What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Question: After burning the house, where does everyone live for the next year? Gilbert's voiceover says that Arnie is about to turn nineteen, so a year has passed. Amy has just gotten the bakery manager job, and Gilbert and Arnie are waiting for Becky. So what did they do between their mother's death and the "one year later" scene?

Question: The very last scene shows Becky with longer hair than she previously had and Arnie with shorter hair. Which one, if either, is wearing a wig and did they shoot this scene first or last?

Answer: They shot it last and they didn't wear wigs.

Question: When Gilbert and Arnie first meet Becky they tell her that Arnie's birthday is in 6 days. It is indicated that Mr. Carver dies and is buried sometime in between then, but if he died say two or three days before the party normally it would take about a week to plan a funeral. Are funerals planned quickly in smaller towns in the real world or is it just for the film?

Answer: I don't know where you are from but here in the Northeast United States, funerals are planned and completed in 3-4 days. The Jewish bury their loved ones within 36 hours.

MovieFan612

Question: It's stated a couple times in the movie that Arnie could die at any moment. Pardon my ignorance, but why exactly is this? Is there something about his condition that makes him highly susceptible to dropping dead, or is it a matter of his behavioral impulses (such as climbing the water tower) that put him at a high risk of dying in an accident?

Phaneron

Chosen answer: It's because of his often reckless behavior; it's never implied within the film that his unique condition has anything to do the likelihood that he could "go at any time."

zendaddy621

Answer: In the beginning, Gilbert explains that the doctors said Arnie will only live till 10 years old, and that he is well past that, so he "could go at any time."

Question: When Gilbert and Becky get ice creams, why does Becky suddenly want to trade cones with him?

Answer: She may have been allowed to have a sample of his ice cream, and decided that she liked it better than hers, so she traded.

Visible crew/equipment: After the funeral, while Gilbert and Mrs. Carver are talking in the store, she says "Everybody thinks I killed him." After she says this, you can see a microphone dip down into view.

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Trivia: During the scene where Darlene Cates (Mama) climbed the staircase, she climbed only the first two or three steps. This footage was reused to show her climbing the entire staircase. The room which served as her upstairs bedroom was actually a downstairs room.

MovieFan612

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