10 Harsh Realities Of Watching Napoleon Dynamite, 19 Years Later

Upon its release in 2004, Napoleon Dynamite was among the biggest cult comedy hits ever made in the 2000s, but nearly two decades later, some elements of the comedy haven’t aged well. Napoleon Dynamite‘s appeal was that its awkward setting, dialogue, and characters made for some hilarious scenes and quotable lines. The film’s resonated well enough that several years after its release, an animated series based on the film was greenlit, though the Napoleon Dynamite animated series was short-lived.

Napoleon Dynamite centers around the titular character and his day-to-day life between his life at school and life at home. The continuous jokes told throughout the film overshadow the fact that Napoleon Dynamite is a plotless movie until Napoleon’s friend, Pedro, decides to run for class president. Even when the story reaches its climax, no one really goes through any arcs. Nothing is truly learned. Napoleon got his best friend his victory, but even still, Napoleon Dynamite made the point that it had no point to make.

10 Many Subplots Go Absolutely Nowhere

There’s not much point to them besides a gag

Napoleon Dynamite has been lauded for having a Seinfeld-like quality in that almost nothing happens in the movie. A lot of that stems from subplots going pretty much nowhere long-term. Between Napoleon’s job, Rico’s attempts at going back in time, and the Future Farms of America bit among others, none of that goes anywhere. While they make for some funny jokes, the movie could have easily done without them. They also could have used that time to further develop other integral plotlines. Even if there were only so few.

9 There’s A Very Serious Bullying Problem At Preston High

And no one seems to be doing anything about it

It appears Principal Svadean picks and chooses when to crack down on issues at the school. Throughout the movie, it’s shown that Napoleon gets bullied again and again by multiple people. Yet nothing is done about it. It also appears that Napoleon is not the only one who gets picked on. It gets so severe that Napoleon has to use Pedro’s cousins to intimidate Randy into leaving one of his victims alone. While bullying isn’t abnormal in high school, Preston High seems to be completely oblivious to it.

8 There Are Several Pointless Characters

Some exist just to be one-off jokes

Napoleon Dynamite wanted to show how Napoleon interacted with his classmates. While yes, those interactions can be pretty funny, did the movie really need to have two bullies to bounce off Napoleon? Wouldn’t one have sufficed? Several characters like Trish are introduced primarily just for a one-off joke, and then they only show up in the background for the rest of the movie. Napoleon’s interaction with some of the characters makes for some hilarious quotes, but couldn’t there have been a better point to them than just to make the audience crack up once?

7 Rico Gets A Happy Ending (Despite Not Deserving One)

He earned zero redemption

Rico revealed at the beginning of the movie that he broke up with his girlfriend after she told him he was stuck in the past, which turned out to be hilariously true. Towards the end of Napoleon Dynamite, it’s implied that the two reconcile later on. The problem is that while Rico is easy to laugh at, he hasn’t done anything to warrant getting a happy ending. He’s a door-to-door salesman who reverts to making up lies and manipulation to make sales, among many worse actions. If there were something redeemable or sympathetic about him, it would make sense, but he did nothing throughout Napoleon Dynamite to deserve a happy ending.

6 Summer Wheatley Was A Weak Antagonist

She definitely needed more development

Summer Wheatley was established as the antagonist as the opposing candidate for class president, but little was done to explain why viewers should root against her. Sure, she coldly rejects Pedro after he asks her to the school dance, but she has a boyfriend, so what else is she supposed to do? She has a few scenes where it’s implied that she’s a little stuck-up, but not malicious. Besides that, there’s not much else about her that establishes why she deserves to lose. Despite Napoleon Dynamite‘s abilities as a quirky comedy, Summer was among the least memorable characters, which is a shame since she heavily factors into the movie’s climax.

5 The Principal Was Hinted To Be Creepy And Racist

His few scenes showed how problematic he was

Principal Svadean is only in a few scenes, but each time he is given screen time, there seems to be bad implications regarding his character. During his scenes in Pedro, he asks Pedro if he can speak English (it’s very clear throughout Napoleon Dynamite that he can), and he implies that Juarez is a bad place while punishing Pedro for making a piñata of Summer. When Summer and her friends perform their skit, Principal Svadean seems to enjoy watching the teenagers perform, implying he might be a pervert. That can make him a little tough to watch.

4 How Uncle Rico Treats Napoleon Is Pretty Sickening

No uncle should treat their nephew that way

It was mentioned earlier that Rico didn’t deserve a happy ending, and that’s primarily because he’s the worst uncle imaginable. He regularly antagonizes his own nephew when they share the scene together. He threw a steak at Napoleon just to demonstrate his “quarterbacking” skills. He convinces a customer that Napoleon wets the bed and gets bullied to make a sale. Again, these are all played as jokes. Still, the fact remains that Rico, a family member tasked with caring for his nephews, straight-up abuses Napoleon throughout Napoleon Dynamite and makes his life miserable for his own gain.

3 Uncle Rico Was Very Creepy Around Women And Young Women

It’s really, really uncomfortable

Part of Napoleon Dynamite‘s charm was how awkwardly funny it could be. However, some of these awkward scenes were more uncomfortable than they were funny. Case in point, Uncle Rico flirting with Deb, a high schooler, to try to sell her a breast enhancement product isn’t particularly funny to watch because of him talking about Deb’s body. Even worse, he tries it again with Summer and Trisha later. He finally gets what’s coming to him when he tries the same on Rex Kwon Do’s wife, but these scenes can get really cringy to watch a fully grown man flirt like that.

2 Napoleon Dynamite Shows Signs Of Being On The Autism Spectrum

It now feels really awkward to laugh at him

Even though Napoleon’s appearance and demeanor make him among the best movie nerds ever conceived, it’s not hard to decipher that he may have some serious issues. His inability to make friends, not recognize social situations, and his lack of facial expressions make a good case that he has some degree of Asperger’s syndrome. While it can be fun to laugh at those who are socially inept, Napoleon being on the autism spectrum suddenly makes it not as funny since he can’t help being who he is.

1 Napoleon Dynamite’s Life Is Pretty Depressing To Think About

Cringe humor is just out these days

When thinking about Napoleon Dynamite’s life, it’s hard not to guess Napoleon lives with his grandmother, presumably because his parents are either dead or they left him. Napoleon is a social outcast before Pedro and Trish come into the picture. The only time he’s given any attention by his peers is when bullies come to harass him. Nothing else needs to be said about how his own uncle treats him. Plus, it’s not like Kip is much better. Perhaps his social status changed after his iconic dance scene pushed the student body to vote for Pedro, but almost nothing about Napoleon’s life seemed happy.

What helps Napoleon Dynamite is that it wasn’t really trying to say anything. It’s a movie about a social outcast who manages to help his friend win the Class President Election despite having very little else to offer. Even so, some aspects of Napoleon Dynamite haven’t aged too gracefully, but that’s not too surprising, given how long it’s been.