Mental Illness In The Waterboy Movie

Frank Coraci’s, also known for his movies Zookeeper and Click, 1998 film, The Waterboy, stars Adam Sadler who plays the main character Bobby Boucher who suffers from a mental disorder. Bobby is an outcast due to his disability and I constantly picked on and taken advantage of by everyone in his life. This includes his mother, coaches, teachers, and his peers. This occurs up until and even after he discovers his true calling as a linebacker. He leads his team to many victories after not winning game in over 40 consecutive games and becomes loved by his whole school. Many people find this movie to be funny or even amusing, but I do due to its type of humor, the way it mocks child abuse and mental illness, and its inaccuracies.
The Waterboy targets

Mama has been mentally abusing Bobby since he was a young boy. She is the main antagonist behind all of his problems in life. I believe that she even cause him to become mentally handicapped due to being too overbearing. She did not let him go to school, or have friends. She “homeschooled” him so that she could make sure that he had to rely on her the rest of his life. Mama was afraid of being alone after her husband left her and took all of their money when he was pregnant with Bobby. She lied constantly to him, even about what happened to his father. Mama told Bobby that he died in the desert due to dehydration. He was 31 years old and had the IQ of a five year old. She had the audacity to tell him false stories whenever he asked her questions to only find out everything he knows is a lie when he goes to college. Bobby goes to college and plays football behind her back. I think it is sad that Bobby found his calling in the world and something he is passionate about and he has to hide it from the one person that is supposed to always be there for him. Coach Red Beaulieu gave Bobby the job as his team’s waterboy when he was very young. Throughout the years, he constantly picked on Bobby and turned his head when the players picked on him. Being a waterboy was the only out Bobby had away from his insane mother and the coach took his away from him. The coach fired Bobby

I found this aspect of the movie to be very insulting for several reasons. Bobby does not have any friends except Vicki. Nobody has ever seemed to even give him a chance because of his disability, which would not even exist if it wasn’t for his mother. The football players were constantly both mentally and physically messing with him and he was taught that he wasn’t allowed to stand up for himself because they are more important than him. Bobby calls his idol, Captain Insano, and is laughed at by him. Even after he is fired and finds a new job as waterboy the players on that team, except one, tease him as well. Coach Klein, his new football coach, takes advantage of Bobby. He uses Bobby’s anger to better his own team. He even fakes a high school transcript to get Bobby on his team. Bobby later takes the fall for this and is accused of being a liar and cheater when in reality he had no idea. It was not until Bobby really proved himself as a football player did his teammates start to accept him. It was only because he was a somebody that people truly gave him a chance. If I wasn’t for Bobby becoming a great football player, his peers would have never given him the time of day. I don’t find picking on and talking down on a mentally handicapped person is