Diary of a Wimpy Kid
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Let me get another thing straight: I have been reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series since a bit after its inception in 2007. But as I've gotten older, I've been noticing more and more problems come up with the books, and particularly some of Jeff Kinney's decisions as an author. So let's dive right in:
The books are supposedly "timeless"
Timeless? How? This is supposed to be a coming-of-age series about a middle-schooler growing up. How would the reader be interested in future books if Greg Heffley does not age at all, and does not grow up and learn?
Which brings up another thing: Greg NEVER seems to learn anything. He never carries knowledge from one book to another, aside from a few instances. For example, in The Ugly Truth, he mentions he ruled Fregley out as friend material "a long time ago", or during the time of the first book. Things like this are really it. Other than that, Greg doesn't progress as a character at all. But I'll go more into this in a bit, especially regarding other characters.
Greg is a sociopath
Oh? I could see that. I've read and watched plenty of analysises--analysi? whatever--about how Greg is really a growing sociopath, and I could totally buy it. He's a narcissist who manipulates people around him. While he's not a TERRIBLE person per se, why would any parent see him as a good role model for their kids? I'm asking because I'll admit, when I was a kid I used to want to be like Greg--a middle schooler who don't give a fuck about nuttin'. To me that seemed like the "cool" way to go about school. I'm older now, of course, and less naive.