The CHIEF May 2023

Movie Review

By Summer Negray & Brieaunna Duck

Matilda (1996)

In this month's Chief article, Summer and Brieaunna got together to review an old classic, Matilda (the 1996 version).

Brie- Matilda was a big part in both of our childhoods. I rate this movie ⅗ stars for the music being a great factor that adds to the movie, nostalgia, and the fact that the movie changes meaning as you age. A negative about the movie is that it puts abuse in a bright light, normalizing it. I noticed that now that I am older the popular cake scene is a little hard to watch as it is overall just really sad. However, I remember being a kid and finding a lot of the humor to be enjoyable, so it gets points for that as well. Overall, it makes me remember good childhood memories and I enjoy watching it. Summer- I rate the movie Matilda as ⅘ stars. I took a star off because of the discomfort I felt when I re-watched it due to the theme of abuse in this story. For example, Matilda is abused emotionally, physically, and mentally by her parents. This abuse can be seen when Matilda is left alone as a very young child, her parents not sending her to school, her father destroying her books, her adoptive parents sending her to a school that is known to have an abusive principal, and so much more. Miss Honey is abused in the movie as well. The theme of abuse does however let our main character bond with Miss Honey. As a result of their childhood trauma that both characters share, they are able to emotionally connect. Both Miss Honey and Matilda learn to care for each other even though they themselves were not cared for. Watching Matilda again as a teenager has made me see the movie differently from when I was a kid. It made me feel uncomfortable and sad that I didn’t realize that abuse is a big theme in the movie.