Asperger's Syndrome movie "Adam"
turtoni
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2009/08/08/aspergers_community_takes_adam_to_heart/
"Just a few weeks before the movie "Adam'' opened in theaters, the film's
director, Max Mayer, and its two stars, Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne, visited
Boston to host a sneak-preview screening.
The trio was nervous because it wasn't a typical audience viewing the film
that night. Most of the invited guests were affiliated with the Asperger's
Association of New England, which supports people with the neurological
disorder that affects the way a person processes information - specifically,
his or her social skills.
That's what "Adam'' is all about - a young man with Asperger syndrome,
played by "Confessions of a Shopaholic'' star Dancy, who falls for his
unlucky-in-love neighbor, portrayed by "Damages'' actress Byrne. As one
might expect, a love story involving a character with a social disorder isn't
a smooth one. Dancy's Adam doesn't know when to hug and eats the same thing
every day. He fails miserably at parties and begins screaming like a child
when he realizes he has been told a white lie. Within the first 20 minutes
of the film, Adam misses just about every social cue imaginable.
The screening in Boston was the first time the actors and director had shown
the film to a group that represented the Asperger's community. It was clear
based on the number of people who showed up that, even if "Adam'' didn't set
out to be a film that speaks on behalf of people with an often misunderstood
neurological disorder, it has become just that. Despite the growing
awareness of Asperger's, there are few examples of the condition in the
media. Save a few documentaries and an "America's Next Top Model''
contestant who had the syndrome, there isn't much out there that shows what
it means to have Asperger's.
"Awareness is one of our missions and there's nothing like a movie that does
well for awareness,'' said Dania Jekel, Asperger's Association of New
England's executive director.
What has been an intense reception of "Adam'' by the Asperger's community
makes sense to Mayer, who also wrote the film. He has a friend whose child
has the disorder, and he used to work at a camp with children who, looking
back, probably had the condition but were misdiagnosed at the time. Still,
it was never Mayer's mission to make a movie about Asperger's. Mayer
admitted after the screening that in his mind "Adam'' was always supposed to
be a simple love story. Giving a character Asperger's was simply a good way
to explore relationships in general. If his hero had trouble navigating
social interaction and the strange rhetoric of dating, how would he succeed
at love? And more important, is Adam so different than any other person
struggling to find emotional intimacy?
"I wanted to represent [Asperger's] well and I wanted it to be accurate, but
it was sort of a means to an end,'' Mayer explained in an interview after
the screening.
Dancy also admitted that, as an actor, he stayed away from considering the
implications of his portrayal of the disorder while he was shooting the
film. He did spend time with people with Asperger's before filming and did
some reading on the subject (he recommends the John Elder Robison book "Look
Me in the Eye''), but he also focused his attention on the love story. He
never pondered how "a room full of Aspies'' would take his performance.
"You can't afford to step outside and think of the implications,'' Dancy
said. "Now that we've done it, the fact that it has that message . . . it's
great.''
In the end, the movie went over well at the Asperger's Association
screening. Audience members praised Dancy's portrayal and Mayer's script.
Some people raised their hands to admit that they had committed many of the
character's social faux pas themselves.
Dancy and Byrne said that after the screening they were approached by a
young, attractive man who told them that because of his Asperger's he never
knows when women are flirting with him. He just can't figure out what they're
trying to tell him.
"He was like the real-life Adam. He was like, kind of good-looking and kind
of lovely,'' Byrne said, adding with a giggle. "Really awkward.''
Dancy liked him, too. "We all conferred after and said, 'He should have a
girlfriend.' He was charming, honest. . .''
Mayer and the actors said the positive reviews meant more coming from the
Asperger's audience. People with the disorder can have a tough time lying
just to be nice. That kind of politeness just isn't in their repertoire.
"We would have known,'' Dancy said, of bad reviews, adding that one woman in
the audience told him his work in the movie was "competent.''
jos boersema
You could just as well say that so-called "normal" people lack
the ability to speak the truth and lack the honesty to stick with it.
And lack the fortutide to get upset when people are lying. If people
where upset with lies, how much better would our politicians be ?
The very first lie and they're practically torn to shreds, as they
should be, right ? We need more Aspergers, all autists should go
into politics. Autists should audit the federal reserve and man
the financial institutions. hah. The more sensitive a job, the
stronger the level of autism should be to get it.
Maybe we have a resource here that we've ignored, but that we could
use as a weapon against corrupt politicians, bankers etc etc.
A person that can't lie ... wow, that is an asset worth "having."
turtoni
> On 2009-11-23, turtoni <turt...@fastmail.net> wrote:
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> > This is supposed to be an interesting movie about Asperger's Syndrome:
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Good idea's accept that the "Adam's" of this world are not very good
at detecting lies..
turtoni
> at detecting lies..
*typo fixed.
Often somebody with "Asperger's" will be pretty surprised by lies.
People like you and me know that the world turns on lies and that
typically, at least in "business" type transactions, "lies" are all
abound. It's the "normal" behavior so we take it into account. It's
all pretty complex. And the actual syndrome is obviously complex too,
to the point that we can't for certain say how it exactly plays out..
I guess it's basically a disfuction that has some interesting side
effects.
John Jones
You are saying that emotions and experiences of Aspergers people are
physical symptoms and disorders. This hidden prejudice might fool others
but it doesn't fool me.
Aspergers heralds a new age, a new initiative, in promoting the idea of
the perfect man.
ZerkonXXXX
> He never pondered how "a room full of Aspies'' would take his
> performance.
If: "The lack of demonstrated empathy is possibly the most dysfunctional
aspect of Asperger syndrome" and given "a room full of Aspies" are
watching your movie about Asperger's, I would say this would be a VERY
"tough crowd".
turtoni
Indeed. And they seemed to "like" it.