Flowers for Algernon story
A mentally retarded adult is selected to undergo a surgical procedure that boots his intelligence to genius levels as it did for Algernon, a laboratory mouse who also underwent the same procedure. It is the second screen adaptation of Daniel Keyes' 1966 novel of the same name following the 1968 film Charly.
17 total · 5 major · 12 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| ignorance is bliss | major | The mentally challenged man Charly was leading a contented life until such time as he underwent an intelligence boosting operation. |
| intelligence augmentation technology | major | The intellectually challenged man Charly underwent a surgical procedure that gave him genius level intelligence. |
| mental retardation | major | The intellectually challenged man Charly underwent a surgical procedure that boosted his intelligence to genius levels. |
| student and teacher romance | major | Things got hot and heavy between Charly and his former teacher Alice. |
| what it is like to be different | major | The mentally challenged man Charly longed to be a normal member of society after he got an intelligence boosting operation. He found, however, that he didn't fit in any better when he was a genius than he did when he was mentally challenged. |
| childhood trauma | minor | Charly had flashbacks to some traumatic events he suffered in childhood. |
| coping with a bad hangover | minor | Alice fixed Charly a coffee when he was nursing a hangover after a night of drinking and dancing. |
| cruelty | minor | Charly's coworkers at the bakery were especially cruel to him. |
| embarrassment | minor | Genius Charly was mortified when a video of him from his mentally challenged days was shown to an audience. |
| EQ vs. IQ | minor | Charly's emotional development lagged behind his intellectual development.. |