3 Idiots Movie History

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Lcs Basinger

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Aug 3, 2024, 5:22:02 PM8/3/24
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Many of us have occasion to express displeasure with the actions or behavior of another, and in order to do so sometimes choose to impugn that person's level of intelligence with a choice insulting word or two. (Or way more than two! It depends.) We're fine with that, but would like to point out that a certain contingent of go-to insults have a history of clinical use which makes them less desirable to use than others.

Of these three words moron is the newest (it dates to the early 20th century), and the only one coined specifically for the purpose of medical diagnosis. The word comes from the Greek mōros, meaning "foolish, stupid," and shares this etymology with words such as sophomore ("a student in the second year at college or a 4-year secondary school") and morosoph ("a learned fool").

Imbecile began its life in English in the 16th century as an adjective, and meant "weak, feeble" (the word comes from the Latin imbecillus, "weak, weak-minded"). It wasn't until the early 19th century that the word began to be used as a noun.

Idiot, from the Greek idios ("private" or "one's own"), is the oldest of these words, and has been in continual use since the 14th century. Over the years idiot has taken on a number of meanings, ranging from "an ignorant or unschooled person" to "jester, professional fool" to "Stimpy" (of "Ren and" fame). And since at least the 17th century the word has been used in theater in a colloquial insulting sense similar to how it is often heard today.

The clinical applications of these words is now a thing of the past, and we hope no one reading this would be so callous as to try to resurrect their use. The generalized use of all three of these terms is well established in our language, and they may be found used as terms of opprobrium for someone who acts stupidly, but who is not necessarily cognitively impaired.

If you choose to use these words in some hierarchical order to separate those drivers who cut you off on the highway from those who merely fail to turn off their blinkers, we're not in a position to stop you. However, we will point out that the English language is broad and magnificent enough that when you really need to lay into someone, you may do so in a properly considerate manner, and without resorting to potentially offensive and antiquated psychological jargon. Jobbernowl, loblolly, driveler ... these offer just a glimpse of the many non-clinical ways our language has of referring to those chuckleheads in your way.

'Idiot' was formerly a technical term in legal and psychiatric contexts for some kinds of profound intellectual disability where the mental age is two years or less, and the person cannot guard themself against common physical dangers. The term was gradually replaced by 'profound mental retardation', which has since been replaced by other terms.[1] Along with terms like moron, imbecile, retard and cretin, its use to describe people with mental disabilities is considered archaic and offensive.[2] Moral idiocy refers to a moral disability.

The word "idiot" ultimately comes from the Greek noun ἰδιώτης idiōtēs 'a private person, individual' (as opposed to the state), 'a private citizen' (as opposed to someone with a political office), 'a common man', 'a person lacking professional skill, layman', later 'unskilled', 'ignorant', derived from the adjective ἴδιος idios 'personal' (not public, not shared).[3][4] In Latin, idiota was borrowed in the meaning 'uneducated', 'ignorant', 'common',[5] and in Late Latin came to mean 'crude, illiterate, ignorant'.[6] In French, it kept the meaning of 'illiterate', 'ignorant', and added the meaning 'stupid' in the 13th century.[7] In English, it added the meaning 'mentally deficient' in the 14th century.[2]

Many political commentators, starting as early as 1856, have interpreted the word "idiot" as reflecting the Ancient Athenians' attitudes to civic participation and private life, combining the ancient meaning of 'private citizen' with the modern meaning 'fool' to conclude that the Greeks used the word to say that it is selfish and foolish not to participate in public life.[8] But this is not how the Greeks used the word.

In 19th- and early 20th-century medicine and psychology, an "idiot" was a person with a very profound intellectual disability, being diagnosed with "idiocy". In the early 1900s, Dr. Henry H. Goddard proposed a classification system for intellectual disability based on the Binet-Simon concept of mental age. Individuals with the lowest mental age level (less than three years) were identified as idiots; imbeciles had a mental age of three to seven years, and morons had a mental age of seven to ten years.[12] The term "idiot" was used to refer to people having an IQ below 30[citation needed][13][14] IQ, or intelligence quotient, was originally determined by dividing a person's mental age, as determined by standardized tests, by their actual age. The concept of mental age has fallen into disfavor, though, and IQ is now determined on the basis of statistical distributions.[15]

Until 2007, the California Penal Code Section 26 stated that "Idiots" were one of six types of people who are not capable of committing crimes. In 2007 the code was amended to read "persons who are mentally incapacitated."[17] In 2008, Iowa voters passed a measure replacing "idiot, or insane person" in the State's constitution with "person adjudged mentally incompetent."[18]

The constitution of the state of Arkansas was amended in the general election of 2008 to, among other things, repeal a provision (Article 3, Section 5) which had until its repeal prohibited "idiots or insane persons" from voting.[22]

A few authors have used "idiot" characters in novels, plays and poetry. Often these characters are used to highlight or indicate something else (allegory). Examples of such usage are William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and William Wordsworth's The Idiot Boy. Idiot characters in literature are often confused with or subsumed within mad or lunatic characters. The most common intersection between these two categories of mental impairment occurs in the polemic surrounding Edmund from William Shakespeare's King Lear.

In Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Idiot the title refers to the central character Prince Myshkin, a man whose innocence, kindness and humility, combined with his occasional epileptic symptoms, cause many in the corrupt, egoistic culture around him to mistakenly assume that he lacks intelligence. In The Antichrist, Nietzsche applies the word 'idiot' to Jesus in a comparable fashion, almost certainly in an allusion to Dostoevsky's use of the word:[23] "One has to regret that no Dostoevsky lived in the neighbourhood of this most interesting dcadent; I mean someone who could feel the thrilling fascination of such a combination of the sublime, the sick and the childish."[24][25]

3 Idiots is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, co-written by Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Adapted loosely from Chetan Bhagat's novel Five Point Someone,[5] the film stars Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi in the titular roles, marking their reunion three years after Rang De Basanti (2006), while Kareena Kapoor, Boman Irani and Omi Vaidya appear in pivotal roles. Narrated through two parallel dramas, one in the present and the other set ten years in the past, the story follows the friendship of three students at an Indian engineering college and is a satire about the social pressures under the Indian education system.[6][7][8]

Produced by Chopra under the banner Vinod Chopra Films,[9][10] 3 Idiots incorporated real Indian inventions created by Remya Jose,[11] Mohammad Idris,[12] Jahangir Painter[13] and Sonam Wangchuk, the latter of whom also inspired Khan's character.[14]

At the 57th National Film Awards, 3 Idiots won 3 National Film Awards, including Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Additionally, the film received 11 nominations at the 55th Filmfare Awards, including Best Actor (Khan), Best Actress (Kapoor) and Best Supporting Actor (Madhavan and Joshi), and won a leading 6 awards (tying with Dev.D), including Best Film, Best Director (Hirani) and Best Supporting Actor (Irani). Overseas, it won the Grand Prize at Japan's Videoyasan Awards,[19][20][16] while it was nominated for Best Outstanding Foreign Language Film at the Japan Academy Awards[21][22] and Best Foreign Film at China's Beijing International Film Festival.[23]

3 Idiots is now considered to be among the greatest Indian films ever made.[24] The film also had a social impact on attitudes toward education in India,[25] as well as in other Asian countries such as China and South Korea.[7] It was remade in Tamil as Nanban (2012), which also received critical praise and commercial success.[26][27] A Mexican remake, 3 Idiotas, was also released in 2017.[28]

Chatur Ramalingam, a successful vice-president, reminds his old college friends Farhan Qureshi and Raju Rastogi about a bet he made with their classmate Rancho ten years ago. Chatur has returned to India to conclude a business deal with Phunsukh Wangdu, a famous inventor. The three go to Shimla to find Rancho, reminiscing about their time at the Imperial College of Engineering (ICE) in Delhi.

In college, Rancho was passionate about learning and often clashed with the strict college president, Dr. Viru Sahastrabuddhe ("Virus"). When a student named Joy Lobo is denied graduation by Virus for not submitting a project, Rancho tries to help but finds Joy has committed suicide by hanging. Rancho confronts Virus about the intense pressure on students, but Virus dismisses him.

One night, Rancho, Farhan, and Raju crash a wedding party, not realising it is for Virus's daughter Mona. Mona's younger sister, Pia, is initially upset with Rancho but starts liking him after he exposes her materialistic fianc Suhas. Pia breaks up with Suhas. Virus warns Farhan and Raju about associating with Rancho, so Raju moves in with Chatur, a competitive student who relies on rote learning. Rancho and Farhan prank Chatur by altering his Hindi speech, leading to his humiliation. Furious, Chatur challenges Rancho to see who is more successful in ten years.

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