"Mozart and the Whale" was released in theaters in Spokane, WA on April 14th. It lasted two weeks at five theaters, one of which is still playing it at least through May 13th. The studio is not taking it to other cities as the response was not what it wanted. But I am not sure if they won't eventually expand to other cities. It will have an audience somehow; TV, payforview, DVD whatever.
I hear MATW will get a theater release in Norway, home of director, Petter Naess, in September.
Jerry Newport aka The Whale
[quote="FitzRoy"]Is there a legal source for DVDs?
Not in the USA.
The Whale
Kalo said "I believe that Mozart and the Whale is about Jerry's own struggle and triumphs living with AS, however it doesn't represent others whom struggle and what is worst is we have actors portraying autistic people.
The last thing I want to hear is "hey there is no way you have AS" because you don't act like that guy Jerry Newport in Mozart And The Whale!"
See the film first, then decide.
Well, there is no guy called "Jerry Newport" in MATW. The male lead uses a fictional name. I am proud of what the movie attempted to do. It painted the autism and asperger canvass with a much broader brush, especially the adult area, than any other movie. There are several diverse and good examples shown of aspergers and more typical autism, a whole support group. The movie is NOT just about one person.
Like Amy said, Kalen, you should see the movie first.
Jerry Newport aka The Whale
I hope to see it on DVD but am bummed out that the people that made the website for it couldn't have been more respectful. The links page includes NAAR, CAN and ARI.
Marie
Those organizations are there because I allowed them to be there. I wanted this movie to reach as wide an audience as possible. It was not filmed to serve a tiny PC audience. The kind of people suckered into those groups are just the type who really need to see a movie like this.
I did make sure that FAAAS was not on the link page. I also included peer-groups like ANI and AANE, which stab me in the back, personally, at every opportunity.
FYI, Jon Shestack, co-founder of CAN, loved the movie and tried to help us find a distributor. He has always been nice to me, a lot nicer than
many peers have been. He even offered free legal advice to me when I had some issues with the studio.
Jerry Newport aka The Whale
....what is worst is we have actors portraying autistic people.
Yeah it's like Al Jolson singing "Mammy" in blackface. This kind of thing would be considered offensive today so maybe things will change for us too.
That is way off base and insulting to a fine bunch of actors who liked the story so much they worked for merely SAG scale and not a penny more, to get it done under budget. That includes all of the actors, many of whom usually get paid far more.
They had unusual interest in making the movie. Gary Cole, often on "West Wing" , has a teenage autistic daugther, Josh had a longtime friend with an autistic cousin. I would not call Josh or his co-star, Radha Mitchell, completely NT but that is their business why.
You assume they were all NT. They weren't. not by a long shot.
A few of the other actors confided in me that the movie woke them up to their own issues and possible AS. I felt so comfortable with them on and off the set that they could have been a real support group for all I knew.
I was offered a cameo role in the movie too but the schedule never worked out so you are way too quick to assume the worst in this movie.
Jerry Newport
Thanks Jerry for the explanation. It reminded me of an experience I had years ago at the Civil Rights Musuem in Memphis. It was a very moving exhibit that leaves everyone in stunned silence when you reach the end to see the balcony where Dr. King was shot. Across the road in plain view were banners denouncing the museum. I assumed it was racists and was upset. When I asked about it in the gift shop I was told that it was put up by poor residents that were displaced for the museum(some if not all of them were black). I guess I should learn not to jump to conclusions. To the credit of the webmaster those sites that I mentioned are listed at the end.
There is way too much separatism on the autism internet. We have enough problems without automatically assuming every non-autistic person is out to get us.
Jerry Newport aka The Whale
Isn't it true that if you have a link to another web site on your page, that directs your traffic to their sites, and not the other way round? So how does linking to the curebies from the movie web site help to inform curebies about the movie? Doesn't it just promote curebies to the crowd who are interested in the movie? :?
Whale: It doesn't promote any groups. It lists groups and people can exercise their free will.
I noticed that here were links to Oops Wrong Medication Syndrome and Tony (Rose-Coloured Glasses) Attwood's site,
Whale: No, there is a link to Oops Wrong Planet syndrome unless a link was added that I am not aware of. As for Tony Attwood, I have no problem there. He took a weekend off to read the script and supported Mary and me on some changes that had to be made. He did that for free and didn't even get a credit. I don't totally agree with him but he belongs on the site.
and the arch-curebies, but where's the link to the AFF and Autistic Pride Day??? :?
The Whale: Lili, you conveniently forgot the links to AANE and ANI. You also are not aware of the fact that I asked for some more links to be added, including what you mentioned and because of a lull in the movie activity, nobody was doing anything with the site.
I have no control over that website so kindly take your complaints and unfair accusations to the studio.
Jerry Newport aka The Whale
I've never heard of AANE or ANI. I don't think those organisations have ever been featured in New Scientist magazine, or any magazine that I read, but the AFF have. Let's face it, organisations that are known of only amongst the world of autistics or parents of autistics aren't going to be the ones that will change the way AS is thought of in the general community.
I've never heard of AANE or ANI. I don't think those organisations have ever been featured in New Scientist magazine, or any magazine that I read, but the AFF have.
Jerry: Big deal. ANI is Autism Network International and was founded in 1992. It is easilly the biggest and longest-lasting peer-run group for autism in the world. AANE is the Aspergers Association of New England. It was founded by NTs but includes many aspies on its BOD. Neither is a curebie group at all.
I can't believe you never heard of ANI. That is really incredible.
Lilli: Let's face it, organisations that are known of only amongst the world of autistics or parents of autistics aren't going to be the ones that will change the way AS is thought of in the general community.
Jerry: I agree with you on that but be fair with your complaints. If the movie website really wanted to concentrate on curebie groups, why doesn't it have stuff like Generation Rescue, Unlocking Autism and Autism Speaks?
I guess the people who were responsible for the web site were NTs from the US with little knowledge of an autistic point of view who just wanted to offend the least number of people. One can't expect much from people like that.
I guess the people who were responsible for the web site were NTs from the US with little knowledge of an autistic point of view who just wanted to offend the least number of people. One can't expect much from people like that.
Well, at least the links page is entirely composed of links relevant to autism and aspergers which is more than I can see for the "MATW fansite" link page. I hate to break it to you but AFF is far from the only group in the UK that deserves to be on that link page. AFF is not really a viable group at all. It provides an electronic BBS and that is it which is nice but not nearly enough.
Lili, I challenge you to show me where auties from the UK are any less ignorant about groups in general than the NTs who set up that links site 
As far as the movie site goes: It is not surprising at all that a links site on a website for a movie aiming for theater distribution in the USA would concentrate on groups from that nation, not at all. It does a fine job of displaying links to most of the viable organizations without including the awful ones. I wish the "fansite" link page could say the same and am seriously considering disowning any association with that "fansite."
Jerry Newport
Jerry do what you like.
I have taken months battling to get a site removed that stole the content from my site, that had tons of ads on, that was very stressful and they even copied the links page too.
I didnt notice you noticing any of that.
Nor would I expect you too, yet now you care?
Jerry: You never told me about that.
Jerry, this site has no ads, where do you think the money is coming from to run it? Donations from profits from Mozart and the Whale?
Jerry: You never told me there was any cost at all. It is not my problem anyways. I never asked you to set it up.
No, its coming from other sites that we set up that DO have ads so that this site can stay ad free and provide a small amount of money to keep running it.
Or do I need permission to do that too?
No, it is your site and you can do anything you want with it, including having ads if necessary. I would just appreciate it if the links section was l imited to links relevant to the subject matter.
Jerry Newport
Why is it again and again, neurotypicals can set up (cure)organizations that practically hit the ground running.
That has nothing to do with superior organizational or social skills. It's because the curebies can easily get large amounts of funding by describing their groups as charities seeking to cure a tragic disease.
Unfortunately, donations are a lot harder to come by for groups that promote acceptance, respect, and equal rights. Diversity doesn't get nearly as much attention as fundraising campaigns that claim to be saving poor suffering children whose brains were stolen by a horrible plague, etc.
Amy, I LIKE your and Gareth's sites. I would probably click on all the links if I had the time. Someone else who might want to see stuff related to the movie might want to know which links to look at.
The bickering mostly occurs elsewhere which is why I come here. I know am being vague but I don't want to add any fuel to the fire.
Jerry mentioned that if someone has a complaint they should take it to the studio. Maybe we could all e-mail and ask that they include APD?
Jerry: That wouldn't hurt but I don't think at this time that anyone at the studio is minding the site at all. They probably won't until they know where the movie is going. I tried repeatedly to get AFF, GRASP and some other links added.
The links page for the site which Amy set up would be a lot less confusing if it was broken up into categories. After all, the site uses the title to the movie to attract people. Most of them want to find links about Asperger Syndrome. Other links to taxis, birds, Mozart, whales or whatever would actually be cool but it would be cooler if they were categorized.
Jerry Newport aka The Whale
There is a lot of passivity among us. I have had a lot of frustration with many support groups I set up because most people won't offer to help but they get passive-aggressive on me and other peer-facilitators.
There's a big difference between support groups and political advocacy groups. People go to support groups with the passive expectation that someone will help them to fix their personal problems.
the curebie organizations play the game better than we do. They have tax-exempt status and other features that attract donations.
That's a good point, Jerry. In the US (and probably other countries too), political groups aren't even eligible for tax-exempt status. So our groups would have to be described as educational groups and would have to be careful not to get too political, whereas the curebies can claim to be health charities, even though they are promoting eugenics.