![]() Animated segments depict characters being chased by animals and a boy being bullied and his underwear pulled over his head. A student uses a flame to activate the emergency sprinkler system in a school. Various pranks are played on a school administrator. A young character is seen defacing a school using various materials, including large graffiti murals on the exterior. Children copy a character’s credit card number, it’s implied they use it to purchase materials they later use to deface the school. A character draws a caricature of the school principal in a notebook that contains other drawings he has created over the years, the principal destroys the notebook as punishment. A young girl drives her mother’s car and another character’s car without permission in one scene she deliberately scrapes the vehicle along a fence in an act of revenge. Violence: A character is bullied by peers and adults, including a father figure (his mother’s boyfriend) and school administrators. Why is Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life rated PG? Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life is rated PG by the MPAA for rude humor throughout, language and thematic elements. ![]() Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life Starring Lauren Graham, Thomas Barbusca, Griffin Gluck. And that idea becomes more dangerous when adults are seen as the enemy and rebellion is the only way to fit in. But I worry this constant media message of being an outsider can make youth feel more isolated and even intolerant of others. No question, the middle school years can be tough as kids start to figure out life, friendships and their future. Maybe most disappointing is the “I don’t fit in” message we repeatedly see in movies aimed at tweens and teens. Instead it is littered with crude terms and some profanities (including a sly referral to a sexual expletive), name-calling, a cast of stereotypical racial characters and at least a couple of agenda items. However for real teens dealing with complex challenges like bullying, death in the family, divorce or blended families, the script offers absolutely no reasonable suggestions for coping. While their antics are both illegal and dangerous, they are played for comedy in this story. Together they embark on a campaign of rule breaking that involves vandalism, graffiti, breaking and entering, credit card theft and underage driving. And that he does with the help of his sidekick Leo (Thomas Barbusca). With no competent adults to turn to for help or advice, Rafe’s only option (in the movie world at least) is rebellion. His mother turns after-school childcare duties over to her neighbor Carl (Rob Riggle), a crass, abusive, full-of-himself loafer who berates Rafe and his sister Georgia (Alexa Nisenson) while trying to spark a relationship with their mom. And things aren’t any better when school is out. By the time Rafe makes his way to the remedial class with the rest of the “losers”, he finds himself sitting in front of the class bully. Yet before he’s even inside the front doors, he runs into Principal Dwight (Andy Daly), a narcissistic educator who has penned an entire encyclopedia of rules for his students to follow. (And then the reveal feels both sappy and unrealistic.) His single, working mother Jules (Lauren Graham) sends him off to his first day of class with a hug and a stern reminder that things had better work. ![]() The reasons why aren’t addressed until late in the film. Rafe (Griffen Gluck), a creative, artsy student, has just transferred to his third school of the year. It’s a silly slogan that the script justifies by pitting one boy against the most inept group of adult characters ever assembled in one zip code. The movie’s mantra is “rules aren’t for everyone”. But those difficult years won’t be improved by seeing Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life. For some students, middle school may indeed be the worst years of their teen lives.
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