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 “Rain Man”, because it sounds like a mispronounced “Raymond” Previously, in our Larger Than Life feature on 50 First Dates, we told the story of a woman who could not recall anything past 1994. Being the lovely extremists that we are, let us introduce you to a man who had an amazing memory that some say span the contents of some 12,000 books. Meet real-life Rain Man (1988), the late Kim Peek, inspiration for the movie that took home four Oscars at the 61st Academy Awards in 1989…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKC3W0awjm0 Aww… It has feel-good brotherly love written all over it… Rain Man tells of two brothers in exactly the way you would expect from a feel-good movie. Charlie Babbitt’s father dies but leaves his multimillion estate to *gasp* the brother that Charlie never knew he had – an autistic by the name of Raymond. Of course, Charlie wants that cool $3 million to be his, and thus attempts to bring his brother across the country to meet his attorneys. Along the way, the inevitable happens: the brothers are total opposites that can’t seem to get along at the start but once the 133 minutes are up, they are as tight as glue.
This. Is. Casino. Abuse. (And brother abuse – so don’t try this at home, or in the IRs here) Now, Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man is not just any autistic person. He has excellent recall, but his memory is shallow and thus he is unable to link information in his vast memory. He was largely based on real-life megasavant Laurence Kim Peek, who screenwriter Barry Morrow met while conducting his research by meeting savants. And yes, a savant is as awesome as the word sounds. A rare condition called savant syndrome actually exists, and these people, usually afflicted with developmental disorders, shine brilliantly in one or more areas like extraordinary musical ability, advanced memory, craftsmanship, mathematical ability or even speed reading. It is not yet proven if savant syndrome is directly linked with mental disability, but savants are found to have had organic brain disease, brain trauma, or inherited genetic abnormalities in addition to their enhanced ability.
Can you imagine 12,000 books inside that head? Now, Kim Peek is not just ANY savant. As mentioned above, he has been described as a megasavant. Unlike Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man, Kim Peek did not have autism. Like many savants, he was born with a developmental disability, but this affected him physically more than mentally. It has been suggested that Kim Peek had FG syndrome, and this manifested physically with clinical features like his larger-than-usual head and low muscle tone. Scientists also found that the two halves of his brain were not linked like in normal people.
Real-life savants do not consume mana Unlike many savants, he was one of the rare few who were able to process and understand the information they have memorized. When he was only two years-old, Kim Peek could memorize books from cover to cover. He could also read two pages at a time, with each eye scanning one page. That’s freakishly cool! We need temporary savant syndrome to help us get through our exams! He could also play music on the piano from memory, as far as his fingers would allow with their limited dexterity. He could also speak about the piece as he played, and some of these pieces, he heard decades ago. Another amazing talent he had was calendar calculations, where he would approach people on the street and share with them tidbits about their birthday, which day of the week they were born and news items or hit songs on that day, for example... Just one of the many documentaries on megasavant, Kim Peek Needless to say, after Rain Man was released, Kim Peek’s life was never the same again. He received many requests to appear on talk shows and documentaries, but this helped to increase his social skills, infuse him with a sense of humour and creativity, which in turn increased the breadth of his already cavernous memory.
Take a peek inside Peek’s amazing brain -- it would probably look something like this Just last year, six days before Christmas, Kim Peek passed away. The Salt Lake City megasavant died of a heart attack at the age of 58. |
