Intellectual disabilities can be an incredible challenge for a family to understand, and an even greater challenge for a family to overcome. There have been many books, movies, and television series that have addressed the issues of individuals with intellectual disabilities and how these disabilities are viewed and treated by people both within and from outside the family. One particular movie that illustrates the challenges surrounding an individual with an intellectual disability is the 1994 movie What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, starring Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio.
In the film, Johnny Depp plays the titular Gilbert Grape, a young man dealing with the personal crisis concerning his own personal wants and desires clashing with his close-held
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These are simple activities, in which he finds enjoyment and that could also lead to harm in some instances. The introduction of the characters are in observance of such a behavior: Arnie and Gilbert are sitting beside the road awaiting the arrival of a caravan of trailers that drive by annually. Another is when Arnie can also be seen talking to himself and counting. The numbers are only slightly in chronological order. There is also a need or want from Arnie to constantly climb the town’s water tower. Through dialogue between Gilbert and the town sheriff, it could be surmised that this behavior occurs fairly …show more content…
In this aspect, Arnie needs supervision and assistance when it comes to simple bathing routines. This is shown when Gilbert decides to rush through their bathing routine so he can meet up with Becky; Gilbert tells Arnie that he is a big boy and should be able to bathe himself. It isn’t revealed until the next day that this relatively simple task is too much for Arnie to handle, when Gilbert discovers that Arnie had not bathed himself but rather sat in the tub all night. Small changes in their routine causes Arnie extreme duress, in this case bringing a phobia of water that is not overcome until later in the
Arnie Grape was referred to this agency by Sheriff Jerry Farrell of the Endora Police Department. He was concerned about Arnie's continued lack of supervision. Sheriff Farrell stated that
The book, Of Mice and Men, and the movie, What's Eating Gilbert Grape are very similar in many ways. Despite the fact that they are very different stories, Of Mice and Men and What's Eating Gilbert Grape can be seen as parallel when analyzing the characters of George and Gilbert, Arnie and Lennie, and other similarities the stories share.
The film I selected to observe that displays a disability in the media is Pumpkin. The film Pumpkin is based on a young college girl name Carolyn that volunteers in yearly Challenged Games. In the Challenged Games Carolyn is partner up with a boy name Jesse that goes by the nickname Pumpkin, which has an intellectual disability and is handicapped. Despites everyone disapproval and differences in the film both Carolyn and Pumpkin end up falling in love in the film. The character in the film is portrayed as a young boy that is not “normal” enough to be around all the other students or even to have friends or a girlfriend. He is rather seen as an individual that has a disability that makes him different from everyone else and because of that disability
“What's Eating Gilbert Grape” Dir. Lasse Hallstrom and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck are two very similar pieces of storytelling about caring for the misfortunate. In Of Mice and Men George cares for his mentally challenged friend Lennie, and in, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Gilbert takes care of his mentally disabled brother Arnie. Both George and Gilbert care more for the well being and defence of their loved one, than they do for their own well being in most cases. In the end of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Gilbert’s mother dies; in a dramatic and tangible gesture to rid himself of his past, Gilbert burns their house down. In a symbolic similarity, at the end of Of Mice and Men George kills Lennie - in an effort to release him of
A few years ago, my sister introduced me to the film ‘Benny and Joon,’ a story about a woman in her twenties with a disability that is more or less undefined throughout the film. She lives with her brother who works full-time but hires several “housekeepers” that he has watch over her at home. She comes off quite content, mainly painting all day and going about her everyday routines. At first, she may just come off as a “stereotypical temperamental artist”(Tibbets) but her painting at a rapid rate, extreme pickiness of food (eating mainly captain crunch and peanut butter smoothies), unique mannerisms, and outbursts suggest that she may be on the spectrum. There are scenes where she puts on a scuba mask and attempts to direct traffic in the middle of the street with a Ping-Pong paddle; an episode that the article ‘The Patronizing “adorable” side of Schizophrenia in Benny and Joon’ addressed could be an indication of schizophrenia or bipolar disorders. The most recent “housekeeper” quits after one of Joon’s “outbursts.” After reading critiques by people with disabilities themselves and other sources, I have begun seeing this movie a new light, introducing a sadly patronizing and demeaning representation of disability and her family/societies inappropriate response to her condition.
In Lasse Hallström’s film, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, the struggles of living with a mental illness is displayed through Arnie Grape, the protagonist’s younger brother. Grape’s disability is never discussed in the movie, as the movie focuses on Gilbert Grape, the principal character, and his struggles with life and family responsibilities. With the use of various resources, such as a psychology textbook (Lilienfeld 2014), credible health associations’ websites, and The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DMS-5), one is capable of analyzing the nature of Arnie’s disorder and make a valid assumption that he is dealing with a mental illness: autism. Autism is a spectrum disorder characterized by “various degrees in difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors” ("Learning About Autism," n.d.). It becomes clear, through Arnie Grape’s social and cognitive impairment, that he has Autism, despite the fact that the film does not clearly state that he has a mental illness.
"”(Griffiths) Kutcher explains how growing up with someone with cerebral palsy showed him how everyone is created equal. This is important because Kutcher has the power to show everyone to treat people with disabilities the same as they would treat people without
His oldest sister, Amy, is a very caring woman that tries to take on many responsibilities herself and the youngest sister Ellen, who is only fifteen, has many issues with her family that she is trying to overcome, as well. Becky, a young girl that traveled into town with her grandmother and their caravan found romance with Gilbert and a certain connection with Arnie accordingly. Arnie is not your average boy; he is mentally challenged and was not expected to live to see his tenth birthday, let alone, his eighteenth, which he surpasses in the movie. Arnie is associated with many heights in the movie as he is regularly seen dangling from the roof, climbing trees, and of course, his ritual of scaling the water tower. Although Arnie loves the heights, he can not seem to conquer the depths as he will not venture to the basement of the house. “I don’t want to go down there, Gilbert; Dad’s down there,” thus voicing the repressed fear that no one in the family will, or can put into words.
As I mentioned before, Arnie is mentally disabled which serves only to make him difficult to handle while taking care of him. Gilbert’s time is split in half and then in half again because of his responsibility to care for Arnie. Although taking care of him shouldn’t be Gilbert’s job, his Mother is too plump to even walk around, let alone run after Arnie all day. In fact, because of his Mother’s obesity Gilbert has the weight of her as well, along with the rest of the family that has to creep around bad memories and words to make sure not to upset their unstable parent. Namely, the death of Gilbert’s Father, Albert Grape, the man that got out.
Write a 1-2 page essay that explores the paradox that when the film ends, Gilbert is in
In Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, written by Fannie Flagg, Flagg includes plenty of male characters, but personally I would not say they are feminists. Every man besides Frank, treated women equally as a man, because they were brought up to treat their women with respect. In Whistle Stop, Alabama, Supporting evidence. Another clear example would be the white residence in Whistle Stop also treated colored with respect. A tale in Whistle Stop and Troutville go around about a figure named ‘Railroad Bill’, who is supposedly a colored male, that drops food off of the trains that pass through Whistle Stop for the colored.
The difficulties faced today in society by those with serious intellectual disabilities are very large hurdles faced by many in today 's world. These disabilities along with the pressure to remain independent question how we deal with those intellectually challenged individuals. The film, I Am Sam details the struggle of Sam Dawson- a man living with mild intellectual disabilities- and his fight to maintain custody of his young daughter. This film details many different important psychological principles that are taught and studied in modern psychology. These principles are brought up and make us question the validity and extent of principles that are held sacred in the psychological world today.
The name of the film selected for this case study is I am Sam. (2002) The protagonist of the film is Sam Dawson, who is played by the actor Sean Penn. Sam Dawson is a developmentally or intellectually challenged adult male, who has a young daughter, primary school aged, named Lucy. Sam and Lucy live together without her mother, who is a homeless person. There is not extensive information provided in the film regarding Sam's upbringing, but based on his present situation, he is a well adjusted person in a middle class atmosphere. It seems he has enough assets to provide for himself and his daughter in a fairly independent basis. His daughter, Lucy, is happy and taken care of, but the tension begins when Lucy exceeds Sam's mental capacity. Her peers ridicule her and her father because of his intellectual deficiencies, calling him a "retard." The character's family consists of Lucy primarily, and some of Sam's other disabled friends who all help each other. One of Sam's greatest and most prominent "likes" is that he is a huge fan of the band The Beatles. One of his strengths is his love for his daughter. Another strength, although it is perceived as a weakness by others who might prey on him, is that he goes through life with a sense of awe and naivete. Of course, this is a result of his disability, but even still, he could have
In the movie, Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks plays an intellectually handicapped man named Forrest Gump from Greenbow, Alabama. The majority of the movie took place through his recounting of his memories from early childhood all the way up to his current age. This paper looks at Forrest’s ability to communicate, his diligence in a relationship, ability to cope, and his self-perception.
Love is one of the most powerful forces in the world, and one of the most difficult to describe. It is one of those emotions that words do not seem to justify a person may feel it, but may not be able to explain it. However, that does not mean that people do not know that love is out there. Many people believe that everyone has one true love somewhere in the world, and spend their lives searching for that person. Love is not difficult to find though. It exists in many forms, including love between family members, friends, different races, and even the love for oneself, both in the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Frannie Flagg and in one's own life.The first and most basic form of love is found in the family.