In class last week, we viewed a film from 1996 called "Sling Blade". It was not my first time watching it because a lot of people in my family love that movie, so we always watch it! I love this movie due to the fact that it portrayed a handicap man who had real mental issues but in a positive way. Not many people see disabled in this type of perspective so I like the fact that the movie was this way. Sling Blade is about a disabled man named Karl who was locked away in a mental hospital for the murder of his mother and a local man named Jessie. Once Karl is released he is forced to live life like the average person. He has no family to depend on so he finds help from a young boy named Frank. Mr. Evans, a man who worked at the mental hospital, helps Karl get a job fixing things in a neighborhood Car Shop. Karl soon has to deal with Doyle, Frank's stepfather and his demons from the past.
Karl Childers never really had a normal life. Growing up he lived with his mother and father, I do not think he really ever felt like he belonged. He went through a lot of heart breaking things growing up. For example, he had to bury his newborn brother who was still alive, having to deal with his father leaving and most important having to deal with killing his own mother. The homicide was just a misunderstanding though. Karl thought Jessie was trying to rape his mother but he later found out that Jessie was his mother's lover. Karl was upset obviously and was sentenced to many years in a mental hospital. After being released to be on his own, Karl attempts to order a hot meal. He falls in love with the local restaurant's "French fried potaters" or in normal term, "French fries". Karl sits in front of the local laundry mat and meets a young boy named Frank. Karl helps Frank carry his freshly washed clothes to his house. After his first few hours released he attempts to get his old room back in the mental hospital.