Emma Thompson is convinced Matilda’s lesbian icon Miss Trunchbull would be on Grindr
Emma Thompson is convinced Miss Trunchbull would be on Grindr (Getty/Netflix)
Emma Thompson thinks her Matilda The Musical character, lesbian icon Agatha Trunchbull, would be looking for casual sex on Grindr.
She’s probably not wrong, to be honest.
During an interview with Bauer Media while promoting her new rom-com, What’s Love Got to Do with It?, the 63-year-old Oscar-winner was asked which of her most iconic characters would most likely be found on dating apps.
Without hesitation, Thompson replied: “Obviously Trunchbull – she’d be on Grindr.”
She also suggested that Trunchbull’s bio would read: “I mean it. Don’t try anything.”
Thinking about the way the character works that riding crop, we think it’s likely to be something a little more explicit.
The only thing Trunchbull certainly wouldn’t be looking for on a dating app? Marriage.
The interviewer then suggests that there should be a whole film dedicated to Miss Trunchbull using Grindr. Honestly, the box office wouldn’t be able to cope.
Thompson pointed out that she’d also like to see Nanny McPhee, Professor Trelawny, from the Harry Potter films, and Baroness Von Hellman, her antagonist character in Cruella, on the apps.
This is really starting to sound like a perfect Saturday Night Live sketch.
Speaking about her own minimal experience of dating apps, Thompson, who is married to her Sense and Sensibility co-star Greg Wise, said: “When I look at it, and when I go look at friends who do it, I think: ‘Is this not just a way of saying: are you willing to have casual sex with me or not?’”
Miss Trunchbull as a lesbian icon
Miss Trunchbull’s sexuality or relationships were never mentioned in the film or in Roald Dahl’s book, first published in 1988, but she has long since been claimed by the LGBTQ+ community as a butch lesbian idol.
Sorry, Miss Honey, you’re not the only queer-coded Matilda character.
Reacting to Thompson’s Grindr comment, one person said: “On a side note, Miss Trunchbull’s closet is glass, let’s be for real.”
On TikTok, too, videos under the search term “Miss Trunchbull lesbian” have a combined total of more than 66 million views, with queer women admitting that Trunchbull was their lesbian awakening.
“She was a bad person but she was still hot,” wrote one video creator.
Other comments include: “I could fix her,” and “Wearing plaits so she’ll pull my hair,” and even “Funny feeling in my tummy when I read about the chokey.”
Explaining exactly why the villainous headmistress has been claimed by the queers, journalist Louis Staples wrote in a 2018 New Statesman article: “Trunchbull is coded as a lesbian, from her British accent – long used in cultural production to suggest queerness and duplicity – to her masculine appearance and sporting prowess.”
