MovieChat Forums > I Am Sam (2002) Discussion > Unrealistic

Unrealistic

posted 12 years ago by balazs_61
4 replies | jump to latest

This film seemed highly unrealistic to me. Never mind the concept of him raising a kid up to the age of 6. How on earth would someone with the brains of a 7 year old be able to even live on his own, care for himself, and not have any major problems other than a few minor issues when it comes to social interactions? People with his illness would normally have a 24 hour care giver assigned, no? Plus, how is he able to afford a semi-luxury apartment on an $8/hour wage at Starbucks?

[–] mr_bickle_the_pickle 12 years ago

People with down's syndrome have a very different range of abilities. Some can have the mentality of a 7 year old for their whole life.But many are capable of getting jobs at places like Starbucks. Many are even actors (which means they have the capability to remember lines).

We accept the love we think we deserve
http://mrsantonyelchin.tumblr.com/

[–] creatorof2002 12 years ago

A BIG problem with a mentally retarded person raising a child is that during the teen years there is a REBELLION faze where children think they are smarter than their parents and will often disobey their parents. A "normal" parent has at least some chance of winning that battle of wits and being strict with the teen and setting rules and enforcing them. However a mentally retarded parent would be so much lower in mental functioning than their teenager that they would not be able to handle that stage of development and their child would be basically on his or her own.

[–] gcarras (2770) 6 years ago

Very good point.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

Oh, that's not the worst thing.

The worst thing is that a child given to a mentally deficient single parent would quickly outstrip the parent, and become the caretaker in the relationship by age... 8-10. So even before the kid hit puberty she would have to take over budgeting and financial stuff, and deal with the landlord and interpret the news and deal with emergencies and generally become the parent's caretaker. Children don't tend to do well when forced into a caregiving role at an early age, to put it politely.