I don't know if it's gentleness or laziness. Our Maine Coon is proof of the theory of evolution- he is evolving into a throw-rug.
They're great cats, though, and anyone who sees them for the first time is shocked at their size. Our vet has a breeding stud Maine Coon that weighs 25 pounds. Plus, they're disturbingly intelligent. Ours has figured out how to open closed doors using door handles.
BUMP!
My family member has a Maine Coon who does that also, the cat climbs the screen, grabs the door handle kicks the door frame to open the door, then swings on the handle and tosses herself outside.
The first day I was there they told me to keep the front door closed to keep the cat in, so I left the screen door closed. I was standing outside and watched a cat fly out the door from 3 feet it the air, to screams of "who left the door open?!". Luckily the cat only eats cat food so she came back in a few hours.
Does your Coon do something similarly amazing?
Brian grasped the doorknow principle perfectly - he'd get up on his back legs and put one front paw on each side of the knob. If he'd been able to get any traction on it, it would have worked.