1. Artefacts of Disability
http://4995artifacts.blogspot.co.uk/2008/04/sloth.html
The 1985 film, Goonies is an underdog story ofa group ofteenagers who band together to
keep their homes from being bulldozed and turnedinto a golfcourseby wealthy land
developers. During the film, the audience meets Sloth, a large, disfigured man, and part ofthe
villainous Fratelli family.With his asymmetrical eyes,odd-shaped head, and incrediblebrute
strength, Sloth is unique enough, but added to that is the monstrous treatmenthe receives
from his mother and brothers—they chain him to a wall in a damp basement—and an
apparent mental disorder.
In an introduction worthy ofDr. Frankenstein’s monster, he rattles his chains and howls from
his small, dark cell, frightening any person who wanderspast. During the film, he becomes a
hero as he helps save the main characters from his own family through his friendship with the character, Chunk.
Chunk even adopts Sloth at the end ofthe movie. Sloth’s story has a very happy ending,as does the film.
I have always loved the movie Goonies sinceI was a little girl, and the characterofSloth provides some ofthe most
memorablemoments.For many years, Sloth terrified me. His introduction always made me jump, and I could not
understand how someone couldlook like he did. It was not until I was older that I realized that someone und erheavy
make-up was playing Sloth.
The friendship that develops between Sloth and Chunk is one of the best parts ofthe film; Chunk is almost utterly
unlikable to me, and so his attachment to Sloth, and viceversa, is his one redeeming quality. Between t he two ofthem,
the underdog themegets a completely new angle.Not only are thosetwo characters part ofthe lower class in the film,
they are even the lowest in their close groups. Both are made to feel and seem like outsiders only useful for the
entertainment ofothers. Chunk has his “truffle shuffle,” an embarrassing dance his friends make his perform,and
Sloth’s brothers enjoy playing cruel jokes on him and using his mental disability for theiramusement.
From a technical standpoint, ifSloth had really existed, he would likely have been a part ofsome sort offreak show.
His physical and mental disabilities would havemade him a prime target for slick, traveling showmen. Add in the
unkind family he is shown to have in the film, and it is clear that he would havebeen easily sold offfor profit. People
like Sloth have often been hidden away by family members or otherwise kept out ofthe way, and Sloth would have
been no exception.
His connection with Chunk forms from this stigma placed on the overweight boy and the monstrous relative. The bond
that forms between the two shows just how close two peoplecan be even with extremely different shortcomings or
stigmas. Sloth is the catalyst that helps Chunk realize his full potential and save his friends, thu s proving that even the
people from whom the least is expected can reach their potential in the end. Whether these characters are simple
caricatureor complex representationsofthe underdog must be decidedby each person who views the film. In the
mean time, I am sure Sloth will live on as one ofthe most memorableparts ofthe movie, and a significant pieceofpop
culture history.
