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Kim Peek - The Real Rain Man [1/5]

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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)
Title:
Kim Peek - The Real Rain Man [1/5]
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Duration:
10:50

English subtitles

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