"As Good as it Gets" character had HFA?

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Do you remember that famous film from the late '90s with Jack Nicholson (as Melvin Udall), "As Good as it Gets"?
I've heard it mentioned in more than one source that he may have had HFA (formerly Aspergers), but I saw him as many people did as more OCD. I've got HFA but in a mild-moderate form and have passed for NT in most cases, but I did see a bit of him in myself when I got somewhat bitter about seemingly arbitrary customs and "polite" exchanges that I saw as hypocritical and masking of reality. I got kind of angry about the paradox that we with HFA are seen as irrational, yet we are the ones who tend to be more candid about expressing reality in an unrepentant way, whereas others make up reality to suit the situation (i.e. avoiding "taboo" slants, appeasing the other person, etc.) which *we* find irrational.

So, I had some "Melvin moments" in my past where I unrepentantly expressed my thoughts on something to the chagrin of others, just not giving a damn; I suppose it was due to cynicism that people were gonna reject me anyway so what's the point, might as well make my own perverse amusement. I think Melvin was like that in his dealings with people, although I disagreed with his racism and homophobia as that's contrary to my values. Trouble is, as my therapist validated at the time, that I was really broadcasting to others that I was a "bitter bully victim" who wanted to lash out at others and "pay it forward" to a target undeserving. I had to agree with him there. Especially since these "Melvin moments" were in my 20s, just after the film came out and just before my diagnosis. One's early 20s can especially be a bit of a minefield, for young males, where offending somebody could get you assaulted b/c of hormones and the need to look good in front of peers and female prospects. So I'm glad it never quite culminated in that but there were a few close calls.

Melvin was also an intellectual type who was a successful author but was a loner so I can see how the stereotype fits there too. He was a total misanthrope and probably was a decades-long incel as much as I hate using that awful word. But I'd conclude that most of his eccentric behaviours weren't due to ASD/HFA per se, but rather due to the compounding effects of it, i.e. being disillusioned at the superficial world and wanting to fight back in a way. Since after all, the conventional insulting behaviours of ASD/HFA are unwittingly offending others, whereas with this guy it was like 95% intentional

I have always seen him that way.

I think he is a character with Aspergers who copes with it by using OCD behaviors, which could be seen as a form of slimming or self comfort. We don’t hear classic OCD justifications in the movie, such as if he thought the world would end if he didn’t wash his hands 26 times. He may have been afraid of germs, but it makes sense to be afraid of germs. I don’t think it’s fair to say a fear of germs is delusional, even if it might veer into irrational.

If you take things apart at a very base level, there are lots of things that could make a person blurt out the wrong thing or have an odd behavior. But on the whole, I have always gotten the impression that he was an undiagnosed autistic, probably diagnosed with OCD and anxiety, which I would say were secondary to autism.