The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has been amusing teenage boys since the first was published in April 2007. Kinney’s well-pictured series follows Greg Heffley, who is arrogantly clueless about the other people in his life. And now there's a dog too.
Dog Days – American Family Values
Greg’s bond with his family members is stereotypically American. The extent of his relationship with his Father is to laugh at a bad cartoon in the morning newspaper. His Mum tries to encourage him to go outside during his summer vacations. His rock-band bully brother is notable by his absence.
It is this classic American family situation that has caused Kinney’s success. Greg is the character with the most depth, yet even he is a recognisable stereotype. He would rather play computer games than play with friends. He is annoyed at everything. He is totally self-obsessed and has no understanding of other people’s needs.
The plot as a whole has no particular direction, in the same way that a usual summer holiday does not. Though this makes the reading a little slower, one of the ironies that Kinney plays with is that Greg has ideas that come to nothing – he begins but never finishes projects. As a plot built on anti-climax, humour comes from the fact that nothing happens.
An example of this is Greg’s temporary infatuation with a female lifeguard. He follows her around all day trying to get her to notice him. He says he would do anything for her. On the next page, however, someone is sick. The lifeguard looks at Greg to get him to clean it up. The result is a picture of Greg walking away and leaving the lifeguard to clean up, reasoning that even love doesn’t stretch that far.
Illustrations are Golden String to Kinney’s Bow
Jeff Kinney began as an illustrator, publishing his Diary of a Wimpy Kid on Funbrain.com. It grew in popularity and a publishing deal with Harry N. Abrams resulted from this. The ironic references to a daily newspaper cartoon strip reflect a little on how Kinney’s career has developed from College newspaper prints to today’s global sales.
It is the unique selling point of Kinney’s books that he is first and foremost an illustrator, yet he tells an interesting story along with it. The highlights of the books are snapshots of Greg’s life which have been built up by the story. They say a picture paints a thousand words and Greg’s irritation when things don’t go his way is wonderfully captured in a number of places.
There is running joke of Greg hiding under his covers to protect himself from a “Muddy Hand” he has seen in a horror film. The muddy hand is seen gradually making his way towards Greg. Greg eventually finds that his skill at keeping the covers tightly wrapped around him comes in useful when protecting himself against the invasion of the new pet dog.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid – The Movie
With a movie opening on 19th March, the Diary of Wimpy Kid is set to gain more fans globally. The movie stars Zachary Gordon (Georgia Rule, National Treasure: Book of Secrets) as Greg with Rachel Harris and Steve Zahn as his parents. Based on the first book, where Greg sarcastically dissects his middle school society, it looks set to continue the popularity of the series.
Whether it will do so well among a UK audience remains to be seen. The appeal to an audience is that they can relate to American family portrayed in the books. UK families have similar character traits – quiet fathers and pushy mothers – but there are major differences which alienate a British audience.
Adrian Mole, the struggling British teenager remains the archetypal UK teen diarist. Although, we must always remember that Greg Heffley is writing a journal, not a diary.
