Thursday, April 15, 2010

"What's Eating Gilbert Grape" has endeared me to developmentally-delayed individuals more than anything else has before!

Watch this movie free at Hulu.com: http://www.hulu.com/watch/116246/whats-eating-gilbert-grape

I first watched WEGG over 10 years ago. I didn't like Arnie's antics, so I changed channels half-way. I couldn't have been older than Jr. High then, & didn't pay attention to who the actors were.

Just the other day, I found out that the developmentally-delayed boy was actually none other than Leo DiCaprio! I was like, "WHAT? OMG! I'VE GOTTA WATCH THE WHOLE THING NOW."

I was pondering whether to rent it from Digital Shelf but remembered that I've been pinching pennies this month. Then I found the full-length feature free on Hulu.

Before, I knew that Leo played smart characters, and everyone in between. (The smartest of his that I remember was a conboy named "Frank Abagnale, Jr." from the film "Catch Me If You Can." (Cheesy theme song, heh.))

Watching this  cool actor play a developmentally-delayed guy actually endeared me to those kinds of kids more. Their kiddish antics actually look cute, and when I watch them act like kids long after they hit adolescence, I feel somewhat envious because I somewhat wish I'd join in to play with them. Alas, there'd be unseen forces holding me back though.

Now that I've seen Leo DiCaprio (of ALL actors) act as a kid like this, I have now just added one more entry to my list of possible career prospects: Working with and helping developmentally delayed teens (and I suppose adults.)

Man, in this film, Leo/Arnie even LOOKED like a 5-6 y.o. boy who just happened to have an overactive growth gland! I have NEVER been so endeared to these kinds of people in my life!! :-D

Have you watched this film? What were your thoughts?

Addendum: I just joined Leo's fanpage, and made this statement about the film to his discussion board: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=14650&uid=9085937115

1 comment:

  1. After all these years, I still have not watched Gilbert Grape.

    I remember when I found out too. It was in 1997-98, some years after the film first came out.

    (He was big, because of Titanic, and several other films).

    Very interesting to hear about this career direction.

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