
5."A Goofy Movie. Goofy just wanted a nice road trip with his son, and Max was being a monumental douche the whole time, and then lied and derailed the whole trip just to impress a girl that he'll never speak to again after high school."
"When Goofy says, 'I know, I just wanted to be a part of it,' it makes my fragile mom heart break into 5,000 pieces."
"Going from relating to Max to relating to Goofy when I became a father was a mindfuck, especially in the context of Max's dream where he morphs into Goofy. Goddamn."
6."Dennis the Menace. STOP TOUCHING THINGS. DON'T TOUCH HIS STUFF. FUCK. MENACE."
7."Halloweentown! When Marnie is telling her mom that she's an adult but is all of 13 years old, I want to shake her shoulders. When I was a kid, I was like, 'Fuck yeah, Marnie! Your mom's a jerk.' Turns out, no. Her mom was legitimate in just wanting to live a peaceful suburban life without the chaos that magic brought into their lives."
8."Labyrinth. Sarah was such an ass to her dad and stepmom. From the scenes in the movie, it didn't look like they were even remotely mean to her, nor was her stepmom verbally abusive. Yeah, the babysitting sucks, I get that, but Sarah was such a brat and unnecessarily mean to the baby in the beginning. :( I didn't notice all of that until I watched it for the first time in years last night."
"Even as a teen, I thought Sarah was being insufferably dramatic! I had to watch this movie for a school project about the hero's journey so the whole class could discuss it as a group. During this discussion, most of the class sided with her, saying that it was wrong to make a teenager babysit her brother once a week and that it was 'parentification.' Absolute nonsense."
"The stepmother says she wishes Sarah would hang out with friends and go on dates. Just let them know ahead of time so they can arrange for another babysitter. It's a reasonable request — not parentification."
9."High School Musical 2. The manager at the country club just wanted to keep his job and have his employees do their jobs, and they got so upset when he told them to work when they were on the clock."
10."In Home Alone 2, the hotel workers were kinda portrayed as bad people. They didn't do anything wrong, though! Kevin told them his dad was staying there — he had the credit card. They were suspicious and went into his room and saw his 'dad,' so they bought his story...until they found out he had a stolen credit card and tried to kick him out. Then Kevin's mom comes up there and gets pissed off at THEM! Like...lady, YOU lost your child!"
11."Star Wars. Dammit, Luke, you have responsibilities here on the farm! You can go goof around at Tachi Station with your good-fer-nuthin' friends after the harvest!"
"Not to mention that Owen knows who Luke's father was. I don't know if this was 'authorial intent' in 1977, but at least in hindsight, it's pretty clear Owen is trying to protect Luke by keeping him on the farm."
12."Malcolm in the Middle. As a kid, I thought the boys were great, and Lois was an asshole. As an adult with kids, I fully understand Lois and Hal."
"Lois seemed like such a downer, but as an adult, don't know how she held her family together."
"Lois takes the boys to the store to buy her a birthday present. 'Here's $30. You could buy me, say, one of these foot spas that cost, oh look, $30!' Then the boys buy a ton of candy for themselves and give her some useless tiny random pieces of crap. On Lois's birthday, nobody wishes her a happy birthday, makes a cake, or does anything for her. Hal and the boys only seek her out to beg her to come back home because they miss all the things she does for them."
13."Father of the Bride. When I was young and watched it, I thought Steve Martin was a grumpy older man. But when I rewatched it as an adult, damn, he is the only sane person in that movie."
"Yeah, they were spending thousands of dollars and basically renovating their house for a wedding, lol. It was absolutely bonkers, but everyone acted like George was some kind of cheapskate.
"They want to throw away their life savings on a wedding for a couple that clearly wasn't mature enough to get married."
14."In Fast Times at Ridgemont High (aka the greatest movie, like, ever), I used to view Mr. Hand as a humorless killjoy. I now see him as a caring, dedicated teacher."
"Mr. Hand in Fast Times at Ridgemont High is actually pretty calm and sensible in how he deals with Spicoli. He's not unecessarily mean or takes pleasure in punishing students. He's just trying to protect the class from disruptions, but he really cares about all of his students, including Spicoli.
For a movie that's supposed to be the quintessential '80s high school movie, it really turns a lot of tropes on their heads and gives a very sensible and human conclusion to all the characters and plotlines despite the wacky shenanigans.
15."I rewatched The Lizzie McGuire Movie recently since watching as a kid and realized that Ms. Ungermeyer was making all the right moves as a responsible chaperone of a group of kids entering high school going on an international trip to Italy. As a kid, I thought she was a mean dictator. I cracked up at the scene where Paolo says hi to Ms. Ungermeyer after flirting with Lizzie outside the cheese store or whatever, and she looks at Lizzie and tells her to watch out for pickpockets."
16.Dirty Dancing — "Someone really should put Baby in the corner."
—u/tornado_gatekeeper and u/Digita1B0y
"What? It's totally normal for a teen girl to dance rather erotically with a 25-year-old man!"
17."Ticket to Paradise. It starred George Clooney and Julia Roberts as extremely bitterly divorced parents. Their daughter graduates college and has a great career lined up for her. The daughter goes on a vacation to Bali with a friend to celebrate, where she quickly falls in love with a local and decides she is going to marry him and stay there."
"Clooney and Roberts need to put their differences aside to try to talk their daughter out of it. Of course, by the end, the parents learn the power of true love, give their blessings to the wedding, and wind up reconnecting with each other. Here's the thing — marrying a dude you've known for less than a month while you were on vacation in paradise is a colossally dumb and childish thing to do. Her parents were completely justified in doing everything they could to stop the marriage."
18."I love Kitty and Red [from That '70s Show]! They're the perfect authority for teens to rebel against. They're not so scary that you can't go to them with actual trouble, but scary enough that you better do everything you can to solve your own problems before confessing to them. They're welcoming enough to ignore the hotboxing their basement and eating all their snacks but stern enough to expect you to clean up after yourself and not be too loud."
"Red Foreman was an absolute hard ass, but he did his best and cared. He took in his son's troublemaker friend when his own parents abandoned him. Not many people would do that, especially back then. He worked hard to support his family and loved his wife."
"The more I watch the show, the more I love Red and Kitty. They tried their best even during difficult times. One of my favorite scenes is when Donna is eating a chocolate bar for breakfast, and Kitty goes to make her some waffles. It's just genuinely loving the kids around them."
19."Animal House. At best, the Deltas are destructive jerks who are not fit to be part of the college community. At worst, they're destructive criminals. Dean Wormer may have gone too far with his methods, but he wasn't wrong with his motivation."
"Let's not forget the scene where his daughter, who was 14 or so — they got her drunk and left her in a shopping cart in front of her house. WTF?!?"
20."The Little Mermaid. You can't blame Triton for being terrified for his daughter after what happened to his wife (kidnapped and murdered by pirates). Also, Ariel is 16 — she ain't old enough to make her own decisions. She's out there almost getting eaten by sharks, so don't pretend like her exploring is harmless."
21.And finally..."Most Disney movies. No, Ariel, you can't just get with a man you haven't properly met. No, Belle, you have Stockholm syndrome. Don't marry your kidnapper. No, Cinderella, don't leave with the man who needs magic to recognize you. No, Aurora, you're not in love. You just saw something new and sparkly and got wowed by it. No, Rapunzel, you can't just run away from your protected residence with a man you just met. ... Tiana is the only sensible person if you can overlook her furry (here slimy) tendencies."
What movie or show did you watch as a kid or teenager where you now side with the adults/parents? Let us know in the comments!
Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.
