Aspies For Freedom

The movie that I've waited forever to see is in my local DVD/video library now. I've seen it. I'm not sure what I think of it. I wish I wasn't so busy with the kiddies so I'd have time to watch it properly.

Have others who've already seen the movie discussed it already in some other thread? What did you think of it?

I felt that I could relate more to the male character than the female character.

Wasn't the female character a hairdresser? A hairdressing salon is most definitely not my natural habitat! I can't think of too many occupations that I feel less attracted to.

Yes she was.
But I suppose there are aspie women somewhere who identify with her, and at least she's not a stereotype.

I have seen some people some of whose perseverations had to do with fashion or hair.

And my aspie mother can cut hair like nobody's business.  Not that she has ever done if for a job, but she is good at it.

So it's definitely possible.

Regardless of whether admin wants me to add to this discussion, I'd like to say that I found the movie "Mozart and the Whale" to be memorable and engaging. From me that's a big compliment, as I'm not much of a movie-lover, but I do become very fond of some of those few movies that attain cult status. I've got the same feeling about this film that I have had with some foreign romantic movies that have gained big followings. Two days after watching it for the second time I find that music from the film is playing in my head and I'm remembering one of the most powerful scenes from the film. Why didn't the people who made this film get behind it and promote it?

On the first viewing of the film I had criticisms of the characterizations in the film, as being not as accurately autistic as Dustin Hoffman's Raymond, but as a whole I think it works. I also had serious doubts about the film because there isn't much of a story to it. It has the theme of "battling with autism" and a romance going on, but no story besides that, in contrast to films like the aspie romance "Amelie" that had the story about returning the toys, or "Rain Man" that was a road movie. But regardless, I thinks the film still works. I don't think the pop music was a liability, I think the pop music was needed to give the movie the kind of energy that it would have lacked due to it being a bit light-on with regard to the story. Instead of a compelling story the music held it together and moved it along. Well, that's how I saw it anyway.

One criticism of the film that I do want to make is about the constant references to "emotional dysfunction" of people with AS. The main male character in the film was the victim of discrimination, and thus was denied the right to use his considerable intellect in a decently-paid job. The female lead character was a victim of rape. Despite this the audience is still asked to believe that all of the troubles experienced by the characters is due to their inborn "emotional dysfunction" from AS. If the female lead were an NT, all of her troubles would be explained as being the result of being a rape victim, wouldn't they?

I think the idea was that hairdressing is seen to be an NT female (or gay male) profession.  Way too social for an aspie woman.  Think of all the perky/saucy/"attitude"-laden female hairdressers in movies.  This is why an AS female hairdresser seems odd at first glance.

Yeah but some people have "A-dar" and can find other Autistics in a crowd.  I remember reading about one person who told how other Autistics found her.  
I think I can somewhat tell who is on the spectrum just from watching people...  Or at least tell who is not NT.  
Some of my students, for example, are on some other spectrum all their own...

And yeah, some of the characters in the trailers that I saw were way too caricatured ... but, dude, I know some AS people who act more caricatured than that.

I think it would be more effective to have a film where the Aspie characters are not identified as such until close to the end of the movie.

Or never?  might be interesting too.

Like that dog in the night time book, although ... there were things i didn't like about that book ...

What a wild trip that would be!

I'm gonna take things way off topic (which may or may not be a good thing!), and perhaps into la-la land ... but ...

How likely do you guys think is the development of a sort of device to record dreams?  I have often had dreams that (in my probably deluded opinion) would have made great surrealist short films; I'm sure we all have.  But who has time/resources to make movies of their dreams?!  Only serious amateur and professional film-makers, with really interesting dreams that they remember.  Wouldn't it be great to just record our dreams straight out of the brain?  Then it would only be a question of editing to make it interesting.  

Also of course there is the security issue, what if you left the discs around and someone stole your dreams and used them against you ... well, but that's another issue entirely.

(if this is too totally loopy, please excuse... I will go have some more coffee and probably wish I hadn't written it.)

I thought the film had merit as a piece of entertainment, and also could have furthered the public's understanding of AS, because I think most people know jack about AS really.

I also think the parts of the film that had the support group in them did resemble a freak-show, and I've never in my life met anyone like some of those support group members. If these characters were closely based on real people, those people must have been waaaaay autistic, or must have had their heads horribly messed up by the psychiatric profession or psych drugs. I'm sure the freak-show effect was deliberately created by those who created the film, but I'd also add that things can get pretty weird and out of hand when real aspies get together. If anything I thought the support group was too cute and too eccentric.

So were the support groups that you have been involved with anything like the one in the movie? Have you seen the movie?

Tenaciouscj wrote

Footy games?  :?:

I just saw it. My random, disconnected thoughts on it:

The girl doesn't seem that aspie to me at all. She makes great eye contact and goes to some effort to make it.Watch the film again to see what I mean. He "laughs"(HAH!!!) drove me up a wall....I honestly could not hack being around soemone who was that prone to making loud, forceful sounds on an unexpected basis. She was sociable and had empathy and social savvy far beyond what I do...and I am frequently accused of pretending to be autistic, of being normal (an insult,IMHO).

The guy is quite a bit more akin to me. The whole eye squinting and aversion,the hand flapping, the triggers that stressed him out, etc. I could not believe that she cleaned his house without asking him and expected that to be OK!!! You would think another aspie would understand that!

I wonder if we actually do look that strange to outsiders. Maybe it's insulting because it cuts too close to home? People often ask me if i'm in painwhen I'm having a hard time filtering out background noise and processing verbal information. They look at me strangely. Unfortunately, I have an inkling that yeah, we DO look that strange to them.

And, I have worked professionally with autistics and some of them would look like a freak show to normals.  

My intitial overall feel of the movie is one of pain. It hurts me....it hurts that our life is this freaking hard,that people treat us badly, and that we  inadvertently muck things up more than we probably realize, and  that they can't just accept us for what we are.