Sling-Blade
Karl Childer
There is a lot of point of views on how people perceive a person with a mental illness could it be because of his biological background, environment where he or she grew up with There could be a lot of factors that may contribute to mental illness and in this case study, we will attempt to analyze a very interesting character named Karl Childers. Since there are a lot of documented mental disorders throughout history, we will do our best to narrow down those choices, by interpreting Childers actions, attitude and his speech.
We will also discuss the possible origins of his ailment to further understand his whole persona and provide a discussion on how to treat Childers ailment.
Sling Blades Karl Childer
The central character of Sling Blade is a slow-witted loner named Karl Childers (Billy Bob Thorntons character).who, when he was quite young, snapped, flew into a homicidal rage, and murdered his mother and her lover using a garden tool (Sling Blade), when he found his mother having intercourse with a man who tormented him endlessly when he was a kid. During his childhood, Karl was locked in a shed by his parents and at one point was forced by his father to bury the still living body of his newborn brother (Naremore, 1998). At the beginning of the film, he is pronounced cured and is released from the mental state hospital into the town where he was born, his only possessions a set of books that he has read over and over the bible, a story by Dickens (Christmas), and some practical repair manuals (same as Naremore, 1998). He returns to his childhood town and although being mentally handicapped, gets a job fixing small motors at a local repair shop. Karl befriends a young boy, Frank, and is soon invited by Franks mother, Linda, to move into the familys garage. As a strong relationship develops between Karl and Frank, a confrontation builds with Lindas abusive and sometimes violent boyfriend Doyle (Bowman, 2010).
What is Karl Childers Affliction
Karl Childer in the movie used the words mentally retarded, probably since during that time, when society especially in the rural area where he grew up labeled one person mentally retarded if he or she is somewhat different. Based on our hypothesis the nearest possible disorder that we can fit to Childers character is Autism. Throughout the movie, the character portrayed by Billy Bob Thornton has shown a lot of signs and symptoms of the said disorder (see signs and symptoms of Autism). A lot can be noticed from the early scene in which he gave access to an interview to a young reporter.
Although there are a lot of other comments from what I have researched for the character and some say that he (Childers) is really just mentally challenged and not suffer from any diagnosed psychological affliction (Fun Trivia Sling Blade, 2006). But the fact that he showed a lot of signs that he was indeed autistic confirms the theory.
Autism
Autism comes from the Greek word autos meaning self. Autism is a disorder that affects all mental development, symptoms usually starts to be noticed in childhood, but it is not a disorder of childhood, instead it is a disorder of development (Frith, 2003). Symptoms will necessary look different at different ages, certain features do not become apparent until later others disappear with time (same as Frith, 2003). Some reference points of classic autism are autistic aloneness, desire for sameness and islets of ability which are still considered to hold in all true cases, despite variation in detail and despite the existence of additional problems (Kanner, 1943).
Signs and Symptoms of Autism
According to Griffith, Moore and Yoder (2006) Autism symptoms affects a lot of body parts of the human being inflicted. It is usually discovered by the time a child is age 2 and a half, but for some cases could be later than that. The signs and symptoms are
Does not talk or may talk using nonsense words. May use a sing-song voice and repeat what they hear, Unable to carry on a conversation.
Is over active. Wants to play alone
Repeats the same movements over and over such as rocking and flapping or twisting hands
Has special routines and does not like change
Does not want to be touched, such as being cuddled
May injure self by head-banging or biting.
Is bothered by noises
Overly interested in lights or moving objects
Aspect of the Theory
Karl Childers Underlying Themes related to his Disturbance
On the interview scene with the reporter, Karl requested to the administrator that he doesnt want his picture taken. . Jerry Woolridge, the state hospital director, said that Karl wouldnt even let them take his picture for the Easter collage. This is probably because when he was a kid he was teased so much growing up and has such low self-esteem. He also doesnt want anyone to know who he is or what he did (Fun Trivia Sling Blade, 2006).
Read more at: https://bestpsychologyarticles.blogspot.com/2017/08/karl-childer.html
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Created
1 year ago
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Language
video/mp4
English