Bad Ronald

At the heart of sympathy lies only a few fictional characters. A more recognizable one being Donnie Darko, star of his own motion picture which hints towards the fact that God hates Jake Gyllenhaal. After watching the curious TV film Bad Ronald (1974), I have to admit a sick feeling in my gut from the cruelty and malice that has wormed its way into an innocent boy.


Ronald is that nerdy kid we all knew in high school. Not necessarily nerdy, but more so a loser without any friends. He pines over a love he will never have and is well on his way to becoming a doctor to make his dear, sweet mother happy. That is until a freak accident leaves a little girl dead and Ronald to blame. In a panic, he buries her and tells his mother. She puts him in the old bathroom and seals the wall over to hide him from the police. Matters worsen when Ronald, deep in his fantasy land, finds out his mother died and a new family has moved into his house.



Ronald is the character that allocates outcasts everywhere. When I see a soul like this, being driven wildly beyond the point, I realize how unfair things can be. Scott Jacoby out does himself in his role of Ronald, A scrawny, bespectacled boy hiding in the walls of his house, immersing himself into his fantasy illustrations so much that he begins to throw away his old identity for his reborn royalty of his magical land of Enchanta.

Bad Ronald is one of the few film adaptations that create their own world, apart from the original novel. This film (or novel) also inspired the title of an amateur MTV promoted rap-rock group called, well, Bad Ronald. In an effort to relate to the source, I watched one of their music videos and my ears are now bleeding because of it.



Bad Ronald is an excellent and uncomfortable viewing, maybe not more than the atrocious spawn that they call music that was inspired by it. It challenges your existent fear of being watched and punches you in the face with a stark situation involving lovely voyeurism and someone who is doomed to be alone for the rest of his life. Perhaps the best TV film ever made. No doubt this led to the creation of Bad Boy Bubby.

-mAQ