Essay #3 - Sling Blade
Sharon Sanders
Prof. Sarahbeth Spasojevich
Eng 121 – 1N4 English Comp I
25 October 2009
Sling Blade The movie, Sling Blade, had it’s origins from the short “Some Call It a Sling Blade” directed by George Hickenlooper. This movie, written and directed by Billie Bob Thornton, is one of the finest pieces of film art that I have viewed in a long time. The character Karl Childers, perceived by most as mentally challenged, is being released from a mental hospital, where he has been an inmate/patient for 25 years. What influences and actions of others can change an introverted, shy “inmate” into a person capable of love, fidelity, and loyalty? As the movie opens, we see Karl seated in a chair, looking out of the window of the dayroom of the hospital. Another patient, Charles Bushman, has drawn a chair over to Karl’s side, and is regaling him with sexually explicit stories. Watching Karl’s face, the audience can see how embarrassed and uncomfortable these stories are making Karl. One senses that this scene has been played out repeatedly. The hospital administrator rescues Karl by taking him to meet with a young high school girl, who wishes to interview Karl about his pending release. Karl is so shy and introverted that he must meet with her in a darkened room, lit only by a table lamp. She is not allowed to talk to him; only he can relate to her whatever he wants to say. Through his recital, we learn that Karl was considered “slow” as a child. All of the town’s children made fun of him. He relates to her the story of Jesse Dexter, who was very cruel to him as a child, and who harassed the young girls in town. He witnessed Jesse Dexter having sex with his mother. He became so angry that he picked up a sling blade (similar to a scythe) and hit Jesse in the head with it, practically decapitating him. When his mother yelled at him for what he had done, he realized that she was as bad as Jesse was, and he killed her, too. All of this is
Prof. Sarahbeth Spasojevich
Eng 121 – 1N4 English Comp I
25 October 2009
Sling Blade The movie, Sling Blade, had it’s origins from the short “Some Call It a Sling Blade” directed by George Hickenlooper. This movie, written and directed by Billie Bob Thornton, is one of the finest pieces of film art that I have viewed in a long time. The character Karl Childers, perceived by most as mentally challenged, is being released from a mental hospital, where he has been an inmate/patient for 25 years. What influences and actions of others can change an introverted, shy “inmate” into a person capable of love, fidelity, and loyalty? As the movie opens, we see Karl seated in a chair, looking out of the window of the dayroom of the hospital. Another patient, Charles Bushman, has drawn a chair over to Karl’s side, and is regaling him with sexually explicit stories. Watching Karl’s face, the audience can see how embarrassed and uncomfortable these stories are making Karl. One senses that this scene has been played out repeatedly. The hospital administrator rescues Karl by taking him to meet with a young high school girl, who wishes to interview Karl about his pending release. Karl is so shy and introverted that he must meet with her in a darkened room, lit only by a table lamp. She is not allowed to talk to him; only he can relate to her whatever he wants to say. Through his recital, we learn that Karl was considered “slow” as a child. All of the town’s children made fun of him. He relates to her the story of Jesse Dexter, who was very cruel to him as a child, and who harassed the young girls in town. He witnessed Jesse Dexter having sex with his mother. He became so angry that he picked up a sling blade (similar to a scythe) and hit Jesse in the head with it, practically decapitating him. When his mother yelled at him for what he had done, he realized that she was as bad as Jesse was, and he killed her, too. All of this is
Cited: Thornton, Billy Bob, dir. Sling Blade, Perf. Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakum, Lucas Black. The Shooting Gallery/Miramax Films, 1996. DVD. Variety.com “Sling Blade Review” Review of Sling Blade, Dir. Billy Bob Thornton http://www.variety.com/index Johans, Jen. “I Like the Way You Talk”. Rev. of Sling Blade, dir. Billy Bob Thornton http://www.filmintuition.com/Sling_Blade.html