MovieChat Forums > Fried Green Tomatoes (1992) Discussion > Ninny's Son

Ninny's Son

posted 10 years ago by Shaun451
2 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone ever wonder what happened to the son that Ninny had? We never see him but she talks about him briefly and she ends by saying "I had him with me until he was 30. Then one night he went to sleep and never woke up again." I tend to think he may have had Down Syndrome without modern required medication, but who knows? But when she says "with me" it seems to suggest his physical condition was debilitating and he needed constant care. It's one of my favorite lines and scenes from the movie and I think it compares to the scene (about memory) in Citizen Kane (1941) when Mr. Bernstein talks about the lady in the white dress.

[–] yinzermama 10 years ago

In the book, they say he suffered a brain hemorrhage at birth and would never progress mentally past the age of a young child, but I don't think it is clear why he dies so young.

[–] Smug_Grinch 9 years ago

Mental retardation can often come with other debilitating side effects. Besides having to be looked after like a young child, there may have been other medical problems that couldn't be addressed properly at that time. Some children were given short life expectancies. Ninny got to have Albert for 25 years longer than expected. If it was a brain hemorrhage at birth, there could have been more bleeding or strokes from micro-bleeds clotting.

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