The 1988 comedy-drama film “Rain Man” tells the story of an autistic savant named Raymond “Ray” Babbitt, portrayed by Dustin Hoffman.
Much of the film is an eye-opening revelation about the struggles of being an autistic person while unveiling the superb power of memory that an otherwise mentally-disabled Raymond possesses.
The film won four Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman, Best Picture for producer Mark Johnson, Best Director for Barry Levinson, and Best Screenplay for Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow.
It was not based on a true story, but the idea for the main character came about after Morrow met a real-life savant, Kim Peek.
Kim Peek could not brush his teeth and dress without help throughout his entire life. Due to his mental condition, he found metaphoric language baffling and conceptualization incomprehensible.
He had a lot of difficulties in socialization and communication, but very few (if any) individuals could match his memory brilliance. Kim Peek could read two facing pages of a book at once, each page with one eye, and remember every word.
10 /10 An Expert In Multiple Fields
Kim Peek, who died December 19, 2009, at the age of 58, probably had the world’s most significant capacious memories ever. His father, Fran Peek, said that Kim died of a heart attack.
Nearly all documented people with savant syndrome have extraordinary expertise in music, mathematics, art, or music.
Kim, however, was able to answer just about every question, from a trivial matter to the most arcane ones, on a wide range of subjects as diverse as geography, history, sports, and movies.
9 /10 The Mount Everest Of Memory
According to Dr. Darold A. Treffert, a research director specializing in autism and savant syndrome, Kim was the Mount Everest of memory.
Dr. Treffert made the remark not only based on medical diagnosis or MRI scan but because he had known Kim for 20 years. Kim memorized a large number of musical compositions and Shakespearean plays.
He was also a stickler for accuracy; when his father took him to performances, Kim would stand up and couldn’t help being pedantic; he would correct the musicians or actors. For that reason, his father had to stop taking him to plays.