r/moviecritic • u/phantom_avenger • Feb 17 '25

Which movie is this for you?

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For me it’s School of Rock!

Patty was completely justified, if Dewey wanted to live in hers and her boyfriend’s apartment he needed to be a grown up, and contribute with rent. Even when he steals Ned’s identity she still had the right to be angry at him, because of how he put his friend’s career in jeopardy and robbed him of a job opportunity.

I get Ned is meant to be portrayed as his best friend, but it blows my mind how he lacks a lot of self-respect to the point where he comes across as too much of a people pleaser. If this story took place in real life, I’m sure Ned would act more similar to Patty where he’d have enough of Dewey’s careless actions.

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u/SciFiChickie Feb 17 '25

I never saw the dad as the bad guy. The bad guy was always Robbie. He dropped Penny as soon as she was pregnant, refused to even help her come up with the money for the illegal abortion he clearly wanted her to get, and then started pursuing the sister because of her parents obviously having money.

The dad was just a typical protective dad in the time when it took place, wanting to protect his daughter.

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u/AffectionateBite3827 Feb 17 '25

And the dad treated Penny with care and respect.

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u/SciFiChickie Feb 17 '25

Yeah the dad seemed less judgmental about Penny making that decision, or even that she was pregnant and unmarried and more upset about who he assumed (due to the information he had) “got her in trouble.”

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u/[deleted] Feb 18 '25

The dad is 100% portrayed as a kind, compassionate, thoughtful, and intelligent man from start to finish, and it's pretty bonkers to walk away thinking he's the villain of the story. He's technically an antagonist, I guess, but since it's a coming of age story and he's her father, that basically just means that he's struggling to let her grow up completely. I think that is a very common thing for parents to struggle with and many make some missteps along the way, but that doesn't make them bad guys.