# Bad Teacher. WTF was with the "dry hump"????

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-teacher-wtf-was-with-the-dry-hump/601159>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 29, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-teacher-wtf-was-with-the-dry-hump/601159 "2011-10-29T05:34:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-teacher-wtf-was-with-the-dry-hump/601159/21 "2011-10-30T15:51:12Z")

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> [@Inner\_Stickler](#):
>
> Raise your hands everyone who thought this movie was going to tackle arty things like character development.

I was unaware that being comedic prohibited basic story structure.

> [@](#):
>
> Yes, this is called a joke; they are popular in comedies.

So where’s the setup and punchline? A humorous situation is not a joke in and of itself.

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**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-teacher-wtf-was-with-the-dry-hump/601159/22 "2011-10-30T16:47:04Z")

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Really? Bad teacher was a movie about an asshole gold digger scheming and plotting. She never learned a lesson and she never grew as a character or filled out in depth and if she had, you’d all be sitting here complaining about the tacked on saccharine ending.

Setup: Diaz moves to new job that better suits her talents.  
Payoff: Job is guidance counselor, a career that usually requires a lot more empathy and caring than her character ever demonstrated. If you missed that, I’m surprised. It’s a rather wellworn trope. See Southpark or Easy A for other examples of it.

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**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-teacher-wtf-was-with-the-dry-hump/601159/23 "2011-10-30T17:08:42Z")

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I thought Cameron Diaz’s character in _Bad Teacher_ showed a _little_ development. She was a gold digger for most of the movie, but I think that changed by the end. Otherwise, why would she have stayed with Jason Segel’s character? I think she learned that she’d be happiest with someone who’s something of a kindred spirit than with someone she couldn’t stand who had money. Granted, that’s kind of an _obvious_ lesson, but I think she learned it. That doesn’t mean she’s changed much. She’s still basically the same person she was at the beginning of the movie, just a little less selfish.

And as far as her qualifications for the counseling position go, I think her conversation with the boy toward the end of the movie was spot on. It’s not the kind of thing you’d hear from a “real” guidance counselor, I’m sure, but I remember thinking at the time, “Yeah, he probably _will_ have to wait till college for a chance for things to be different.”

She probably shouldn’t have given him her bra, though.

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