WEBVTT

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(Male speaking) When was 
Sir Walter Raleigh executed?

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(Kim Peek) October 29, 1618.
(grunting)

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(Female speaking) And what 
day of the week was that?

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(Peek) It was a Thursday.

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(applause)

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(Female voice) December 9, 1995.

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(Peek) Ah, it was a Saturday 
and this year it's a Friday.

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(Woman) Oh, my God! I love him!

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(Peek) I have so many things in me that 
you can't even guess them all.

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'eeyo yea'

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(Narrator) Kim Peek has one of the 
weirdest brains in the world.

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He's become a living Google.

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(Man) What Kim represents is 
the dark side of the moon.

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He is in love with knowledge for the sake of it.
(Kim- 1 T!)

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(Narrator) He's a confounding 
mixture of disability and

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brilliance that neuro-scientists 
are determined to understand.

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It's a very exciting opportunity for us
to find out what makes the human brain unique.

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(laughter)

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(Fran) He just amazes me.

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The life is nothing I ever expected.

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I think I'd do anything for him.

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(strings music)

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(piano music and birds chirping)

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(Narrator) Kim Peek is the world's most famous savant.

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The inspiration for the Oscar winning film, "Rain Man."

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Kim was diagnosed "mentally retarded" at birth,

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but with his father's- Fran's- unflagging support,

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he's developed a memory that is without equal.

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"Rain Man" screenwriter, Barry Morrow, met Kim in 1984.

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I was absolutely flabbergasted 
that such a human being existed,

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and that I have never heard of a savant.

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I could not get this man- 
this character- out of my mind.

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My scheme was to create some kind of a movie
in which Kim Peek would become a character.

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(music)

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(Narrator) Barry introduced Kim to Dustin Hoffman 
when Hoffman was researching the role.

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Sally Dibbs, Dibbs Sally. 461-0-00192

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How did you know my phone number?

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How'd you know that?

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'cuz I read the telephone book last night. Dibbs, Sally. 461-0192.

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I mean I don't have any scientific proof for this, 
that if you make a movie about somebody,

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they're going to come out of their shell.

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But I think "Rain Man" did more than win awards.

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I think it left the door open on the 
possibility that nobody is ever written off,

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that change is always possible.

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(Narrator) "Rain Man" changed Kim's life forever.

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(Kim) Until I started being Rain Man, 
I couldn't l-look in a person's eyes.

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(Narrator) In 1951, doctors wanted to place Kim 
in a mental hospital called American Fork.

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"We took him to a neurologist at 
9 months of age to be examined and

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the neurologist was late for a golf game 
and only had five minutes to talk to us.

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"Sorry I missed your golf game. 
'Put him in American Fork!' "

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He said, 'I've read your medi-
medical history so far.

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He's severely mentally retarded.

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He will never be able to learn, 
never be able to walk.

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He should be put in the institution 
and you forget about him.

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(Narrator) For Fran and his wife, there was no question;
they would raise Kim themselves at home.

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His condition seemed to make him an introverted child.

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We were just going to do everything we could 
to give him as much love as possible

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and help him just as much as we could.

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(Narrator) When Fran and Kim's mother parted in 1975, 
Fran became Kim's sole caregiver.

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Two months shy of his 18th birthday, 
Fran still looks after Kim.

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He helps me a lot because 
I still have bad coordination

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and-because of the brain damage 
that I had when I was little.

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(Kim) I wasn't supposed to make it past about 14, 
and here I am at 54, a celebrity.

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(Fran) It wasn't til he was 37 years old 
and Dustin Hoffman met him

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that Kim could look into someone's face.

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Dustin Hoffman said to me, 'You have to promise one 
thing about this guy- share him with the world'

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And pretty soon, it got so that 
nobody was a stranger to him.

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They were people.

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And it was- it was so neat.

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(Kim) You have been made known 
like a man of greatness and love.

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I love the way he's flowered.

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"Kim Peek"

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And it belies the myth that people don't change, 
especially people with developmental disabilities.

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(Narrator) 18 years ago, 
Barry Morrow gave his Oscar to Kim.

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And Fran took Dustin Hoffman's 
advice to share Kim with the world.

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The once introverted Kim, has now appeared
in front of more than 2 million people,

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all eager to test his genius with obscure questions.

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(applause)

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(Man) Who was the game winning pitcher
of game 3 in the 1926 World Series?

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(Kim) The Cardinals won and with 
Grover Cleveland Alexander.

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(cheering)

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(Child) How much home runs did, uh, Babe Ruth hit?

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7 hundred and 14.

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(laughter/applause)
Thank you.

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(Child 2) Who were the four people 
on the George Washington Cabinet?

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Jefferson, Knox, Hamilton and Randolph.

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(Cheering)

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(Narrator) Along with these 
displays of extraordinary ability,

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the Peeks preach a message about disability.

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(Fran) They don't have to be 
handicapped to be different.

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Everybody is different.

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(Laughter)
Thank you-

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(Narrator) Kim's Gifts come at a price.

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Nope, we have to--
Whuuuuuh

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(Kim) No on this side!

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(Fran) Kim, they're trying to keep you on the camera 
and you've got to be over here to be on camera.

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(Kim) I have to be on camera on this side!

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(Fran) No- right here, right here. 
Okay, will you calm down now?

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Yes, I tell ya, either side. Okay,

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(Narrator) Like all savants, Kim is an acutely different man.

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(Kim grunting)

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Sometimes understanding Kim can be a challenge.

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(Kim) I do-I-I-I can do it. That's what I'm doing! 
Now you're starting, now you know it!

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(frustrated groans)

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(Narrator) Fran's patience is phenomenal.

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(Kim) Now you get it. 
(Fran) Well, yeah.

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(Fran) Well, occasionally I get impatient with him,
if he gets stuck on something that,

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I have a hard time breaking him off of and 
he's getting very, very, uh, tense about it.

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Or he's just yelling and he has those 
pop-ups every once in a while.

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(Kim) They'll have to legalize immigration.

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(Fran) They already have it legalized.

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It never takes more than 10 or 15 minutes to get 
him changed to another subject and then he calms down.

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(Kim) But some people believe that 
Mexico might attack us. They can't!

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(Narrator) Looking after Kim is 
more than a full time job.

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(Fran) Only about 30 hours a day.

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Hm, no. 30 hours a day and 10 days a week-

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That's what most parents who have 
children with disabilities feel like.

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That's kind of like what they're scheduled for.

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(Narrator) Kim knows how essential his dad is to him.

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My dad and I share the same shadow.

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(Narrator) This year is especially 
important for to Kim and Fran.

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(Kim) Things will really heat up this winter 
with my dad approaching 80.

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Only one other member of my dad's immediate
family has ever reached that mark-

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and it's my grandma- whew.

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Which makes this year so important to us.

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Each...

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(music)

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(Narrator) So, this year, the Peeks have set themselves a 
mission to find out everything they can about Kim's brain.

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(Kim- Dah dah dahhh)
They're going on a road trip down the coast of California

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to meet some of the world's foremost neuroscientists 
and find some answers while they're still together.

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(Man) You remember all kinds of information 
which is very difficult for most of us to hold in our minds.

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How do you do that?

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(Kim) Th-They're still unable to find out 
w-what all this is about, aren't they dad?

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(Fran) Get all that sticky stuff out of there-

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(Kim) A-All, he did it!

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(Fran) He did it and he did a good job.
(Kim laughs)

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(Narrator) 54 year-old savant Kim Peek spends 
all his time in his father's- Fran's- company.

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Kim is celebrated for his remarkable memory,
but he needs his father's help living everyday life.

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(Kim) It's great to see those, folks.
All of them.

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(Narrator) The Peeks have lived in
Salt Lake City, Utah, all of Kim's life.

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The public library here is Kim's
favorite place in the world.

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Kim devours books on 
anything and everything.

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As many as 8 in a day.

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(Kim- laughing, humming)

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(Fran) He reads a page that you and I would read
in three minutes, it takes about 8-10 seconds.

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He reads left pages left eyed, right pages right eye
and remembers about 98% of it.

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(Classical music)

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He has 15 (inaudible)

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When I explain him to people, I try to say,
'about the only thing he can't do-

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he can't reason out mathematical problems.

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(Classical music)