The Movie Slingblade Essay - 759 Words

In reviewing the movie quot;Slingbladequot; many moral issues arose. quot;Slingbladequot; revolves totally around Karl, a retarded man who has spent almost all of his life in a psychiatric hospital. Upon the day of his release, Karl told his horrific story to a student newspaper reporter. While discussing his story, the viewers find that Karl was treated almost like an animal by his parents, picked on by almost everyone in town, including his fathers bosss son. At the age of 11, Karl saw his fathers bosss son having his way with his mother and assumes the worst. He then proceeds to attack the man with a Slingblade and kills him. When Karl learned his mother was enjoying the event, he kills her to. About 25 years later, the†¦show more content†¦John Ritter plays a homosexual male in the movie who is like a father figure to Frank and a best friend to Franks mother. He expresses several times in the movie to Karl how scared he is of Doyle and how he thinks that one-day Doyle will hurt them. In the movie, Karl puts on the front to be a Christian like figure. His only possessions are a Bible and a few other books on Christmas and Carpentry. In the final scenes of the movie, Karl calls out to three of the main characters before he goes to confront Doyle. Billy Bob Thorton uses the inversion of Peters betrayal of Jesus to create a moral ambivalence over Karls actions. quot;Slingbladequot; has no secret ever leading to his final confrontation, which I believe is a strange mix of Christ-like self-sacrifice and Old Testament Law. In the movie quot;Slingbladequot; Karl expresses types of repulsion that show inner fear of brokeness and fragility. I believe the main theme of this movie was the tragedy of a lost childhood. The moral issues of the movie question the concepts of what we believe in to be right and wrong, sin and benevolence. In Karls position did he even know what was right and what was wrong? From a social standpoint can we blame society allowing a child to live in an abusive home, not providing proper training for handicap individuals? Should hisShow MoreRelated Sling Blade Paper1176 Words   |  5 Pages Slingblade Paper The film Slingblade 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