Kid's got some Undefined Mental Disability. They never actually say what he has in the film, only that "he's not right in the head." That's pretty much a literal quote there.
Judging from what he says and does, it's as if the screenwriter vaguely knew about autism and about Tourette's Syndrome, or maybe he looked 'em up on the Internet, and mixed them both in with the "Hey, People With Downs Syndrome Are Simple Yet Noble" cliche ("Simple Yet Noble" is also reserved, you may recall, for very small children and the elderly, especially senile elderly people near death. Any word that comes out of their mouth is instantly deep, profound and philosophical, as if they have some kind of extra-special connection with the spiritual on the basis of their physical and mental state.)
This doesn't really mean much other than the character of the boy gets to say really stupid things when the script calls for it, to shut up when the script calls for it, to make cryptic references to "the Baywatch" (his favorite television show, a la 'Wapner') when the script calls for it, to blurt out nonsense cuss words at a rapid pace because hey, isn't that all that Tourette's does? ("I want my sunflower seeds YOU FUCKSHITPISSFART") to blurt out things like "she makes my penis sneeze! heeheeheeheehee!" (that's a high-pitched whiny laugh, of course) when talking about an attractive woman and to, when the script calls for it, break into gangsta rap for no reason at all. I'm sure that at some point between my walking out and the end of the film, he also opened his mouth at an opportune moment and provided the One Profound Comment That Puts Everything Into Perspective Between Affleck and Lopez.
Add to this Affleck's constant beratement of the boy ("Would you SHUT THE FUCK UP!" "Would you SPEAK FUCKING NORMAL FOR ONCE" "GO INTO THE OTHER ROOM AND FUCKING STAY THERE AND DON'T FUCKING COME OUT" "DON'T FUCKING DO THAT!") that made me cringe more times than I could count, and the fact that the actor's portrayal of the kid hovers between the Eighth Grader's Impression of "Corky" From Life Goes On and the Eighth Grader's Impression Of Rain Man, well, guess what? "Retard" is not only the closest description of what the screenwriter and actor clearly perceived the character to be, but it's also the most genteel thing that's been said about him, even as I wrote it in anger.
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dancing_serpent
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Date: 2003-08-14 09:32 pm (UTC)Kid's got some Undefined Mental Disability. They never actually say what he has in the film, only that "he's not right in the head." That's pretty much a literal quote there.
Judging from what he says and does, it's as if the screenwriter vaguely knew about autism and about Tourette's Syndrome, or maybe he looked 'em up on the Internet, and mixed them both in with the "Hey, People With Downs Syndrome Are Simple Yet Noble" cliche ("Simple Yet Noble" is also reserved, you may recall, for very small children and the elderly, especially senile elderly people near death. Any word that comes out of their mouth is instantly deep, profound and philosophical, as if they have some kind of extra-special connection with the spiritual on the basis of their physical and mental state.)
This doesn't really mean much other than the character of the boy gets to say really stupid things when the script calls for it, to shut up when the script calls for it, to make cryptic references to "the Baywatch" (his favorite television show, a la 'Wapner') when the script calls for it, to blurt out nonsense cuss words at a rapid pace because hey, isn't that all that Tourette's does? ("I want my sunflower seeds YOU FUCKSHITPISSFART") to blurt out things like "she makes my penis sneeze! heeheeheeheehee!" (that's a high-pitched whiny laugh, of course) when talking about an attractive woman and to, when the script calls for it, break into gangsta rap for no reason at all. I'm sure that at some point between my walking out and the end of the film, he also opened his mouth at an opportune moment and provided the One Profound Comment That Puts Everything Into Perspective Between Affleck and Lopez.
Add to this Affleck's constant beratement of the boy ("Would you SHUT THE FUCK UP!" "Would you SPEAK FUCKING NORMAL FOR ONCE" "GO INTO THE OTHER ROOM AND FUCKING STAY THERE AND DON'T FUCKING COME OUT" "DON'T FUCKING DO THAT!") that made me cringe more times than I could count, and the fact that the actor's portrayal of the kid hovers between the Eighth Grader's Impression of "Corky" From Life Goes On and the Eighth Grader's Impression Of Rain Man, well, guess what? "Retard" is not only the closest description of what the screenwriter and actor clearly perceived the character to be, but it's also the most genteel thing that's been said about him, even as I wrote it in anger.