Why didn't Doyle get up? - Sling Blade (1997) Discussion

[–] chutcher 10 years ago

He was incredibly drunk. He was just talking smack drunk in the chair and was too inebriated to realize what was really happening.

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[–] RRozsa 10 years ago

Yes, I think his alcohol-infused mush of a brain didn't really think Karl would do it. No one has ever had the nerve to stand up to him before. But on some level he really may have just not cared enough about his own miserable existence anymore to even put up a fight, even if he thought Karl was really going to kill him. A person like that doesn't place a lot of value on life, even his own.

Life's a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!

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[–] longlivepeewee 10 years ago

either of those are great! His explanation of the ambulance or the hurst throws me off. He wasn't being sarcastic. I thought that he knew that he was a terrible person, and then the only redeemable quality he ever had was that he had a moment of drunken self depravation embedded in misery, and that he just cared so little about anything at that point, he didn't even stop Karl from killing himself.

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[–] janet-conant 10 years ago

Just before Karl comes down on his head with the blade you hear Doyle say "Karl?" So I think he was just too drunk to care at that moment what is going to happen.

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[–] fiatlux-1 10 years ago

I agree with others here that Doyle was incredibly drunk, and barely realized what was happening around him.
But one other thing was a factor I believe.

The director was clever: Earlier in the film, we see Doyle & Linda jump awake alarmed because they find Karl in their bedroom, holding a hammer.
Doyle assumes that Karl was going to hurt them, but then thinks that Karl is 'just being a retard' (I think Karl was thinking of hurting Doyle, but nothing comes of it).

So when drunk Doyle sees Karl standing over him with the sling blade, he assumes its just him being 'a retard' again.

I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus.
Didn't he discover America?
Penfold, shush.

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[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hubcap18 9 years ago

Like others have said the main reason is that he was too drunk. He probably underestimated Karl. Even after Karl told him what he was going to do, he probably didn't believe him or think he had the guts to go through with it. I knew how it was going to end, but I expected Doyle to put up more of a fight and not die so easily.

_______
The sun is shining... but the ice is slippery.

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[–] baran_erik 9 years ago

Just an fyi, that was a lawnmower blade, not a sling blade, which some people call a kaiser blade, mmmhmmm.

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[–] aerts-79689 9 years ago

He was resigned to his fate.

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[–] Edward_de_Vere 9 years ago

Doyle didn't take Karl seriously as a threat. To Doyle, Karl was just a mentally retarded guy talking nonsense, like a pouting little kid who says that he's going to kill you when you take his toys away. It didn't help that Doyle was drunk halfway out of his senses at that point as well.

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[–] janet-conant 9 years ago

Doyle couldn't have put up a fight not after that first blow to the head. As Karl tells 911 that second bash nearly put his head in two pieces.

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[–] Edward_de_Vere 8 years ago

Doyle couldn't have put up a fight not after that first blow to the head. As Karl tells 911 that second bash nearly put his head in two pieces.

The OP was clearly referring to why Doyle didn't fight or try to get away before Karl struck the first blow, not after it. Karl tells Doyle "I aims to kill you with [the lawnmower blade]" well before he actually does so.

Some people think that Doyle's inaction was due to a subconscious deathwish. I took it to be a combination of drunkenness and not taking Karl seriously as a threat.

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[–] Sanpaco13 9 years ago

He didn't believe that Karl was going to kill him. He jokes about it and flippantly tells him to make sure the police send an ambulance or a hearse when he calls them. Then as Karl raises the blade he finally realizes that he's serious and begins to ask him what he's doing but all he can get out is a surprised "Karl...?"

"Is that your IQ or the number of dipwads your mother had?" - Car Pool Man

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[–] mrwood-06486 8 years ago

I think maybe y'all are overthinking......Doyle didn't realize Karl was serious till he raised his arm with the blade, moment of panic and "Karl?!" is all he could think to say.

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[–] Paul_Ke 8 years ago

My take on it was that Doyle wasn't really sure if Karl was serious about killing him or not, but was too depressed to care one way or the other.

At the moment Karl raises the blade, I think Doyle realized the gravity of the situation and changed his mind about not caring, which is why he said "Karl?" at the last second.

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