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Movies About Aspergers Syndrome or Autism

A movie I saw bout a year ago. I think it was called A Joyfull Noise. It's not about Asperger's but it has a character in it that has Asperger's. When I saw it I had never heard of Asperger's. I had long wondered what my son had going on that made him 'different'. when I saw this movei the kid with Asperger's really reminded me of my son in ways and I put it int he back of my mind that may be a clue to what my son had. Now my son has an upcomeing evaluation due to problems he's been haveing I felt he may need some diagnosis. so I googled Asperger's due to remembering the movie character. Thats how I learned what Asperger's was and started readding a lot and KNEW it's what my sons has.... and also what brought me to this Forum.... this is all like three weeks ago.

This movie has Dolly Partin. She is a grandmother. She is in a church musical group. One of the other members has a son who is the Asperger's character.
 
The best movies with an Aspie/Autistic character don't explicitly mention Aspergers or Autism. Sometimes I wonder if the creators knew there character was Aspie, or one was Aspie himself, and wrote in the characteristics intuitively.
 
Ste11aeres said:
The best movies with an Aspie/Autistic character don't explicitly mention Aspergers or Autism. Sometimes I wonder if the creators knew there character was Aspie, or one was Aspie himself, and wrote in the characteristics intuitively.
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I agree. I had the feeling recently that in The Village one of the main characters were an aspie, and after rewatching it today I confirmed: Lucius Hunt is for sure an aspie, though they don't explicitly say that (they culture is supposed to be like medieval). Instead what's said in the movie is that he's "different from other young guys".

I liked the scene when a girl tells him very excited that she's in love with him, hoping that he will react with joy; instead he just keeps standing with a expressionless face, scared and without saying anything. Then the next scene shows her crying in her bed... :P
 
There was a Twitter Tweet today, maybe Huffington Post, a documentary is being made about some severe Autistic boys in Newark N.J. These kids are black, in High School, 6 of them. They range from one in need of full-time assistance to one who is barely not quite able to get by on his own. The intent of the documentary is to empathize the amount of effort being done to help them while they are in the school system and how they are abandoned by society when they graduate. The people behind the documentary are trying to get the attention of everyone and encourage creation and other developement of social mechanisms to assist Autistics when they must survive on their own.

It was noted that most Autistic movies, documentaries, studies-- concentrate on Caucasian individuals whose families have some or a substantial amount of money. The kids in this documentary are from dysfunctional and ultra-poor famlies.

Sorry that my own shortcomings are that I cannot remember more. I tend to 'recognize', but names and often precise wordings are lost for me.
 
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Catherine (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) in the 2005 movie Proof?

Being a math grad, I thought that she played a mathematician really well - obsessive interest, geeky mannerism, social awkwardness etc. Now that I've become aware of aspergers, it seems that that is what she is playing.

I thought it was an excellent movie, it really captures the math thing.
 
Best EVER series with the main character Aspie police woman
The Bridge (Norweigan) the USA / Mexico did a version (based on international cooperation of neighbouring counties with a series of murders)

the USA / Mexico version is pretty current - might even be showing now soon or recently
 
The old classic Rain Man is pretty good. I can see myself about half as severe as him without my daily intake of vitamins to support healthy mental and nervous system functioning.

I would like to watch it again but I have no choice living with my parents here - they have control of the TV. Maybe I can see it in segments when they go for their almost daily rides.
 
Ste11aeres said:
The best movies with an Aspie/Autistic character don't explicitly mention Aspergers or Autism. Sometimes I wonder if the creators knew there character was Aspie, or one was Aspie himself, and wrote in the characteristics intuitively.
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I think this about tv shows as well. When I first learnt about the spectrum, I automatically started looking for autistics in the media. I know it isn't the subject, but as soon as I started looking, Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory stood out.

I guess the "not saying anything" could give us aspies a slight in-joke to talk about, which is kinda cool, but only if it is obvious. The ones where you just suspect are kind of annoying. I hate being uncertain about things.
 
Does Kramer from Seinfeld show some of the Aspie tendencies?

A lot of the comedy of that character seems to center around his being somewhat insulated from the people around him, which seems to be somewhat autistic/inward looking, and he does not seem able to learn from these encounters.

. Any views?
 
Sportster said:
Mary & Max

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One of those movies that's very good, but that you have to be in just the right mood to watch, or else it can set one off into deep depression.

Same goes for this French movie about two Aspies with social anxiety (the word Aspergers is not explicitely mentioned in the movie)
 
I made it an obsession of mine to find movies that were about ASD after my son was DXd. There is an Australian film called "The Black Balloon" that does a really good job of showing the life of a family with a teenaged LFASD character in it and how it affects the family dynamics. Adam was good, but sad. The Horse Boy was kind of annoying as it documents a family out to find a "cure" for their autistic child. There's a Bollywood movie called "Like Stars on Earth" where the boy is obviously ASD but they only talk about his being dyslexic, maybe because they have a different understanding of ASD in India, but it very accurately depicts a boy facing a world that is hostile toward him and his behaviors, until one teacher (who I believe is also on the spectrum) helps this boy. I really love this movie. Death Note is all about an Aspie who solves crimes - it's a Manga series that was made into an anime movie and a live action movie. They're all amazingly good. The Boy Who Could Fly is an oldie but goody. Family Pictures is a good movie about how having an autistic child causes rifts between family members - those who accept and care about the ASD child and those who want to shove them aside and pretend their life is normal. I know there are more but can't think of them right now. Re; Kramer on Seinfeld - On the Spectrum, for sure.
 
The Wizard? It has an autistic kid who can play Nintendo games very well but all he wants to do is get to some tourist trap in California featuring dinosaur statues.
 
Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has some type of Autism because he always day-dreams. One of the best representations of autism I have ever seen. The camera work is oscar-winning too!

It's a must see if you are autistic, and even if you aren't. Stiller acted and directed this film well, and portrayed it in an understanding way that anyone will get. I will definitely recommend this to a friend, and even to you Aspies! :)

I am not sure if Walter Mitty is mildly autistic, but the portrayal of the film makes it seem in a way that is understanding. I went through the whole film and nodded!
 
Rachel said:
I made it an obsession of mine to find movies that were about ASD after my son was DXd. There is an Australian film called "The Black Balloon" that does a really good job of showing the life of a family with a teenaged LFASD character in it and how it affects the family dynamics. Adam was good, but sad. The Horse Boy was kind of annoying as it documents a family out to find a "cure" for their autistic child. There's a Bollywood movie called "Like Stars on Earth" where the boy is obviously ASD but they only talk about his being dyslexic, maybe because they have a different understanding of ASD in India, but it very accurately depicts a boy facing a world that is hostile toward him and his behaviors, until one teacher (who I believe is also on the spectrum) helps this boy. I really love this movie. Death Note is all about an Aspie who solves crimes - it's a Manga series that was made into an anime movie and a live action movie. They're all amazingly good. The Boy Who Could Fly is an oldie but goody. Family Pictures is a good movie about how having an autistic child causes rifts between family members - those who accept and care about the ASD child and those who want to shove them aside and pretend their life is normal. I know there are more but can't think of them right now. Re; Kramer on Seinfeld - On the Spectrum, for sure.
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It's great to get all these suggestions from all of you - that way I can look for any of these titles here in my small town. It might be difficult to find one of these titles so that way I can make a list and find the one we have in stock. My work schedule is getting more demanding as we have to keep up a squeaky clean store and keep the garbage under strict control outside. Even after a long shift I have to check diesel prices.
Our movie rental shops are just barely surviving it seems, as so much movie viewing is from Netflix. So their choices might be narrow but it is worth searching for titles now with more choices available now.

Thanks Rachel and everyone else who made great suggestions.
 
Spinosaurus kin said:
I think this about tv shows as well. When I first learnt about the spectrum, I automatically started looking for autistics in the media. I know it isn't the subject, but as soon as I started looking, Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory stood out.

I guess the "not saying anything" could give us aspies a slight in-joke to talk about, which is kinda cool, but only if it is obvious. The ones where you just suspect are kind of annoying. I hate being uncertain about things.
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When I did research on Asperger's on Wikipedia, I found that Sheldon was mentioned late in the article. All he talks about is physics and science while talking in a monotone voice. When it comes to socializing he is quite awkward and makes a lot of faux-pas comments!!

When I was young I was constantly talking to my parents about science and especially the weather, my most intense special interest. When I saw a storm cloud I could tell them, "Here's a cumulonimbus cloud!"

What I found really interesting - just after my diagnosis of AS, I also suspected that my neighbour in Kamloops had it too, as he would constantly talk about computer games and animation, and insisted his kids and wife learn how to program these games! A lot of fights took place too. I will never forget the noise and arguments that took place. It is amazing that the programmer is still with his wife.
 
Spinosaurus kin said:
I think this about tv shows as well. When I first learnt about the spectrum, I automatically started looking for autistics in the media. I know it isn't the subject, but as soon as I started looking, Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory stood out.
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Yup, I think his character is a bit exaggerated for comedy's sake but it is shocking sometimes how well I get his eccentricities. This struck me with the first episode when he was like, "that's my seat. I always sit there." And then launched into a technical explanation of why. I have to admit his character helped me to identify a lot of my own oddities that I always thought were normal before I had ever even heard of Aspergers.
 
IContainMultitudes said:
I'm kind of worried if I told very many people I know about being on the autism spectrum, they'd probably ask me to multiply big numbers in my head or something like that when I'm actually fairly mathematically inept and pretty much have to use a calculator for everything. :twitcy:

I haven't seen it in a long time, but I was thinking a few days ago about how the Steve Buscemi character in the movie Ghost World seems slightly aspie-like, especially with the way that he seems slightly trapped by his special interests (IIRC, at one point he even says "I don't like my interests").
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I wanted to marry his character, LOL. He was so awesome. :-D
 
AngelOfHearts said:
Temple Grandin it a true story and she has books published
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My older sister gave me a book by Temple Grandin called DIFFERENT-NOT LESS. This book has wonderful personal biographies by people on the autism spectrum. I recommend it to everyone on this forum!
 
Droopy said:
What movies would you recommend that are about, or have, an Aspergers Syndrome / Autism theme? It seems that a lot of people have differentiating opinions on what movies are good and have accurate representations.
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Try watching the Soloist, with Jamie Foxx, wonderful movie that shows the fierce spirit and independence of many people with autism, especially high functioning autism. I love that movie, but can not watch it often, it makes me cry.
 
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