#Diary Of A Wimpy Kid’s Creator Says Greg Isn’t A Sociopath, He’s Just A 12-Year-Old

In a recent interview with ScreenRant, creator Jeff Kinney pushed back on detractors, defending the decision to not make Greg an idealized version of what parents wish kids were more like. “I think of Greg as just being a messy kid,” Kinney said. “In fact, I think of him as being an accurate kid.” 

As someone who previously taught junior high school, Kinney is right. The pre-teen years are some of the hardest, where something as small as your friend asking you to come over and “play” instead of asking to “hang out” can turn you into the biggest loser in school. The social rules of middle school are arbitrary and constantly changing, so it makes total sense that Greg would be a ball of frustration, melodrama, and impulsivity. “A lot of things that Greg does and thinks? I did all those things,” said Kinney. “And the people that criticize Greg for his behavior? I think they probably did a lot of those things, too.” People also really, really need to stop armchair diagnosing fictional characters as “sociopaths,” because ableism isn’t a cute look on anyone, regardless if they’re critiquing a fictional cartoon character.