MovieChat Forums > Manic (2003) Discussion > What did kenny 's father do in the offic...

What did kenny 's father do in the office ?


it looked like he was just huging him just curious ?

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i think he might of either been trying to suffocate him like....or the kid was sexually abused by his step dad....but i think his stepdad was trying to hurt him

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He was "uncomfortably" hugging him, is what I think was intended. It's a hard thing to convey something like that to an audience who hasn't necessarily experienced that kind of abuse and wouldn't understand what would set off such a reaction. I think just hugging him and getting too close made Kenny kind of flash back to those times.

Why he did it, I'm not sure. Maybe to send Kenny the message that he wasn't safe anywhere. All that water-skiing and playstation stuff was obviously just to get Kenny to get released, but by his reaction to him being there and not wanting Don Cheadle to leave, I think Kenny knew it wasn't right.

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I got the impression that Kenny's step-father was trying to "buy" him off due to several actions and reactions. 1) Stepping into his natural fathers role. 2) Abusing him (I senced sexually as well as mentally.) 3) Buying him things as a method to try and gain Kenny's acceptance of what he (stepfather) was doing to him. Like a pedophile luring a child with toys, candy, etc to keep things a secret.

The stepfather was obviously a threat to Kenny, and knew how to use it. Manipulation, humiliation, and exploiting Kenny's vulnerability. Ashamed that his new "son" was institutionalized only to deepen his (Kenny) already fragile state. Infusing deep depression with fear tactics. Kenny, seeing himself as a burdon and feeling already -dead-. In that scene, the stepfathers fake affection shocked/scared Kenny right back into the pit of despair he was supposedly sent to the institution to "correct". He did NOT want to be alone with him...

When I watched Manic (many times), this is the impression I got.

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the impression i got was that he DEFINATELY sexually molested him.

and i sort of figured on the uncomfertable hugging too; like, this old creep dad guy was probably getting a hard on and grinding poor kenny against him.

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I was left with a small impression that the step-father might have been worried about what Kenny might have said about him. Kenny mostly kept to himself, wasn't very talkative, etc. I think the step-father was worried about what the doctor knew, or might know.
---The only flaw with this idea is why they sent Kenny in the first place. I think it's possible Kenny's mother was the one who decided to send him, possibly because of his behavior. I don't think she knew the cause of it. So the step-father would be worried.

That's one possibility. Another that occured to me was that there is a great deal of stress some families deal with when they have a child in an institution (for lack of a better word) such as the one in the film. I think while Kenny was gone there may have been a series of arguements at home between the mother and step-father. I think the step-father was just in a silent rage, trying to almost kill Kenny in an ignorant,spur-of-the-moment attempt to resolve the problems the rest of the family has to deal with.

These are just two ideas. They could be shuffled around a bit to make a great deal more of possibilities, but I just don't have that much time.


Woooooooooooooooo!

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Alot of times i've come to learn if a parent or relative is abusive to a kid, sexually, mentally, or physically they will often times buy them things, usually expensive things they most likely wouldn't have all things considered, almost a way to bribe the kid into not telling anyone, or they do it to try and convince the kid that what's happening isn't a bad thing and if they go along with it, they can have nice things.

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Yeah he did sexually abuse him, thats why Lyle is so angry when he is with Tracy at the gates, he cant believe someone would do that to some kid.
What i got from the hug was, he was trying to like hug him in a sexual way.


I Am The Future Mrs Wolowitz

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that's the impression i got from the hug as well, you could tell even beforehand that kenny didn't want to be left alone with his stepdad because he knew his stepdad was going to try something.

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and i sort of figured on the uncomfertable hugging too; like, this old creep dad guy was probably getting a hard on and grinding poor kenny against him.


Oops, the wording there made me laugh so much.

Anyway I figured the Dad was just hugging him at first then started to squeeze him really tight, like crushing his chest. Probably making it hard for him to breathe. I reckon it was more a way to show the boy that he can hurt him and was intended to scare him into not saying anything.

I find it weird that the counsellor guy asked to speak to the dad alone instead of the boy. Did anyone else?
If someone looks like they have something to say but are scared surely you get them alone and let them confide in safety, rather than leaving them alone and talking to the other person (who obviously won't tell you what it is) ??



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In the movie when they place Kenny in another section of the hospital, They gotten into there group and were talking about what had happen. Lyle basically let the cat out of the bag when he said Kenny's stepdad had raped him, something I kind of had a feeling had happen to him the moment his and his dad had meet up in that room, you could tell that he wasn't comfortable. And in the group one of the kids said that he got what he derseved because he was messing with little kids.

It wasn't the way he was hugging him, it was who was hugging him. His father had obiviously hurt him and he couldn't open up about it. This was my first time watching it and I glad that I was able to pick up on it, yay me :D

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If Kenny had abused young boys (even if it's because of the abuse he suffered) the state probably put him in the institution.

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lol caughtintherain's response was the shortest but was what I definitely got out of it too. Buying him goodies and crap is all part of the molesting, sexually abusing game/manipulation.

And he was certainly hugging him in this perverted hard-on grinding way. Why he was dumb enough to do it right in front of the counselor, I have no clue. And Kenny did not want Don Cheadle to leave because he knows what his stepdad "does" to him when they are alone. He was probably afraid to speak up in front of him, but pleading Cheadle not to leave was enough.

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...was probably getting a hard on and grinding poor kenny against him.


That just made me kinda nauseous. Man, reality blows O_O

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The first impression I got was that the stepdad was the one who molested him. It was mentioned earlier that he was molested, just not by whom. However, it wouldn't make sense if it was the stepdad who molested him because they wouldn't allow him to visit Kenny, especially alone. The only explanation would be that affection and close contact with other people makes him very uncomfortable. A previous poster mentioned the stepdad trying to buy his affection and this makes sense, as does the fact that the stepdad gets frustrated with not being able to buy his way into Kenny's affection. Even still, the stepdad's reaction was a little too extreme for someone who is just frustrated; it seemed more like he couldn't control himself. If he was the person who molested Kenny, there had to be someone who knew. Since it's never revealed, it's hard to tell, but the acting implied that the stepdad was the molester. All in all, Kenny was my favorite character and every second he was on screen, I sympathized with him over anyone else.

Are you the clown?
No, I'm Mary *beep* Poppins.

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Obviously they just didnt know that he WAS molested in the first place.

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The way they were discussing what happened with Kenny in group after he was transferred, made it seem like no one knew exactly what happened to Kenny until after the visit with his step-dad.

Lyle was enraged to find out not only had Kenny been raped but it was by his step-dad who was let into the facility.

Cheadle's character explains in group that it was something he basically wasn't prepared for, because he obviously didn't know Kenny's whole story either.

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In my opinion, Kenny's dad raped him in the past, which may of been part of the reason why Kenny was receiving mental health treatment in the first place. When Kenny and his dad interfaced, (Cheadle) asked Kenny if he felt comfortable being alone with his dad, and Kenny obviously didn't. I think when his dad was hugging him, he started squeezing Kenny's back muscle, in a threatening way, basically hinting to Kenny - "You better not tell anyone what I did". It was a really weird and kinda sad scene.

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