Greg Heffley starts sixth grade convinced that middle school is a contest for popularity. He wants to become rich and famous, while his best friend Rowley is happy to play and act like a younger kid. Greg tries to teach Rowley how to fit in, but his plans cause trouble at school and at home. A broken arm, a fight over a comic, Halloween trouble, and the feared Cheese Touch push the friends apart. The animated comedy uses quick jokes, gross humor, school bullying, and a warm family tone.
The story follows Greg as he treats friendship as a tool for getting higher in the school social order. Rowley becomes popular after breaking his arm, and Greg becomes jealous because he thinks his own chances are fading. Greg also looks down on Fregley and tries to use other children when they can help his plans. In the end, Greg takes the blame for the cheese to protect Rowley, and the boys repair their friendship. The film's main lessons are that popularity is shallow, loyalty matters, and people should not have to change their harmless interests to earn respect.
Community feedback
Was our 3% Woke rating accurate?
Loading review details…
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Woke representation / casting
Not present. The film shows some racial diversity among students, but the story treats it as ordinary school life. No character is presented through a representation message or an identity-based role.
0%
Woke political dialogue
Not present. The dialogue covers school pressure, popularity, bullying, and friendship. It does not discuss current political or activist ideas.
0%
Identity-driven story themes
Not present. The main lesson concerns friendship, fitting in, and choosing what is right. Race, sex, sexuality, and group identity are not main story issues.
0%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Not present. The school and parents create ordinary rules and pressure. The film does not attack families, religion, men, women, capitalism, or Western institutions.
0%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The film changes some scenes from the book for a short adaptation. It does not make an identity-driven or DEI-driven change to a character or the source story.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Not present. Public complaints focus on the short runtime, pacing, animation, and cuts from the book. The supplied X research found no anti-woke complaints or campaign.
0%
Creator track record context
Jeff Kinney has made one clear statement supporting inclusion. In 2023, he criticized efforts to remove LGBTQ people from children's books. The other listed creators have little or no public activist record.
15%
Production
Movie · 2016
A harried prehistoric bird mother entrusts her precious, soon-to-hatch egg to Sid. When she recommends him to her neighbours, business booms at his new egg-sitting service.
Movie · 2016
The quiet life of a terrier named Max is upended when his owner takes in Duke, a stray whom Max instantly dislikes.
Movie · 2019
A selfish postman and a reclusive toymaker form an unlikely friendship, delivering joy to a cold, dark town that desperately needs it.
Movie · 2021
Tired of being locked in a reptile house where humans gawk at them like they are monsters, a ragtag group of Australia’s deadliest creatures plot an escape from their zoo to the…
Movie · 2019
Since his arrival at Buckingham palace, Rex lives a life of luxury. Top dog, he has superseded his three fellow Corgis in Her Majesty’s heart.
Movie · 2016
An island populated entirely by happy, flightless birds or almost entirely. In this paradise, Red, a bird with a temper problem, speedy Chuck, and the volatile Bomb have always…
Movie · 2021
Buster and his new cast now have their sights set on debuting a new show at the Crystal Tower Theater in glamorous Redshore City.
Movie · 2024
Gromit’s concern that Wallace is becoming too dependent on his inventions proves justified, when Wallace invents a “smart” gnome that seems to develop a mind of its own.
