I am Sam

A movie analysis

“I Am Sam” is a shameless heart trigger, manipulatively controlling viewers to cry in

sympathy. This is not always a bad thing, but “I Am Sam” forgoes restraint in place
of an all-out hanky attack.

Sam Dawson is a challenging but unabashedly sentimental. He is raising his young

daughter Lucy Diamond single-handedly, after her mother abandoned them. But
when Lucy turns seven, social workers step in. Sam is mentally-challenged, and it
will be up to the courts to evaluate his ability to raise Lucy. Lucy has begun to
downplay her own intellectual and emotional growth, careful not to surpass that of
her father. When Lucy is removed from her home by county authorities and placed
with a foster mother, Sam devises a plan. Rita Harrison, a driven lawyer who initially
resists taking on such a long-shot case. But Rita ultimately takes the challenge on a
dare to prove to her co-workers that she will work a pro bona case. Through her
work with Sam, Rita begins to explore his role as Lucy’s parent, and comes to
understand how even someone like her, who is considered normal by societal
standards, can be daunted by the challenges of parenthood. Sam is aided in his
quest by his neighbor Annie, an agoraphobic pianist; o has helped him throughout
Lucy’s childhood. Sam’s devoted group of friends is comprised of Ifty, Robert, Brad
and Joe, who stand by him in his hour of need. They support him emotionally, and
even financially, at every turn as he tries to raise Lucy.

“I Am Sam” is a powerful, emotional film about love, parenthood and the

bonds of family. Raising a child is never easy, but like everybody, Sam Dawson has
learned to adapt. Sam and his daughter Lucy have gotten through the basics,
though not always in the conventional way, with the help of Sam’s tightly-knit group
of friends. Though Lucy’s life has never been what anyone would ever call “normal,”
it has always been animated with humor and full of love.

Sam is a retarded man with the IQ level of a seven year old child. By the time
Lucy is seven, her intellect begins to pass her father’s, raising the attention of a
social worker who decides that she would be better off with foster parents. Sam
manages to get Rite for his lawyer to Sam retains custody of Lucy.
 Sam admits that Dern, the foster mother of Lucy, should be Lucy's mommy,
which is kind of the end arrangement. They agreed that Sam can see his child
anytime he wants to.

Sam is suffering from mental retardation; it helps to know what intelligence

is. Intelligence is a way of describing someone's ability to think, learn, and solve
problems. Mental retardation is not something you have, like brown eyes, or a bad
heart. Nor is it something you are, like short, or thin. It is not a medical disorder, nor
a mental disorder. Mental retardation is a particular state of functioning that begins
in childhood and is characterized by limitation in both intelligence and adaptive
skills. Mental retardation reflects the “fit” between the capabilities of individuals
and the structure and expectations of their environment.

Mental retardation is a disability characterized by significant limitations both in

intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social,
and practical adaptive skills1.

Mental retardation means that someone has lower than average intelligence. The
person may have trouble learning. It may take longer for the person to learn social
skills, such as how to be friends or how to communicate with other people. The
person also may be less able to care for him or herself and to live on his or her own
as an adult. As a model of functioning, it includes the contexts and environment
within which the person functions and interacts and requires a multidimensional and
ecological approach that reflects the interaction of the individual with the
environment, and the outcomes of that interaction with regards to independence,
relationships, societal contributions, participation in school and community, and
personal well being. Like most movie analyzers, I would say that Sean Penn really
did a very good job in portraying this role. He showed realistic acts that amazed the
viewers and the audience.

A mentally challenged person is not far from describing a psychologically normal

person. They are receptive and they can express their feelings through language.
Like normal people, they can read and write. They know the concepts of money.
The have self-direction. They know what they want in their life. They also have
social skills. Giving them responsibilities is not hard because they can accomplish it.
They have self-esteem. They can be manipulated or be tricked by other people.
They follow rules and obey laws. They can do personal activities of daily living such
as eating, dressing, mobility and toileting. They can also do instrumental activities
of daily living such as preparing meals, taking medication, using the telephone,
managing money, using transportation and doing housekeeping activities. They can
maintain a safe environment. Like in the movie Sam works for Starbucks and then
later on in Pizza Hut, this shows that mentally retarded people can also go to work
and money for their living.

Reference:

 1Microsoft encarta® Reference Library 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft

Corporation. All rights reserved.

 Compton's interactive encyclopedia 1996. © 1922-1995 Compton's Learning

Company Webster's New World Dictionary, 3rd College Edition. All rights reserved.

 MSN – I am Sam [On-line WWW]. (n.d.). MSN Corp. Available:

http://www.thearclink.org/news/article.asp?ID=239

 MSN – Mental retardation I am Sam [On-line WWW]. (n.d.). MSN Corp.

Available:

http://behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/mentretard.htm