Here’s our Take on what the Child Prodigy represents in our culture, and why we project our dreams and disillusionment onto these wunderkinds. Ultimately the disappointment the child prodigy feels when adult life doesn’t measure up to overhyped expectations is an exaggerated version of what we all feel as we age and so much potential fails to be realized. Will Hunting: “So what is it, Will has an attachment disorder? Fear of abandonment?” - Good Will Hunting (1997)Īnd these characters often falter as they grow up.
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Filmmakers tend to use child prodigies to explore the melancholy side of childhood. These gifted kids often seem to be robbed of a carefree childhood. Whether they’re strong writers or readers, brilliant with math, or unusually strong game-players, They usually have a specialty area. Narrator: “Chas Tenenbaum had, since elementary school, taken most of his meals in his room standing up at his desk with a cup of coffee to save time.” - Royal Tenenbaums (2001) Often, the child prodigy behaves like a mini adult and tends to speak with extraordinary verbal sophistication. Actual kid geniuses might not be so easy to pick out, but in popular culture, child prodigies stand out like sore thumbs from their “normal” peers - they don’t fit our expectations of how a child looks and acts. Looking at the Child Prodigy Type in movies, TV, and literature over the years, we can spot some patterns: Narrator: “She had not completed a play in seven years.” - Royal Tenenbaums (2001) But not everyone is born the same.” - Matilda (1996)Ĭhild prodigies are objects of enduring cultural fascination-are they born or made? Do they deserve our envy or our pity? And what happens to them when they become adults?
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Are child prodigies born or made? Do they deserve our envy or sympathy? And what happens when they grow up? In this video we take on the Child Prodigy trope on screen, what they represent in our culture, and why we project our dreams and disillusionment onto these wunderkinds.