Sling Blade Essay

761 Words4 Pages
Sling Blade: The Developmental Disability Susana Martinez University of Texas Pan American REHS 2301 Sling Blade: The Developmental Disability The film Sling blade depicts a mentally challenged man, Karl Childers, played by Billy Bob Thornton, and his trials and tribulations of life. When he comes out of the mental institution he was residing in, he meets a boy named Frank who accepts him as a human being like no one had previously done to him. The whole movie shows how this intricate mentally retarded man; who was domesticated from all his time in the mental house adapts to the outside world. Throughout all the foul judgment and harsh words sent his way, he maintains a certain level of sanity and civilness throughout the madness. The beginning of the movie starts and he tells his tales of his murders. Now what's the first thing you always assume about a murderer? That they are a bad person and took another person's life, and should pay the harsh penalty for it. However, throughout this movie Karl shows how much of a caring and compassionate person he truly is. Sling Blade’s main theme is the redemption of Karl’s lost childhood because of his disability and how he wasn't accepted, not even by his parents. Karl Childer’s overly religious parents believed he was a punishment from God. They severely abused him, treated him like an animal, and forced him to live in a shed in solitude. Everyone in town picked on him and called him names. He was seen as a “retard” or slower than others. He had little to call his own. His only possessions were a Bible and several books on Christmas and carpentry. Karl was taught the Bible as a child, but it wasn’t really the Bible. The stories they told him were not in the Bible. His parents had made up their own stories and had led him astray on the rights and wrongs of life. When Karl was 12 years old interrupted what
Open Document