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We Need to Talk About Kevin

764 statements
150 feature instances
17 referencing feature instances

We Need to Talk About Kevin	type	TVTItem
We Need to Talk About Kevin	label	We Need to Talk About Kevin
We Need to Talk About Kevin	page	WeNeedToTalkAboutKevin
We Need to Talk About Kevin	comment	We Need To Talk About Kevin is a 2011 psychological drama thriller film based on the book of the same name written by Lionel Shriver in 2003note This film is not the first adaptation of the story; a radio adaptation was made in 2008, directed and co-written by Lynne Ramsay. It stars Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, and Ezra Miller, and was additionally scored by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood.Eva Khatchadourian (Swinton) never really wanted to be a mother â€“ and certainly not the mother of Kevin (Miller), the unlovable boy who, on a spring Thursday in 1999, three days before his 16th birthday and a few weeks before Columbine, killed 10 people in his school's gym.Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood, and Kevin's horrific rampage in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her estranged husband, Franklin (Reilly). Uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood from the start, Eva fears that her alarming dislike for her own son may be responsible for driving him so nihilistically off the rails.
We Need to Talk About Kevin	fetched	2024-03-09T00:45:44Z
We Need to Talk About Kevin	parsed	2024-03-09T00:45:44Z
We Need to Talk About Kevin	processingComment	Dropped link to AdaptationalPersonalityChange: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
We Need to Talk About Kevin	processingComment	Dropped link to BuddyHolly: Not a Feature - IGNORE
We Need to Talk About Kevin	processingComment	Dropped link to Yandere: Not a Feature - ITEM
We Need to Talk About Kevin	processingComment	Dropped link to parentalfavouritism: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
We Need to Talk About Kevin	processingUnknown	AdaptationalPersonalityChange
We Need to Talk About Kevin	processingUnknown	parentalfavouritism
We Need to Talk About Kevin	isPartOf	DBTropes
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_10cb9a31	type	Axes at School
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_10cb9a31	comment	Axes at School: Bows and arrows, actually.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_10cb9a31	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_10cb9a31	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_10cb9a31
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_11ad560b	type	Control Freak
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_11ad560b	comment	Control Freak: The moment Franklin learned Eva was pregnant with Kevin, he started policing everything she did, including yelling at her for dancing around the living room. Eva's resentment towards Franklin's behaviour and her pregnancy might go to explain why she and Kevin were incapable of bonding when Kevin was born. By contrast, Franklin totally ignored Eva's pregnancy with Celia, and not coincidentally Eva adored Celia from the word go.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_11ad560b	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_11ad560b	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_11ad560b
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_11cdc5d8	type	White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_11cdc5d8	comment	White Anglo-Saxon Protestant: Franklin's background. Less immediately noticeable for him than for his parents.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_11cdc5d8	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_11cdc5d8	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_11cdc5d8
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_13e3985d	type	Crucified Hero Shot
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_13e3985d	comment	Crucified Hero Shot: See A God Am I below. The opening tomato festival scene in the movie gave us this◊ image of Eva in a pose that may or may not reflect this trope.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_13e3985d	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_13e3985d	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_13e3985d
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_16364a29	type	Evil Sounds Deep
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_16364a29	comment	Evil Sounds Deep: In the film, Kevin is played by Ezra Miller, who has quite a deep voice that contrasts his youth and appearance.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_16364a29	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_16364a29	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_16364a29
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1779f10e	type	"Well Done, Son" Guy
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1779f10e	comment	"Well Done, Son" Guy: Played with, in a somewhat sadistic way. Franklin thinks he is this to Kevin, who sneers at him behind his back (calling him "Mr. Plastic", a deliberate mispronunciation of his family name Plaskett). On the other hand, Eva suspects that there may also be a deep need to please somewhere beneath Kevin's willingness to put on a near-constant fake front, and a related anger that his dad actually buys into and likes the fake front.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1779f10e	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1779f10e	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1779f10e
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1869b4b1	type	Unreliable Narrator
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1869b4b1	comment	Unreliable Narrator: Eva. The book is her written account of what happened, and the movie takes place in her mind. However, we ultimately never know if anything is exaggerated or fabricated, since we never get a different account to compare hers to. Her brutal honesty makes us trust her more, though.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1869b4b1	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1869b4b1	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1869b4b1
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_18d420b0	type	Lovable Coward
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_18d420b0	comment	Lovable Coward: Celia in a nutshell.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_18d420b0	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_18d420b0	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_18d420b0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_19851b86	type	The Sociopath
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_19851b86	comment	The Sociopath: Kevin.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_19851b86	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_19851b86	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_19851b86
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b122c5d	type	Scare Chord
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b122c5d	comment	Scare Chord: When Eva's sleep is disturbed by thoughts of Kevin's bow-and-arrow massacre at the school.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b122c5d	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b122c5d	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b122c5d
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b590025	type	Dead All Along
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b590025	comment	Dead All Along: Franklin and Celia, which is a devastating Twist Ending.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b590025	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b590025	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b590025
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b60dcba	type	The Bully
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b60dcba	comment	The Bully: Kevin has been torturing other children since before he could walk and talk — tormenting other toddlers in his playgroup, smashing his classmate's teacups in kindergarten, encouraging a girl with vitiligo to scratch her skin off, messing with a boy's bike to make him have an accident, and more.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b60dcba	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b60dcba	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_1b60dcba
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_22a27b19	type	Alpha Bitch
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_22a27b19	comment	Alpha Bitch: Laura, one of the victims in the school shooting. Eva suspects this is due to a warped crush on Kevin's part.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_22a27b19	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_22a27b19	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_22a27b19
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_23be181a	type	Patriotic Fervor
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_23be181a	comment	Patriotic Fervor: Franklin has this to the point that it almost seems too over-the-top to be real. Then again, the book is from Eva's account, and she does see it as an endearing character trait of Franklin's.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_23be181a	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_23be181a	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_23be181a
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2764d432	type	Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2764d432	comment	Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Kevin, not that he bothers with the sheep's clothing around Eva. And "bitch" may be the understatement of the century. To a less lethal extent, Franklin, especially in the book. He seems nice enough, and he and Eva love each other (or, at least, did once), but he treats Eva (and, to a lesser extent, Celia) like crap a number of times. This is downplayed in the movie, where he comes off as more of a well-meaning idiot than anything.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2764d432	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2764d432	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_28766e5d	type	The Straight and Arrow Path
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_28766e5d	comment	The Straight and Arrow Path: A malign version. In the school shoot-up, Kevin uses a bow and arrows. There's an explanation for Kevin's use of the crossbow in the novel; according to Eva, it was all deliberate on Kevin's part, in order to make sure that his murder meant nothing (indicating that he didn't actually stand for anything; not for geeks lashing out on their classmates, nor for anti-gun protesters). It also seems like a commentary (on behalf of both the character of Kevin, and the writer/s) about the timelessness of violence, showing it as a problem that will never go away regardless of how the methods change.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_28766e5d	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_28766e5d	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2af6bbeb	type	Break the Haughty
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2af6bbeb	comment	Break the Haughty: Kevin's stay in prison has definitely undone his arrogance quite a bit and it's shown he's genuinely scared of going into the adult system. Eva goes through this over the course of the book - no matter what Kevin does, Franklin never sides with her over him and her previous arrogance makes her a pariah amongst her neighbours after Thursday.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2af6bbeb	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2af6bbeb	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2d4fa515	type	Ax-Crazy
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2d4fa515	comment	Ax-Crazy: Kevin eventually graduates to killing everyone in his family bar his mother, and going on a spree-killing rampage at his school.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2d4fa515	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2d4fa515	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2d4fa515
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2e8441c9	type	The Bad Guy Wins
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2e8441c9	comment	The Bad Guy Wins: Basically. Kevin gets everything he wants by the end of the book, aside from the slight setback of doing a few years in prison (and even that went according to plan — as a minor, he got nowhere near the sentence he deserved). Kevin hates his dad? His dad's dead. Kevin resents his sister and is jealous of the affection their mother shows her? His sister's dead, but not before he ensured that she was mutilated first. Kevin wants control of his mother? He's practically guaranteed it, once he gets out of prison — Eva is so worn down that she's prepared to sacrifice the last shreds of her dignity, sense of self, and any hope of escaping the control Kevin has over her life because she "loves" him. However, he doesn't get it all his own way. It's implied that the juvenile prison system has somewhat knocked the stuffing out of him — he shows up to his mother's latest visit with visible facial wounds, suggesting the other prisoners beat and abuse him, and possibly more than that. He's incredibly apprehensive of moving to the adult system, which will undoubtedly be even worse. That said, he's described at least once as having scabbed knuckles, suggesting that his scuffles in prison may not be entirely one-sided. His fear about being transferred to an adult prison is more about the fact that he'll have to deal with much more than just fistfights there. And even then, he'll still be just as miserable and bored as he was before.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2e8441c9	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2e8441c9	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2e8441c9
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2e8875f0	type	Misplaced Retribution
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2e8875f0	comment	Misplaced Retribution: Played for Drama. The vast majority of the local townspeople despise Eva for being Kevin's mother, and think nothing of vandalizing her property or physically and verbally assaulting her in public.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2e8875f0	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2e8875f0	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_2e8875f0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_301c4238	type	Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_301c4238	comment	Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal: Large parts of the book are Where Did We Go Wrong? about this trope. They tend to exonerate the parents of any blame for the kids' actions...
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_301c4238	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_301c4238	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_301c4238
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_33d5b7f2	type	Adapted Out
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_33d5b7f2	comment	Adapted Out: Vicky Pigorski â€“ some might argue, mercifully. Kevin's best/only friend Leonard Pugh is also not a factor in the movie.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_33d5b7f2	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_33d5b7f2	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_33d5b7f2
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_33f1c576	type	Not Helping Your Case
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_33f1c576	comment	Not Helping Your Case: Eva's defense lawyer attempts to portray her as a normal mother who had no control over her son's rampage, but Eva is too broken by then to really care and resents being labelled an average mother, so her presentation in court comes off as arrogant and uncaring of the damage Kevin caused.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_33f1c576	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_33f1c576	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_33f1c576
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_34dcfc96	type	Kick the Dog
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_34dcfc96	comment	Kick the Dog: Poor mouseâ€¦ and by extension, poor Celia.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_34dcfc96	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_34dcfc96	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_34dcfc96
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_355007c3	type	Brilliant, but Lazy
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_355007c3	comment	Brilliant, but Lazy: Kevin is very smart but just doesn't see the point of getting straight A's.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_355007c3	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_355007c3	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_355007c3
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_38d3a0f7	type	Pac-Man Fever
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_38d3a0f7	comment	Pac Man Fever: Horribly straight example in the film. When child Kevin is playing a game with his father, they randomly mash buttons on the controller (which they are holding wrong) and shout cringe-worthy lines such as "How do you jump?" and "DIE! DIE!" at the TV, which blares arcade sounds. Mind you, they're playing a Nintendo 64 game.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_38d3a0f7	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_38d3a0f7	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_38d3a0f7
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3aec9e5e	type	Properly Paranoid
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3aec9e5e	comment	Properly Paranoid: Eva fears that her son Kevin, who she suspects to be a sociopath, may harm Celia or herself. Her fears were well-founded, though in the end Kevin did not kill her. Celia, on the other handâ€¦
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3aec9e5e	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3aec9e5e	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3aec9e5e
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3b9a79a	type	HotForStudent
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3b9a79a	comment	Hot for Student: Kevin accuses his teacher Vicky Pagorski of hitting on him after her class. He tells a very convincing story to the school board and a few parents, which gets Ms. Pagorski fired. Eva, however, suspects that Kevin made up the whole thing.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3b9a79a	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3b9a79a	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3b9a79a
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3f45aa4b	type	Epistolary Novel
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3f45aa4b	comment	Epistolary Novel: The novel is told through Eva's letters to Franklin. It's implied that they're separatedâ€¦ until Eva narrates the Thursday of Kevin's massacre and reveals that Franklin has been dead all along.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3f45aa4b	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3f45aa4b	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_3f45aa4b
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_40c57041	type	Manipulative Bastard
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_40c57041	comment	Manipulative Bastard: For most of his life, Kevin was an expert at playing with emotions, taking advantage of and gaslighting people in order to get his way. This is especially noticeable when Eva (unintentionally) breaks his arm.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_40c57041	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_40c57041	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_40c57041
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4637914d	type	Suburban Gothic
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4637914d	comment	Suburban Gothic: The book and film explore the dynamic between Kevin, his mother, who didn't want children and was abusive toward him when he was young, and his father, who is unfailingly optimistic about the prospect of having a happy family, causing him to overlook Kevin's behavioral warning signs.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4637914d	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4637914d	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4637914d
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_474a2a5e	type	Cultural Posturing
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_474a2a5e	comment	Cultural Posturing: Eva has Armenian heritage she is very proud of and she likes to think she's above the coarse behaviour of Americans that she disdains; but as Kevin rather bluntly points out, she's just as bad as the people she sneers at.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_474a2a5e	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_474a2a5e	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_474a2a5e
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_483152c4	type	The Resenter
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_483152c4	comment	The Resenter: Kevin, towards everything and everyone, including himself. His mental disorder makes him perceive everything as boring, pointless, and uninteresting, and this is how he feels every second of his life and he detests anyone he sees as being genuinely happy and connected to those around them when he is unable to be. Eva resented both Franklin and Kevin when she got pregnant because she could no longer travel around the globe:
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_483152c4	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_483152c4	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_483152c4
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_49f20c6a	type	Gory Discretion Shot
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_49f20c6a	comment	Gory Discretion Shot: The massacre in the film version. Averted in the book where Eva describes it in blunt and brutal detail based on the news coverage.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_49f20c6a	featureApplicability	-1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_49f20c6a	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4aaffbd5	type	I Never Said It Was Poison
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4aaffbd5	comment	I Never Said It Was Poison: When Eva tells Kevin about a neighbourhood boy getting hurt, he comments, "Yeah, well. He thinks he's so cool with that bike", Eva says:
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4aaffbd5	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4aaffbd5	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4aaffbd5
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4e7f703c	type	Wham Shot
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4e7f703c	comment	Wham Shot: Returning home from Kevin's massacre, Eva discovers Franklin and Celia's bodies.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4e7f703c	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4e7f703c	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4e7f703c
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4eb2ef02	type	Vehicle Vanish
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4eb2ef02	comment	Vehicle Vanish: In one scene, Eva and Celia are walking down the street when they see Kevin looking at a poster advertising Eva's book signing across the street. At that exact moment, Kevin turns and looks at them right as a car passes by, and is gone once the car has passed.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4eb2ef02	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4eb2ef02	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4eb2ef02
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4ebd9efb	type	Spree Killer
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4ebd9efb	comment	Spree Killer: The titular Kevin is a budding sociopath, with a contempt for everyone else in existence and a twisted relationship with his mother. Prompted by the discovery his parents are planning to divorce and she'll lose custody of him, depriving him of his victory over her, Kevin kills his father and little sister. Then proceeds to his school, where he locks all the doors to the gymnasium and goes on a rampage killing nine classmates, a teacher and a cafeteria worker with his bow (choosing it to avoid any political discussions taking the focus off him) his timing specifically so that he can't be sentenced as an adult, and will avoid life in prison.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4ebd9efb	featureApplicability	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_4ebd9efb
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_505a1021	type	The Farmer and the Viper
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_505a1021	comment	The Farmer and the Viper: Really the theme of the whole film, but especially the fact that the one good moment between Eva and Kevin (a bedtime reading of The Adventures of Robin Hood) resulted in tragedy (Kevin taking up archery and massacring his family and school).
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_505a1021	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_505a1021	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_505a1021
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_516f986d	type	Loving a Shadow
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_516f986d	comment	Loving a Shadow: A non-romantic example, but it's implied this is the reason for Kevin's contempt towards Franklin, who was a Doting Parent towards him, but only a version of Kevin he thought existed. Franklin doggedly refused to blame Kevin or suspect him of anything, and as Kevin himself points out, Franklin loved a faÃ§ade Kevin was putting up, not Kevin's actual personality that he showed to Eva.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_516f986d	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_516f986d	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_516f986d
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5313c266	type	Bookends
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5313c266	comment	Book Ends: The film version's first shot/climax is of billowing curtains in a dark house with the click-click-click sound of a lawn sprinkler in the background. We hear the sprinkler throughout the film whenever something really bad is about to happen, so when we reach the final flashback when Eva returns home from the shooting scene and we see the same shot from the beginning of the film, with the sprinkler going nuts in the background, we know that whatever she finds on the patio behind the curtains isn't going to be pretty. It isn't.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5313c266	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5313c266	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5313c266
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_54e3f941	type	Hikikomori
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_54e3f941	comment	Eva's agoraphobically house-bound reclusive card-designing mother.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_54e3f941	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_54e3f941	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_54e3f941
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_56240281	type	Country Matters
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_56240281	comment	Country Matters: Used once by Kevin in the film.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_56240281	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_56240281	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_56240281
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_567e7c4d	type	Wounded Gazelle Gambit
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_567e7c4d	comment	Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Kevin pulls these over and over, especially noticeable when he accuses his teacher of molestation.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_567e7c4d	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_567e7c4d	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_567e7c4d
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_56b8b4f1	type	Lean and Mean
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_56b8b4f1	comment	Lean and Mean: Kevin is very tall and has a very slender build.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_56b8b4f1	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_56b8b4f1	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_56b8b4f1
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5bbaaea0	type	Troubled Toybreaker
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5bbaaea0	comment	Troubled Toybreaker: Kevin is a sociopathic kid who has an icy relationship with his mother, Eva. When she tells him that he might get a new brother or sister, he spends the entire conversation snapping his crayons in half. There's also an incident in the book (but not the film) where his classmate in kindergarten brings a porcelain tea set for show-and-tell and passes out teacups to have a tea party; Kevin smashes his teacup and gets everyone else to do the same.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5bbaaea0	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5bbaaea0	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5bbaaea0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5d4be8ab	type	Soulless Bedroom
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5d4be8ab	comment	Soulless Bedroom: Eva is unnerved by the unnaturally pristine state of Kevin's bedroom and how few personal items are in it, lacking posters, CDs, books or any of the typical trappings of a teenage boy's room; even his computer wallpaper is set to the default one. She thinks it looks like "an unoccupied unit at a Quality Inn" and almost wishes his room was covered in Playboy centerfolds and dirty clothes.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5d4be8ab	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5d4be8ab	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_5d4be8ab
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_603f1a80	type	Pragmatic Adaptation
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_603f1a80	comment	Pragmatic Adaptation: The movie leaves out Eva's writing letters to the dead Franklin, and a few other things are changed as well. Kevin's weapon of choice is changed from a crossbow to a longbow; and instead of sitting calmly waiting to be arrested, he strolls out of the gym with his hands up.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_603f1a80	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_603f1a80	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_603f1a80
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_63be4131	type	Pretty Boy
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_63be4131	comment	Pretty Boy: Kevin, both in Eva's description in the novel, and being portrayed by Ezra Miller in the film.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_63be4131	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_63be4131	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_63be4131
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_649f5bec	type	Creepy Souvenir
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_649f5bec	comment	Creepy Souvenir: Kevin hangs onto Celia's glass eye for two years after he murdered her. Eventually, he gives it back to Eva, as some sort of peace offering.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_649f5bec	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_649f5bec	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_649f5bec
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_657f77e4	type	Caught with Your Pants Down
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_657f77e4	comment	Caught with Your Pants Down: Implied to happen intentionally: Kevin does this with the bathroom door open. It's implied he's doing it just to mess with Eva, rather than having actual urges. It's even worse in the film version. When Eva walks in on him doing it in the bathroom, he locks eyes with her and just does it harder.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_657f77e4	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_657f77e4	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_657f77e4
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_658f7193	type	Lack of Empathy
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_658f7193	comment	Lack of Empathy: Kevin. Goes with being a sociopath. The ball scene shows that Kevin managed to perfect this as a child.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_658f7193	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_658f7193	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_658f7193
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6b05b601	type	Jerkass Has a Point
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6b05b601	comment	Jerkass Has a Point: Going along with Unreliable Narrator but more pronounced in the book as the subplot is completely left out â€“ it's never made clear if Kevin was molested by his drama teacher.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6b05b601	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6b05b601	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6b05b601
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6b2b3b59	type	The Reveal
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6b2b3b59	comment	The Reveal: Franklin is Dead All Along. Kevin killed him and Celia before he went to the school to kill his classmates and teacher.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6b2b3b59	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6b2b3b59	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6b2b3b59
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6bda9a30	type	Meaningful Name
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6bda9a30	comment	Meaningful Name: Celia, a kind, loving, and well-behaved little girl who is portrayed throughout the story as the complete opposite of Kevin, has a name meaning "heavenly". Also appropriate given that she is eventually murdered by Kevin.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6bda9a30	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6bda9a30	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6bda9a30
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6dc502d1	type	Big Brother Worship
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6dc502d1	comment	Big Brother Worship: Despite Kevin's overall indifference towards her, Celia adored Kevin. Eva noted her dismay that her daughter was scared of everything in the house, except the one thing she should have been.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6dc502d1	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6dc502d1	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_6dc502d1
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_713856	type	Feeling the Baby Kick
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_713856	comment	Feeling the Baby Kick: Referenced when Eva reflects on her first pregnancy. Aside from not particularly wanting to be a mother, she was particularly annoyed and upset by people who only wanted to talk about the unborn child, and wanted to feel him kick, which resulted in multiple people putting their hands on her belly without asking first. She understandably was very uncomfortable with this.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_713856	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_713856	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_713856
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_723be11b	type	Villain Has a Point
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_723be11b	comment	The one to his mother is especially harsh for two reasons: 1.) He delivers it at a moment when Eva thinks that she and Kevin are finally establishing a connection. Kevin asks her a question about her views on America and when she answers, Kevin proceeds to systematically tear both her answer and Eva apart (of course, the reader isn't sure if Kevin purposely set his mother up with the question or if he really was interested in her answer and responded accordingly). and 2.) As cringe-worthy as it is, Kevin isn't exactly wrong.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_723be11b	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_723be11b	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_723be11b
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7286e96d	type	Idiot Ball
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7286e96d	comment	Idiot Ball: From Eva's account, it looks as if Franklin acquires one and clutches it in an unrelenting death grip from the moment he finds out she's pregnant.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7286e96d	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7286e96d	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7286e96d
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_729c69f3	type	Politically Incorrect Villain
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_729c69f3	comment	Politically Incorrect Villain: Kevin's harsh language about women implies some levels of misogyny, although it's unknown if he was doing it just to get under Eva's skin. In the book, Kevin also makes several racist remarks and uses ethnic slurs, and it is mentioned that he got in trouble in school for writing a paper for Black History Month that went out of its way to use the words "sniggered," "niggardly," and "Nigeria" repeatedly.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_729c69f3	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_729c69f3	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_729c69f3
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7374ab13	type	Once More, with Clarity
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7374ab13	comment	Once More, with Clarity: In the film, there's a flash-forward scene that depicts Eva at the scene of the aftermath of the shooting and reacting with horror toâ€¦ something. This exact moment is revisited when it becomes the present, and we find out that Eva was horrified because she saw firemen sawing through a bike lock, which Kevin had purchased several of earlier.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7374ab13	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7374ab13	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7374ab13
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_77ed6b7d	type	Troubling Unchildlike Behavior
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_77ed6b7d	comment	Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Kevin displays this from birth. He displays absolutely no interest in anything (no, seriously, anything), leaving Eva with a dilemma: how do you discipline a child who does whatever he wants despite any threats and has nothing you can take away from him, with the husband on his side?
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_77ed6b7d	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_77ed6b7d	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_77ed6b7d
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7aa858c1	type	Consummate Liar
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7aa858c1	comment	Consummate Liar: As a six-year-old, Kevin covers up for Eva throwing him and breaking his arm by telling his father that he fell off the changing table and onto his Tonka dump truck. Despite herself, Eva is somewhat impressed by his ability to lie so smoothly and believably, and his ability to deduct that just saying he fell off the changing table would raise suspicions, since that wouldn't be enough to cause such an injury. And the truck was on the nursery floor at the time, too.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7aa858c1	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7aa858c1	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7aa858c1
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7c14d0f2	type	Rejected Apology
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7c14d0f2	comment	Rejected Apology: At the way back home from the doctor, Eva apologizes to her son for hurting him, but Kevin ignores Eva and turns away from her.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7c14d0f2	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7c14d0f2	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7c14d0f2
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7ce7d94d	type	Age-Inappropriate Dress
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7ce7d94d	comment	Age-Inappropriate Dress: Kevin deliberately wears all his clothes at least a size too small, and starts a unique fashion trend in the juvenile prison where baggy clothes are the norm. In Real Life, tightly-fitting clothes would be the norm amongst teens a decade after the story is set. The shirt-and-diaper combinations Kevin still wears at age six make him look like an overgrown three-year-old.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7ce7d94d	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7ce7d94d	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7ce7d94d
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7d89315b	type	"The Reason You Suck" Speech
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7d89315b	comment	"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Kevin does this a few times. To his mother (with a side of Hannibal Lecture), to his supposed best friend, to his father, and in the inevitable TV documentary to pretty much everyone except Eva. The one to his mother is especially harsh for two reasons: 1.) He delivers it at a moment when Eva thinks that she and Kevin are finally establishing a connection. Kevin asks her a question about her views on America and when she answers, Kevin proceeds to systematically tear both her answer and Eva apart (of course, the reader isn't sure if Kevin purposely set his mother up with the question or if he really was interested in her answer and responded accordingly). and 2.) As cringe-worthy as it is, Kevin isn't exactly wrong.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7d89315b	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7d89315b	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7d89315b
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7f7be47a	type	Where Did We Go Wrong?
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7f7be47a	comment	Where Did We Go Wrong?
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7f7be47a	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7f7be47a	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7f7be47a
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7fbb2a3	type	Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7fbb2a3	comment	Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Eva laments that Kevin was impossible to punish as a child because the consequences didn't matter to him â€“ he enjoyed getting under Eva's skin when she slapped him and he had nothing she could deprive him of. When Eva takes Kevin's squirt gun as a four-year-old and then displays joy over finally managing to upset him, Kevin learns from this and develops an uncanny ability to mask everything he feels or thinks, even from her.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7fbb2a3	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7fbb2a3	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7fbb2a3
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7febc23b	type	Establishing Character Moment
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7febc23b	comment	Establishing Character Moment: Kevin starts speaking late, but then in whole sentences, the very first of which is "I don' like dat".
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7febc23b	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7febc23b	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_7febc23b
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80627caa	type	Babysitter's Nightmare
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80627caa	comment	Babysitter's Nightmare: As a baby, Kevin drives his nanny away by pulling her hair, tearing up her silk scarf and throwing his toys and food all over the floor. The situation doesn't improve when he becomes a toddler; the other mothers fear him so much that they start making excuses to pull their children out of his after-preschool playgroup and eventually form a new, Kevin-less one without telling Eva.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80627caa	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80627caa	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80627caa
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80984829	type	Child Supplants Parent
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80984829	comment	Child Supplants Parent: Kevin couples an unnerving obsession with his mother with absolute contempt for his father, who is so oblivious to his son's antipathy that it skirts Unknown Rival territory. Kevin has a peculiar habit of making sure his mother knows (and hears, and as far as possible sees) when he's getting to grips with himself â€“ she feels like she's being sexually harassed by him. He's always had a special connection with Eva â€“ she's somewhat pleased that her son shows his true personality to her, but never to his father. And then Kevin actually kills his father (and sister) making it so that he ends up having Eva all to himself, with the ending strongly implying that Kevin will move back in with Eva once he's released.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80984829	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80984829	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80984829
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80eb641c	type	Straw Nihilist
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80eb641c	comment	Straw Nihilist: Kevin. "There is no point."
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80eb641c	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80eb641c	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_80eb641c
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_818fa473	type	The Dark Side Will Make You Forget
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_818fa473	comment	The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: Kevin in the end:
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_818fa473	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_818fa473	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_818fa473
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_82a64c4b	type	Adaptational Nice Guy
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_82a64c4b	comment	Adaptational Nice Guy: Eva is still not the peachiest person in the movie, but because the movie changes from an epistolary narrative to a standard one, we don't get to learn of Eva's more prickly, pre-massacre side â€“ like how her apprehension about having children was mostly about how dull and trite she finds them, or how cruelly she talks about most people in private. We don't see highlights from Mary Woolford's lawsuit and the court case in which Eva is intentionally combative. Although the movie does still show Eva's lack of maternal instincts, she is much more of a shell-shocked victim in the movie than in the book. It's minor but Kevin's racist remarks and attitude are not included in the film.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_82a64c4b	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_82a64c4b	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_82a64c4b
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_83a903f6	type	Stepford Smiler
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_83a903f6	comment	Stepford Smiler: Eva herself admits that she behaved this way around Kevin as a young child and notes that despite telling him she loved him, asking him how school was and playing with him, Kevin knew full well that she didn't mean any of it.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_83a903f6	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_83a903f6	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_83a903f6
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_856a425a	type	TheFifties
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_856a425a	comment	Most of the songs in the film are perky pop or western songs from The '50s or '60s. In a rather surreal example, the songs seem to fit their respective scenes quite well despite being happy songs in a fully bleak film.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_856a425a	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_856a425a	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_856a425a
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_8af7b342	type	Sibling Yin-Yang
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_8af7b342	comment	Sibling Yin-Yang: Kevin and Celia. Celia is sweet-natured, genuinely nice and beloved by her mother who she loves in turn. Kevin is...well, Kevin.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_8af7b342	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_8af7b342	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_8af7b342
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_8cb1a369	type	Took a Level in Jerkass
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_8cb1a369	comment	Took a Level in Jerkass: Colin from the film. Good lord, what an asshole.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_8cb1a369	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_8cb1a369	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_8cb1a369
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9013aef6	type	Mask of Sanity
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9013aef6	comment	Just before the events of Thursday, Kevin's Mask of Sanity finally cracks and he unleashes a rant at Franklin that he's clearly been dying to say for a long time, before quickly pretending nothing happened and leaving.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9013aef6	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9013aef6	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9013aef6
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_916c72b3	type	Rule of Symbolism
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_916c72b3	comment	Rule of Symbolism: After Celia loses her eye, Kevin makes a show out of deliberately peeling and eating a lychee fruit, which is eyeball-like in appearance. And then there's the film's frequent focus on various red liquid, made all the more disturbing by the fact that actual human blood is only shown a couple times.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_916c72b3	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_916c72b3	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_916c72b3
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_957e5fc2	type	Villainous Breakdown
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_957e5fc2	comment	Villainous Breakdown: Kevin gets a few of these, including a memorable one just before the school shoot-up. It's hinted at the end that two years after the event, Kevin's smarter-than-thou attitude has almost been crushed by the juvenile prison system, showing him with notable scars and wounds. The prospect of going to an adult penitentiary has him visibly terrified.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_957e5fc2	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_957e5fc2	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_957e5fc2
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_95c2a9dd	type	Outliving One's Offspring
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_95c2a9dd	comment	Outliving One's Offspring: Eva's daughter Celia is killed by her older brother, Kevin.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_95c2a9dd	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_95c2a9dd	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_95c2a9dd
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_96a33f11	type	Riddle for the Ages
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_96a33f11	comment	Riddle for the Ages: In the end, no one will ever be able to figure out Kevin's exact reason for committing the massacre. Not even Kevin himself is sure.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_96a33f11	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_96a33f11	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_96a33f11
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_984ef9ef	type	"Not So Different" Remark
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_984ef9ef	comment	"Not So Different" Remark: Both Kevin and Eva invoke this towards each other, but hardly ever at the same time or with agreement from the target.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_984ef9ef	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_984ef9ef	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_984ef9ef
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_985e118a	type	Odd Couple
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_985e118a	comment	Odd Couple: Eva and Franklin. This is brutally deconstructed as it's because they are so fundamentally different that they cannot agree over their own opinions of Kevin â€“ Franklin even wanted to divorce Eva before Thursday, which is ironically a big factor in what pushed Kevin into doing it.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_985e118a	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_985e118a	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_985e118a
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9c5e78d0	type	Kill the Cutie
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9c5e78d0	comment	Kill the Cutie: Kevin murders Celia before the school massacre.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9c5e78d0	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9c5e78d0	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9c5e78d0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9d12bbc1	type	Foreshadowing
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9d12bbc1	comment	Foreshadowing: Kevin's sudden interest and affection when Eva reads him Robin Hood as a kid. According to the screenplay, the neon light in the sex scene flashes like a warning light.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9d12bbc1	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9d12bbc1	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9d12bbc1
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9fe35833	type	Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9fe35833	comment	Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Kevin claims this to the case. The nearest he actually comes to expressing it explicitly, though, is the heartwarming "Left you alive, didn't I?" Of course, it can be argued that it is merely Sympathy for the Hero that spared her. Also, with her son's notoriety as a murderer, her husband and daughter dead, and herself a social pariah, Eva's life could be seen as a Fate Worse than Death. Eva herself seems to think so in the film, when door-to-door missionaries ask her some "quick questions":
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9fe35833	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9fe35833	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_9fe35833
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a1a46946	type	Early Personality Signs
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a1a46946	comment	Early Personality Signs: Even as a tiny baby, Kevin would always refuse to breastfeed from his mother and wouldn't even take her milk in a bottle. He also pulled his nanny's hair, tore her scarf into bits, and regularly threw all his toys out of his playpen and his food on the floor.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a1a46946	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a1a46946	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a1a46946
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a1b141f4	type	My God, What Have I Done?
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a1b141f4	comment	My God, What Have I Done?: Kevin, in the end.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a1b141f4	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a1b141f4	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a1b141f4
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a2b38d3b	type	Eye Scream
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a2b38d3b	comment	Eye Scream: What happens to Celia, with bleach.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a2b38d3b	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a2b38d3b	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a2b38d3b
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a54534a0	type	Parental Neglect
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a54534a0	comment	Parental Neglect: As time goes on, Eva avoids her child and his odd ways. But Franklin either deliberately goes out of his way to only see to see the good in Kevin or just plain avoids his side of the parenting.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a54534a0	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a54534a0	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a54534a0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a6123b72	type	Enfant Terrible
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a6123b72	comment	Enfant Terrible: Kevin when he was a toddler. He did not phase out this behavior as he grew up and actually became much worse as time went on.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a6123b72	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a6123b72	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a6123b72
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a7aef9ff	type	Obfuscating Stupidity
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a7aef9ff	comment	Obfuscating Stupidity: Eva's explanation for Kevin's delay in starting to speak, get housetrained, and interact with other kids, as well as his consistent academic underachievement (the latter suspicion is shared by his English teacher who ends up becoming one of Kevin's victims).
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a7aef9ff	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a7aef9ff	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a8559a9f	type	RealLife
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a8559a9f	comment	Kevin deliberately wears all his clothes at least a size too small, and starts a unique fashion trend in the juvenile prison where baggy clothes are the norm. In Real Life, tightly-fitting clothes would be the norm amongst teens a decade after the story is set.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a8559a9f	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a8559a9f	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a8559a9f
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a861560f	type	The Friend Nobody Likes
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a861560f	comment	The Friend Nobody Likes: While Kevin has at least a solid reputation at school, his best friend, Lenny, qualifies as this. It doesn't surprise Eva that Kevin doesn't like him at all.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a861560f	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a861560f	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a8660c25	type	Soft-Spoken Sadist
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a8660c25	comment	Soft-Spoken Sadist: In the movie, Kevin normally speaks in a calm tone of voice but that doesnâ€™t stray away from the fact of what kind of person he is.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a8660c25	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a8660c25	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_a8660c25
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_abad35b4	type	Soundtrack Dissonance
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_abad35b4	comment	Soundtrack Dissonance: Most of the songs in the film are perky pop or western songs from The '50s or '60s. In a rather surreal example, the songs seem to fit their respective scenes quite well despite being happy songs in a fully bleak film. The outstanding example is Buddy Holly's cheery "Everyday" being played as Eva begins to have a nervous breakdown in her car driving home on Halloween night. As one reviewer put it, "If I hear Buddy Holly's 'Everyday' any time on Halloween day after this film, I may have a complex".
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_abad35b4	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_abad35b4	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_abad35b4
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_adfd3165	type	For the Evulz
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_adfd3165	comment	He can't seem to find genuine enjoyment in anything and always hated the word "favorite," even as a child. Even when he hurts people For the Evulz, that only brings him momentary gratification (if even that). He chose the victims of his massacre because they all had something in their lives they were passionate about, which could be extrapolated as him being jealous that they found meaning in their lives while he couldn't.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_adfd3165	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_adfd3165	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b04fdcc4	type	Loners Are Freaks
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b04fdcc4	comment	Loners Are Freaks: Eva's agoraphobically house-bound reclusive card-designing mother. Kevin himself largely avoids social interaction with anyone where possible, and has exactly one known friend, whom he actively despises.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b04fdcc4	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b04fdcc4	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b04fdcc4
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b11ac9f5	type	Abusive Parents
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b11ac9f5	comment	Abusive Parents: Eva's frustration with Kevin's refusal to use the toilet despite already being six years old eventually leads her to throw him, breaking his arm. It's clearly stated that this causes him to gain a small amount of respect for her, and she becomes the only one who is allowed to see his 'true' nature. In The Movie, however, this is implied to be a major step on Kevin's Start of Darkness.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b11ac9f5	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b11ac9f5	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b11ac9f5
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b2f4114e	type	Heir Club for Men
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b2f4114e	comment	Heir Club for Men: Franklin has shades of this, clearly preferring his "big strong boy" Kevin to Celia and frequently showing distaste at his daughter's feminine hobbies, though Eva is quick to add that despite that he still loves Celia very much.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b2f4114e	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b2f4114e	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b2f4114e
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b39d5719	type	Sadist
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b39d5719	comment	Sadist: Kevin is repeatedly shown to be one, taking immense pleasure in the pain he has inflicted on Eva and others. Eva has a subtle moment of this when she confiscates Kevin's toy gun, visibly frustrating him, and she smugly tells him she took it off him because he was being a jerk and holds the gun just out of his reach the entire car ride to their new house, commenting in her internal monologue this is one of the first times since Kevin's birth she's enjoyed parenting - when she manages to upset her child. Kevin pays her back for this by destroying her study.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b39d5719	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b39d5719	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b4fce1ab	type	Obfuscating Insanity
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b4fce1ab	comment	Obfuscating Insanity: Kevin gets a very light sentence due to his apparent use of anti-depressants that drove him psychotic.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b4fce1ab	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b4fce1ab	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b5049d76	type	Added Alliterative Appeal
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b5049d76	comment	Added Alliterative Appeal: Kevin's "tabloid name" is K.K.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b5049d76	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b5049d76	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b869b5b1	type	Color Motif
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b869b5b1	comment	Color Motif: The color red that recurs throughout the film (the tomato rain, the neon light in the sex scene, baby Kevin's ball, the digits in the alarm clock, paint on Eva's apartment) symbolizes blood and the killings Kevin does.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b869b5b1	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b869b5b1	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_b869b5b1
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ba236071	type	It Makes Sense in Context
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ba236071	comment	Eva picking bits of eggshell out of her teeth when trying to enjoy a dinner made from broken eggs.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ba236071	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ba236071	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ba236071
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bc74ef27	type	Berserk Button
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bc74ef27	comment	Berserk Button: Eva notes that as a child, Kevin detested the word 'favorite'.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bc74ef27	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bc74ef27	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bc74ef27
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bdc453a0	type	Incest Subtext
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bdc453a0	comment	Incest Subtext: It's there in the movie, and uncomfortably blatant in the novel. Kevin is rather worryingly obsessed with Eva, only showing his true nature to her, harassing her, and even masturbating in front of her. For bonus points, he also despises his father, and seems to resent Celia because Eva likes her better. She's also the only member of the family he leaves alive. Eva, for her part, isn't into her son (probably), but does compare their relationship to a toxic marriage or sexual relationship a number of times.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bdc453a0	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bdc453a0	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bdc453a0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bec0417c	type	Happily Married
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bec0417c	comment	Happily Married: Franklin and Eva were this. Then after Eva became pregnant, everything went sideways. After Kevin's birth, it gets worse. Much worse. Shortly before he died, Franklin demanded a divorce, but it's clear throughout the book that Eva still loves him.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bec0417c	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bec0417c	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bef696dd	type	Mind Screw
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bef696dd	comment	Mind Screw: The end of the book.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bef696dd	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bef696dd	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_bef696dd
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c335b9ec	type	Irony
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c335b9ec	comment	Irony: In the movie, the only person who understands that Eva is suffering and does not deserve all the acrimony from town is one of Kevin's surviving victims. Despite preferring Kevin over her, Franklin does end up with Celia because they both die together.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c335b9ec	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c335b9ec	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c335b9ec
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c413cc5f	type	Jacob and Esau
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c413cc5f	comment	Jacob and Esau: The screenplay makes it obvious that Kevin is Franklin's favorite child, and Celia is Eva's.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c413cc5f	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c413cc5f	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c4976d7c	type	Vehicular Sabotage
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c4976d7c	comment	Vehicular Sabotage: Kevin messes with a kid's bike so he loses control while riding it and injures himself.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c4976d7c	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c4976d7c	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c4976d7c
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c5249b29	type	Nice Guy
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c5249b29	comment	Nice Guy: Kind of played with for Franklin, since this doesn't work out well for him or anyone else involved and he can be a real dick towards Eva on the subject of Kevin.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c5249b29	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c5249b29	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c868a42a	type	Freudian Excuse
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c868a42a	comment	Freudian Excuse: However awful a person Kevin is, there are hints here and there that he doesn't enjoy being a sociopathic Straw Nihilist and is lashing out partially because his disorder makes him unable to enjoy life or connect with people on a normal level. He can't seem to find genuine enjoyment in anything and always hated the word "favorite," even as a child. Even when he hurts people For the Evulz, that only brings him momentary gratification (if even that). He chose the victims of his massacre because they all had something in their lives they were passionate about, which could be extrapolated as him being jealous that they found meaning in their lives while he couldn't. Kevin would sneer at the idea but it's heavily implied that he genuinely wanted Franklin's love and affection, and knowing the only way he could get it was by adopting a completely different personality, all the while knowing that Franklin would never be able to love the real him, hurt him more than he would like to admit and led to Franklin's adoration and refusal to see how Kevin truly was just making him feel worse. Lastly, while Kevin was far from the easiest child to raise, Eva never wanted to be a mother and greatly resented being basically forced into it by Franklin who never noticed her unhappiness. This led to her being being distant and antagonistic towards Kevin from the start which he could sense, leading to a lot of his hatred of her as a child and in the present and leading him to let her be the only one to see how he truly is.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c868a42a	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c868a42a	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_c868a42a
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cc39902e	type	Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cc39902e	comment	Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Kevin is described as very attractive and he's played by Ezra Miller in the film, which sharply contrasts the monster lurking underneath.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cc39902e	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cc39902e	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cc39902e
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cdfe12c3	type	Nothing Is Scarier
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cdfe12c3	comment	Nothing Is Scarier: Whatever Kevin said to that girl at the Homecoming dance, which remains unanswered but completely broke her in what seems to be minutes. Also invoked in Kevin's admitted lack of motivation for the shooting, although it seems equally inexplicable to him.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cdfe12c3	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cdfe12c3	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cdfe12c3
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cf92fea8	type	Cassandra Truth
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cf92fea8	comment	Cassandra Truth: Franklin simply refuses to believe that there is something wrong with his son, to a point where it almost grows demented. Kevin is simply putting up a paper-thin guise as a happy boy to his dad to hurt Eva, and resents his dad for failing to see the truth when he was throwing up such a painfully transparent disguise.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cf92fea8	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cf92fea8	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_cf92fea8
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d1ceb951	type	Holier Than Thou
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d1ceb951	comment	Eva herself isn't exempt from being rude and unpleasant, especially her Holier Than Thou attitude, which Kevin of all people calls her out on.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d1ceb951	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d1ceb951	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d1ceb951
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d2102da0	type	Bad People Abuse Animals
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d2102da0	comment	Bad People Abuse Animals: It's heavily implied that Kevin killed Celia's pet guinea pig. Eva also begged Franklin not to buy Kevin a dog when he was a child, with this reason being implied to be her secret fear.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d2102da0	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d2102da0	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d2102da0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d29e9f65	type	Nature Versus Nurture
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d29e9f65	comment	Nature Versus Nurture: The book and film is based around the nature/nurture debate â€“ did Kevin grow into a murderer because mummy didn't love him enough, or was he a psychopath from the word "go"? It is ultimately left to the reader's imagination to decide how Kevin became the person he was. There is evidence to support both cases, but Kevin's indifference (and even admiration) toward Eva's neglect strongly suggests it's the latter, but there's hints to the former as well. Lionel Shriver herself claims that the ambiguity is deliberate:
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d29e9f65	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d29e9f65	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d93c5989	type	Stepford Suburbia
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d93c5989	comment	Stepford Suburbia: How Eva views the neighborhood Franklin relocates the family to â€“ without asking her â€“ in order to give his little boy what he considers a wholesome childhood environment.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d93c5989	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d93c5989	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d93c5989
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d9764d48	type	Dangerous 16th Birthday
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d9764d48	comment	Dangerous 16th Birthday: Eva suspects Kevin of having timed the shooting before this. A court could and did try him as an adult; but because he was under 16, they could only sentence him as a juvenile. He gets seven years.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d9764d48	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d9764d48	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_d9764d48
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_da9131af	type	The Baby Trap
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_da9131af	comment	The Baby Trap: Played with, as Eva is already married and has a child, but when she tells Franklin she wants another, Franklin points out she resents and picks on Kevin and refuses to discuss the matter. Eva decides to have another baby anyway and Franklin doesn't take it well. The film has them not even discuss it, she just springs it on him after she's already pregnant.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_da9131af	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_da9131af	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_dc1761bd	type	A God Am I
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_dc1761bd	comment	A God Am I: Kevin shows shades of this, although it's not specifically stated. After the massacre, Kevin bows to the empty gym and outstretches his arms◊ to the point where it begins looking like a Crucified Hero Shot.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_dc1761bd	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_dc1761bd	featureConfidence	1.0
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_dea5fe1	type	Kubrick Stare
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_dea5fe1	comment	Kubrick Stare: Kevin delivers several genuinely chilling ones, as demonstrated in the poster above.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_dea5fe1	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_dea5fe1	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_dea5fe1
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e16cd2c8	type	Grief-Induced Split
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e16cd2c8	comment	Grief-Induced Split: In the novel, Eva addresses her letters as if she were writing them to her ex-husband Franklin, who'd left her and taken custody of their daughter Cecilia after their son Kevin murdered multiple classmates in a school massacre. However, the true situation is far different. In reality, Kevin Cecilia and Franklin were the first and second deaths in his murder spree.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e16cd2c8	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e16cd2c8	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e16cd2c8
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e1fa333c	type	Hannibal Lecture
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e1fa333c	comment	Kevin does this a few times. To his mother (with a side of Hannibal Lecture), to his supposed best friend, to his father, and in the inevitable TV documentary to pretty much everyone except Eva.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e1fa333c	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e1fa333c	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e1fa333c
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e543a655	type	Light Is Not Good
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e543a655	comment	Light Is Not Good: Kevin wears a white shirt on the day of the massacre.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e543a655	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e543a655	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e543a655
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e5e5d228	type	Abusive Offspring
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e5e5d228	comment	Abusive Offspring: How much of it is in her head is left (somewhat) ambiguous, but before he kills her husband â€“ his father â€“ and her youngest daughter/his sister, Kevin is abusive to his mother Eva, such as bullying her, undermining her in front of Franklin (although this might simply be because Franklin favors Kevin and is disgusted by Eva's attitude towards him), and masturbates in front of her with the door open.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e5e5d228	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e5e5d228	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e5e5d228
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e83f211c	type	O.O.C. Is Serious Business
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e83f211c	comment	During a two-week period where Kevin is sick as a ten-year-old, he's actually nice to Eva and Celia. It doesn't last, unfortunately, but for Kevin it's significant. His disdain for Franklin remains, tellingly.
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e83f211c	featureApplicability	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e83f211c	featureConfidence	1.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin	hasFeature	We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e83f211c
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e8ca5cb3	type	Freudian Slip
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e8ca5cb3	comment	Freudian Slip: When Celia is distraught over being unable to find her pet mouse and refuses to go to bed, Eva comments in her internal monologue, "It was unlike her to be such a brat" â€“ indicating how intolerant Eva is with a child who shows her any difficulty, even if it's her precious, well-behaved daughter.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e9fb38	type	The Talk
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_e9fb38	comment	The Talk: Eva tries to give a young Kevin one, but given the kind of person Kevin is, he catches on very quickly, and even refers to it as "fucking".
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_eb8ec7c8	type	Jerkass
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_eb8ec7c8	comment	Jerkass: In addition to his acts of murder and cruelty, Kevin is generally rude and unpleasant, particularly to Eva. Eva herself isn't exempt from being rude and unpleasant, especially her Holier Than Thou attitude, which Kevin of all people calls her out on.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_eba6a077	type	Cain and Abel
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_eba6a077	comment	Cain and Abel: Kevin is the Cain to Celia's Abel, although Celia is in no way aware that her brother hates her due to his two-faced manipulative Bitch in Sheep's Clothing demeanor that only Eva seems to acknowledge. There are strong implications that Kevin is secretly jealous of all the love and attention that Eva is giving to Celia, which may likely be the reason he ends up killing her and their father.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ebcbf841	type	Offing the Annoyance
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ebcbf841	comment	Offing the Annoyance: Kevin goes to all the trouble of using a bow and arrow instead of a gun to commit his school massacre. He doesn't want to make a statement about gun rights, bullying, society or anything like that (and he doesn't want people to interpret his actions as such, either). He wants to make certain everyone knows he killed all these kids because they annoyed him.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ee9877ea	type	Too Good for This Sinful Earth
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ee9877ea	comment	Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Celia. This is also how Laura Woolford's mother tries to portray her daughter when courting press attention after the massacre.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_f1919d5b	type	Being Evil Sucks
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_f1919d5b	comment	Being Evil Sucks: Even though Kevin makes everyone else's lives worse, it doesn't make him any happier. He sees everything as boring, lame and/or pointless, so he can't find enjoyment in anything and hates people who can. He antagonizes and torments his mother starting from childhood, which is the main factor in their rocky relationship. He kills his sister, his father, and a bunch of other students for reasons only known to him, and after the momentary satisfaction (or whatever enjoyment he got from it) wears off, he goes to juvenile prison where the other prisoners aren't intimidated by him the way everyone else was at home and he's faced with the prospect of a much worse time in the adult system. In the end, he's lost everything and has only a mother who he despises but can't live without to care for him.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_f360fc33	type	Dumbass Has a Point
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_f360fc33	comment	Dumbass Has a Point: Despite Franklin's constant siding with Kevin over any evidence, when Eva tells him she wants another child he isn't wrong when he points out that she's an incredibly cold mother towards Kevin and interprets everything he does to be motivated out of spite towards her. Eva notably has no rebuttal to this and has to resort to getting pregnant in secret.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_f3d5d15f	type	Creepy Child
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_f3d5d15f	comment	Creepy Child: The African mask makes him look even creepier.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_f688816f	type	Priceless Ming Vase
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_f688816f	comment	Priceless Ming Vase: When Kevin was in kindergarten, one of his classmates, nicknamed "Muffet," brought an heirloom tea set for show-and-tell and gave everyone a teacup. When Kevin dropped his cup on the floor, everyone else did too, and then they smashed the saucers and spoons before the teacher could do anything. By the time Muffet's mother picked up her sobbing daughter, the only thing left intact was the teapot.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_fa3d111f	type	Maternally Challenged
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_fa3d111f	comment	Maternally Challenged: Eva outright admits she disliked Kevin from birth. She does a better job with Celia. For all the good it does either of them.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_fdfd52d9	type	Gross-Up Close-Up
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_fdfd52d9	comment	Gross-Up Close-Up: Used occasionally in the film to very offsetting effect. Kevin biting his nails and putting them down in a line. Eva picking bits of eggshell out of her teeth when trying to enjoy a dinner made from broken eggs.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_fe64d5a1	type	Evil Is Petty
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_fe64d5a1	comment	Evil Is Petty: In the novel, Kevin gives a geeky girl at his prom a Hannibal Lecture while she's dancing â€“ we don't know what it is he says to her, but her reaction implies it was bad. Kevin vandalises Eva's study, very shortly after she's finished decorating it, purely because he thinks the maps look "dumb". Kevin goes through all the trouble of mastering how to use a bow and arrow to perform his massacre (on top of other details of planning) because he wants to make absolutely sure that people understand that the only reason he killed all of those other kids was because they annoyed him.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_fe938414	type	Sympathy for the Hero
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_fe938414	comment	Of course, it can be argued that it is merely Sympathy for the Hero that spared her. Also, with her son's notoriety as a murderer, her husband and daughter dead, and herself a social pariah, Eva's life could be seen as a Fate Worse than Death. Eva herself seems to think so in the film, when door-to-door missionaries ask her some "quick questions":
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ff580858	type	Show-and-Tell Antics
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ff580858	comment	Show-and-Tell Antics: Played for Drama â€“ one of the earliest signs of Kevin's cruelty involves his classmate "Muffet's" show-and-tell in kindergarten. She brings an heirloom tea set and passes out teacups so the class can have a tea party. When Kevin drops his teacup on the floor and it smashes into bits, all the other children do too, and then they smash the saucers and spoons before the teacher can do anything. By the time Muffet's mother picks up her sobbing daughter, the only thing left intact is the teapot.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ff7e9adf	type	Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ff7e9adf	comment	Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Celia, taking after Franklin in looks.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ff7f34c5	type	Pet the Dog
We Need to Talk About Kevin / int_ff7f34c5	comment	Pet the Dog: During a two-week period where Kevin is sick as a ten-year-old, he's actually nice to Eva and Celia. It doesn't last, unfortunately, but for Kevin it's significant. His disdain for Franklin remains, tellingly. In the book, Eva brings a disk she finds in Kevin's room to work with herâ€¦ and it turns out to be a virus that wipes out her entire office's system. Oops. Despite her dislike for Kevin and willingness to believe the worst in him, Eva admits this one is on her, and gives the disk back to Kevin, telling him what happened. Kevin responds by commenting that if Eva ever gets pissed off at someone, he could wipe out their computer for her.
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