History YMMV / WhatsEatingGilbertGrape

* FunnyMoments: After Gilbert cracks from Arnie shouting "We're not going anywhere!" and Ellen's awful trumpet playing, he starts his car up and stares at Ellen who promptly flips him the bird. After he revs the attention and she smirks, he proceeds to back over close to her to scare her. Her shocked and annoyed reaction says it all.

** Ellen's bratty toward her family, but it's entirely possible that she's been bullied and teased by other kids for years over her intellectually disabled brother, her obese mother, the fact that her father committed suicide before she was born, and the family's overall poverty. She could be trying to distance herself from her family simply so she can be accepted accept by her peers, or she could be suffering from the same very valid stress and resentment as Gilbert, but lack the maturity to bottle up her feelings the way he does. Considering what happens when Gilbert finally snaps, Ellen's form of venting might be cruel and annoying, but it also might be more healthy than Gilbert's.

** Arnie, to a certain extent. His condition makes him a burden on his family, nobody can do anything about it, and Arnie himself is completely unaware of how much trouble he's causing. Yet there are frequently moments where it's plain that Arnie is more than capable of great and genuine love, particularly for Gilbert. It all clearly takes its toll on the Grapes, to the point that Gilbert becomes frustrated enough to beat him.

* AccidentalInnuendo: More than a few gutter-minded people have changed the "What" in the title to "Who."

* ParodyDisplacement: Many people discovered this movie through the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Irregarding Steve," which features a b-plot of key scenes from the film being reenacted by squirrels.

* WeirdAlEffect: Many people discovered this movie through the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Irregarding Steve," which features a b-plot of key scenes from the film being reenacted by squirrels.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Some think that Bonnie knew [[spoiler: the strain of walking up the stairs would kill her and went upstairs to sleep in her bedroom for the last time]].

* RetroactiveRecognition: The cast list features a veritable who's who of future big-name actors.

* WeirdAlEffect: Many people discovered this movie through the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Irrigarding Steve," which features a b-plot of key scenes from the film being reenacted by squirrels.

** Bonnie. She's eaten herself into morbid obesity at the expense of her good looks and is now the laughing stock of the town, to the point that her family decide to [[spoiler:burn their house with her body inside it just so she won't suffer any further humiliation in death by trying to get her immovably heavy corpse out by crane]].

** Arnie, to a certain extent. His condition makes him a burden on his family, and nobody can do anything about it. It all clearly takes its toll on them, to the point that Gilbert becomes frustrated enough to slap him.

* AdaptationDisplacement: There is a book of the same name that came out 2 years previous, this is a little known fact.