YMMV tropes found in Problem Child:
- Accidental Aesop:
- The message of the first two films seems to be "if different people have problems, they should sit down and talk their problems out rather than sniping at one another". On one hand, the people around Junior are often unpleasant jerks who seem to want to make him miserable. On the other hand, the often-violent revenge he takes doesn't actually solve anything and makes him even more hated. The only person who Junior tries to be nice to is Ben, and that's because Ben is the only person who tries to understand Junior's point of view. If Junior and his victims could learn to be nice, there would be less conflict.
- The first movie also seems to warn against using self-pity and victimhood to justify bad behavior. At the beginning of the movie, Junior romanticizes Martin Beck, a Serial Killer, because he buys into Beck's proclamation that the world is against him. Ben is someone who also faces numerous affronts in his own life and from all sides. But ultimately, he is able to deal with those problems in a mature and rational manner rather than resort to thoughtless violence. In the end, Junior realizes Ben is the better role model and that Beck is someone who shouldn't be emulated.
- Extreme violence is bad, but sometimes you have to stand up for yourself. Ben's life only improves when he stands up to his toxic wife, father, and neighbors.
- Alternate Aesop Interpretation: There is a difference between being assertive and being violent and "standing up for yourself" doesn't justify endangering others. While Junior deals with a lot of crap from others, his over-violent revenge means he ends up alienating people who would be sympathetic and harming innocent bystanders. Ben succeeds in standing up to the jerks in his life and he does so without causing serious damage or alienating and harming others.
- Alternative Character Interpretation: In Problem Child 3, are Duke, Corky, and Blade genuinely in love with Tiffany, like Junior? Or does she simply feel their ego? The way that when they are introduced they all seem to approach her together and almost as if they are willing to “share” her. And they quickly humiliate Junior who is genuily in love with her. Lates, they all go on dates with her separately, and none of them seems bothered by it. Even when Junior asks Duke if he likes Tiffany, Duke answers “She’s alright”. All that implies that unlike Junior, the yheee bullies aren’t really in love with her, and simply want her to like them so they could continue feeding their ego.
- Awesome Music: The end title song "Problem Child". Bonus points for being performed by The Beach Boys. Here's the rare music video for it.
- Base-Breaking Character: Junior himself is one, for you honestly cannot decide whether he's just a troubled, misunderstood soul who just wants to be loved or an all-around Jerkass who just lives to cause trouble. Doesn't help that 95% of Junior's victims are Asshole Victims while the 5% is poor Ben caught in the crossfire. Taken to another extreme in Problem Child 2, particularly the Cassandra Truth scenario in which Junior sees Rich Bitch Lawanda Dumore for what she really is and tries to warn his dad who doesn't believe him due to Junior driving his previous dates away. After watching the scene where Ben harshly reprimands Junior for the cockroach incident and coldly ends his trust with him, you cannot decide whether Junior deserved the talking to and that Ben's blindness was perfectly justified or Ben was just being a total Jerkass for not believing his own son.
- Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The Crazy Dance scene in Problem Child 2. The scene doesn't serve any real purpose beyond Nausea Fuel and the Fridge Horror repercussions of the scene are huge. But after it happens, it's never brought up again (aside from Junior apologizing to Trixie for it when they make up later).
- Critic-Proof: The first film became a major hit for Universal and beat out Disney's DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, despite getting trashed by critics (it has a rare 0% on Rotten Tomatoes; DuckTales is in the 80's).
- Critical Dissonance: A textbook example in cinema. This film was one of the most critically hated of the 80's/90's, but managed to be a big hit at the box office, beating out Disney's DuckTales movie (which was critically loved) and starting the "smart child" trend in the early 90's.
- Crosses the Line Twice: In reality, someone who does the cruel things Junior does would be a little horrifying. Luckily, the world of Problem Child is practically a cartoon with a Crapsack World coating, so that makes his behavior more this trope.
- Designated Hero: Junior. The only thing that keeps him relatively likable is how much of a callous jerk almost everyone around him is.
- Ensemble Dark Horse: Big Ben has a sizable fanbase for a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk, mostly because he's a funny jerk.Big Ben: You don't know what you're letting yourself in for! For all you know, his parents may have met in the looney bin! They might even be Democrats!
- Fanon Discontinuity: Just like all Home Alone movies after the second, fans often don't count Problem Child 3.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: The very same year saw John Ritter playing another character named Ben in It (1990). This especially makes the scene where he fills Junior's room with clowns hilarious.
- Informed Wrongness: Junior and his victims have reasons for hating one another. But while Junior is called out for his behavior, nobody calls out his aggressors for their behavior and treats Junior's attacks as totally one-sided.
- Jerkass Woobie: Junior. It's something of a "chicken or egg" issue, as he's been neglected and abused his entire life, but was also shown to be a bad-ass little brat even since infancy and does bad things like steal money from his foster father. However, some people are shown hating him even before they are aware of his bad side, which may somewhat vindicate his attitude.
- Karmic Overkill:
- While many people needlessly antagonize Junior, his violent reactions to the abuse go well beyond anything sane or rational. The stunt with the car could've easily gotten someone killed.
- Amplified by equally bad child Trixie, who straight up does things such as kidnap and tie people up and even tries to kill junior by giving him a stick of dynamite, which even JUNIOR of all people calls her insane for.
- In turn, while Junior might deserve the punishments he gets, almost every adult figure in his life straight up abandons him without even trying to talk him down, discipline him, or try and explain to him why his actions are bad. One potential guardian ditched him as a baby for urinating on him, despite him being way too young to know better.
- Nausea Fuel: A lot in Problem Child 2:
- There's a particular demographic who's had the song "Whammer Jammer" permanently ruined for them by the Crazy Dance sequence. Some TV airings actually cut out most of it.
- The scene where Junior tops off a pitcher of lemonade with urine, which their asshole neighbor unwittingly drinks.
- The cockroach dinner scene, especially given how huge and plentiful they were, but after Ben scolds Junior about his behavior and leaves, we see that the back of his blazer is covered in dead roaches.
- The Food Fight scene, because of how utterly gross-looking the slimy, orange "cheese" on the pizzas is.
- Questionable Casting: Michael Richards as a killer so intimidating that all the other prisoners fear him. Yes, Michael Richards, of Kramer fame.
- Rooting for the Empire: It's easy to feel sorry for Junior during the baseball game when the entire opposing team is maliciously chanting "son of dork" at him all while their coach does nothing and even maliciously grins at their behavior. It's also easy to feel that they got what they deserved afterwards when Junior beats them up with a baseball bat. In fact, this is often a common thread through the films - the people around Junior and Ben are often so shallow, abrasive, or both, that it becomes more cathartic when Junior gives them his usual treatment. The problem is poor Ben inadvertently suffers as a result of Junior's revenge fantasies.
- Signature Scene: The Crazy Dance scene from the second movie is infamous for being very fast-paced and hilariously repugnant from the sheer amount of Vomit Chain Reaction from everyone on the ride and nearby.
- Suspiciously Similar Song: Apparently, the third film couldn't afford George Thorogood's Bad to the Bone like the first two films did, so a cheap soundalike was used throughout instead.
- Tear Jerker:
- In the first film, Peabody seems to recognize that Junior just needs a little compassion...only for the nuns to shoot this down and order him to get rid of Junior. Whatever Junior's actions, those nuns are just plain cruel and heartless.
- The moments where Ben wants to give up on Junior are also quite soul-crushing.
- Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Both Junior and his victims.
- Junior can be seen by some as a troubled child. But his reaction against the mistreatment he endures endangers and hurts everyone around him, especially Ben, the one person who actually makes an effort to get to know him.
- His targets certainly go through pain and misery at his hands, but not only are they also horrible assholes but none of them are taken to task for their nastiness toward him.
- Unintentional Period Piece: The movies are set in the first half of the 90s and it shows.
- The first film has Big Ben planning to sell the company to a Japanese corporation. This reflects the late 20th-century belief that Japan would overtake the U.S. as a superpower. However, the rest of the 90s would be the beginning of Japan's Lost Decades.
- Nowadays, there would be a lot more kids on smartphones and laptops. Junior himself would probably use cyberbullying to take down his antagonizers.
- What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?:
- Problem Child 2 is the rare PG-13 rated sequel to a PG-rated family film. It earns that rating with additional profanity and darker, more mean-spirited humor. When the film was first submitted to the MPAA, it received an R rating. In a frantic case of Executive Meddling, Universal cut the film down hoping to get the rating lowered to PG. It came back PG-13, so in a desperate hurry, Universal went through their archives and selected a random 1940s Woody Woodpecker cartoon to accompany the film theatrically hoping to give the vibe that Problem Child 2 was in fact a family film.
- The first Problem Child is surprisingly very adult for what's ostensibly a family film; swearing, sex jokes, crude humor, brief nudity, jokes about a father murdering his adoptive child, a subplot about a serial killer escaping from prison, and a very mean-spirited tone. It's safe to say that if the film was released today as-is, it would probably get a PG-13.
- The Woobie: Ben has a rough life. He's such a Nice Guy that he borders on Extreme Doormat and barely anyone takes him seriously. His wife cared more about image and social status than actually raising a family, and she wound up fooling around on him with an escaped convict. And then there's his Jerkass dad who treats him like garbage. And when Ben finally gets to be a father, his best intentions are met with the walking disaster that is Junior (himself a Jerkass Woobie, as mentioned above). Junior's antics are played for comedy, but Ben's disappointment and frustration with Junior's behavior are both played very straight.
