I first “met” Leonardo DiCaprio when I watched What’s Eating Gilbert Grape way back in 1994. He played “Arnie” with such realistic characterization that I was smitten, even though his face was smeared with dirt for half the movie.
At the time, all of America was raving about Forrest Gump, but I was disturbed that in many movies about people with disabilities, the character with a disability always had some kind of “super power” to make him more palatable. Rainman was exceptionally good at math, if not social skills. And “Forrest” could run so fast, he saved Lieutenant Dan’s life. I taught students with disabilities; there were no superheroes in my classroom, just beautiful kids whose minds worked differently and who struggled with extremely difficult circumstances.
Like the kids I knew, Arnie didn’t have any super powers. He had mental retardation, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape showed with unrelenting honesty the challenge of caring for a person with disabilities. Leo did a great job of portraying mental retardation and was rewarded with an Oscar nomination. Many nominations and years later, he finally got the trophy for Best Actor for 2015’s The Revenant, a survival story about a fur trader attacked by a bear and left for dead by his companions.
I didn’t know what a “revenant” was and had to look it up. If you like learning about new words, join the Wondrous Words Wednesday meme hosted by Kathy at Bermuda Onion.
revenant \rev·e·nant\ adjective, from the French revenir, to return
- one that returns after death or a long absence (Merriam-Webster)
And here, in a fan girl tribute to my favorite actor, are some movie posters from Leo’s filmography. Sadly, many of his movies I will never see because this girl doesn’t do scary or brutal violence. (Read: No Shutter Island or Gangs of New York for the Word Nerd.)
Word Nerd Workout
Can you share some unusual vocab you learned from a movie? Or, for more fun, can you guess what husband calls Leonardo DiCaprio? (Hint: he’s not fond of my adoration for the actor, and his name rhymes with the original. Change one letter in the first name and add one letter to the second.)
Thanks for playing!
I had to look up revenant back when my husband wanted to see the movie. It appealed to me – the definition that is. The story line – no thanks. He will watch on Netflix.
I enjoyed reading your thoughts on disabilities and admire your teaching of the mentally retarded. I’m sure your experiences will stay with you forever.
Thanks, Margot. 🙂
I didn’t know what revenant meant before this. As an aside, I think I saw Leo first in “Growing Pains” (this dates me, doesn’t it?). And my hubby doesn’t like him much either.
Then we are both dated the same. 😉
I didn’t know the meaning of revenant either. I’m sure I’ve learned plenty of words from movies but can’t think of any. I just realized I haven’t seen many of DiCaprio’s movies. Tell us what your husband calls him!
He lovingly calls him “Leotardo DiCraprio”. 😉
I’ve heard the word…of course…but I didn’t know what it meant. I’m with Dana….I won’t be seeing it either!
Hello, I really enjoy your blog! You’ve read a lot of the same books I have, so I just wanted to recommend some that I really love that you may not have read 🙂
-In The Woods by Tana French & its sequel The Likeness
-Eragon by Christopher Paolini
-The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
-Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren (YA Christian)
-Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
-Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
-All-American Girl by Meg Cabot
I absolutely adore these books, and I hope you have a chance to read them!
This looks like a great list! The boys in my house lvoe the Eragon series, and I’ve had a few other people recommend Meg Cabot. Thanks for taking the time to share all of these. 😉
I had to look up revenant also, saw the movie but my favoriye was titanic.
I had no idea with revenant meant, but it makes perfect sense now that I’ve read the summary of the movie. I will absolutely NOT be seeing that, no matter how good Leo is in it.
Does your husband call him DiCraprio?
You’ve got the second part right, Dana. Well done! 🙂
Good one~ didn’t know that! I also thought he did a great job in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape 🙂