Last night I was watching "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen", a comedy about a rich Yemeni sheik who wants to recreate a Scottish trout stream in the desert. There's some nice scenery and a few good fishing scenes especially at the end but mostly it is just talk, talk, talk.
The plot revolves around the young British woman who is the sheik's representative and a male British fisheries expert. Even though she has a boyfriend and he is married you just know they are made for each other and of course everyone else is supposed to be so understanding about it and just fade away into the sunset and leave the pair to themselves.
About midway through the movie she learns that her boyfriend, who has been posted to Afghanistan on a secret mission, has gone missing in action and may be dead. Right at this time the fisheries expert chooses to barge in on her. His excuse is it has to do with the salmon project. She asks him if he has Asperger's. That has to be the reason he is so insensitive and unemotional, etc., etc. Because only someone with Asperger's could act the way he does. He says, no, he does not have Asperger's. Because if he did she could say anything she wanted to about him and it wouldn't hurt his feelings because Asperger's people don't have feelings.
So. In this brief scene we have just learned some very important things about people with Asperger's. They are insensitive. They are incapable of emotion or empathy or any kind of feeling. They don't care what others say to them or about them, so it doesn't matter what you say or do to them. And--they do not hold prestigious jobs. They are invisible. It's not sure where they are but they are not members of society.
What if the fisheries expert had said in a matter of fact voice, "Yes, I do have Aspergers. And I am sorry for my poor timing. I didn't realize . . . but this is something I am working on?" Where would the movie have gone from there? Would their romance continue to flourish (whether it ought to, with him being married, is another story)? Or would the plot have come to a big screeching halt right there?
When I look at the movies I have seen that feature people who are on the spectrum I cannot think of any other than "Temple Grandin" that show them in a favorable light and contributing to society. And yet--I know I am preaching to the choir here--we are in all walks of life. In all ethnic and racial groups. We are everywhere. And our numbers are rising. There's no dispute about that. If the scriptwriters for "Salmon Fishing" were trying to raise awareness they failed by a long shot.
The plot revolves around the young British woman who is the sheik's representative and a male British fisheries expert. Even though she has a boyfriend and he is married you just know they are made for each other and of course everyone else is supposed to be so understanding about it and just fade away into the sunset and leave the pair to themselves.
About midway through the movie she learns that her boyfriend, who has been posted to Afghanistan on a secret mission, has gone missing in action and may be dead. Right at this time the fisheries expert chooses to barge in on her. His excuse is it has to do with the salmon project. She asks him if he has Asperger's. That has to be the reason he is so insensitive and unemotional, etc., etc. Because only someone with Asperger's could act the way he does. He says, no, he does not have Asperger's. Because if he did she could say anything she wanted to about him and it wouldn't hurt his feelings because Asperger's people don't have feelings.
So. In this brief scene we have just learned some very important things about people with Asperger's. They are insensitive. They are incapable of emotion or empathy or any kind of feeling. They don't care what others say to them or about them, so it doesn't matter what you say or do to them. And--they do not hold prestigious jobs. They are invisible. It's not sure where they are but they are not members of society.
What if the fisheries expert had said in a matter of fact voice, "Yes, I do have Aspergers. And I am sorry for my poor timing. I didn't realize . . . but this is something I am working on?" Where would the movie have gone from there? Would their romance continue to flourish (whether it ought to, with him being married, is another story)? Or would the plot have come to a big screeching halt right there?
When I look at the movies I have seen that feature people who are on the spectrum I cannot think of any other than "Temple Grandin" that show them in a favorable light and contributing to society. And yet--I know I am preaching to the choir here--we are in all walks of life. In all ethnic and racial groups. We are everywhere. And our numbers are rising. There's no dispute about that. If the scriptwriters for "Salmon Fishing" were trying to raise awareness they failed by a long shot.
