it's been difficult to weigh in on the subject of "sling blade"
I just watched the movie the other day, and was very affected
by it. I so far am the only one, it seems, that does not view
the woman as a wimp, but rather as one who is living under
a death threat. I have, unfortunately, known many women and
children, and a couple of guys, who lived with that. They
were not wimps, but they were not killers. Just good people
being terrorized by the depraved.
It seemed to me she was forceful to the extent she could be, but understood that the man was serious about killing her. Which would have done her child no good. And if she had killed him,
it would not have legally been self defense unless done as he
tried to kill her, least i think that is the legally correct.
And even then, a woman in a "domestic" situation is often convicted. Crazed killers seldom tell you that's what they are when you start dating. You find it out as time goes on, or when you try to leave. I thought the movie pointed to this as the case in her relationship with
Doyle.
And i see Carl as the type you speak of. It wasn't a grand
scene of rescuing the woman or child. But rather a deliberate
decision made with an awareness of the consequenses. He had
grown up to learn that you are not supposed to kill and he had
not planned on doing so again. And yet he had found himself in
a situation where it seeemed the only option to protect and
give a new life to his friends. Knowing that he would be
returned to the "home" and that what he was doing was wrong.
Even if done for "noble" reasons.
I liked very much that this was brought out. Occasionally in
a movie, when someone kills, you see the person "feeling bad".
But seldom do you see them living with the realization and
irrevokable consequences of that action upon their being.
That no matter the reason or intentions, no amount of water
or scrubbing can remove the person's blood from your hands.
Or the stain from your soul. And in all his simpleness, I
felt Carl knew the cost, and chose to live it. And the loss
of his freedom. Locked away from the taters.
I think I'll watch some cartoons this weekend. |
