Sling Blade Paper

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 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 persons 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. Any assumptions you had for him at the beginning of the movie can basically be thrown out the window about a half hour into the movie.

The first major test of this movie was the transition from one world to another that Karl has to go through. This transition shows how hard it is to go from an enclosed, tiny world to an unpredictable, giant world where something is always going on around you. Karl first came to terms with the fact that he would have to adapt to this new world when he talked to a reporter in his latter days in the mental institution. He is talking to Woolridge, who runs the mental institution, and he says to him, “I reckon I’m gonna have to get used to looking at pretty people… I reckon I’m gonna have to get used to them looking at me too.” This shows he has some recognition of what life outside the box is going to be like, he shows, throughout his mental disabilities that he has comprehension for how he is going to have to adapt to live his new life.

The second major scene which shows him making the transition from one world to another is the scene when he makes friends with the boy. This shows his first adaptation he actually makes outside of the mental institution. He shows that he is capable of leading a normal life despite his mental condition and terrible past. At the beginning of the movie, when you hear that he maliciously murdered two people, you think that he is a terrible and vicious person. This ...

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...cause he wants to ensure the happiness and safety of Frank and his mother in the future. Doyle was a very dangerous man and frequently had drunken rages which put the safety of the whole family and anyone else in the general vicinity in danger. This shows how truly caring he was, he sacrificed his own life to improve the lives of two other people that he cared about. He believed that he didn’t do anything wrong, and personally I agree with him. He fought for what he believed in and ended up improving the lives of two people he truly cared about, the closest thing to a real family he ever had.

These scenes really show how Karl goes through life as a compassionate person. The public opinion on him is truly opposite, but as the movie goes on you see it more and more. The people that he loves, he truly cares about them more then he cares for himself at times. He was willing to put aside the rest of his life to make sure two friends, rather family members, would live a happy life. Although murder is a terrible way to do it, he ensures their happiness. Karl Childers may be seen as a bad man and a murderer, but to the people that really know him, he is a very loyal and caring individual.