Mary & Max - your thoughts?

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Adam Elliot’s Mary & Max is a very interesting film I’ve watched. It portrays a long distance friendship between a young girl from Australia and an older man with Asperger’s from New York City. It’s a pretty hefty emotional rollercoaster, but one that many have also described as heartwarming.

After searching this site, I have seen passing mentions of this film, but nothing dedicated to discussing personal opinions. What are your thoughts on the movie, if any? If you haven’t seen it, I believe it is still free on Youtube with ads… which can be circumvented if you know what to do, of course.

Personally, the film has become one of my favorites I’ve seen. I relate to Max immensely, the relationship between the titular two is endearing, and the claymation is gorgeous. Though what should also be mentioned is that there is heavy subject matter that might turn some people away, mainly regarding substance abuse.

It was a very beaitiful film and one I could relate to having autism myself. Also I could relate to Mary in a way too because my best friends were always my penpals and every one of them are/were signifigantly older than me.

I find it easier to befriend older adults than I do young people because frankly young people irritate me with how selfish and cruel they can be. I should know.

I loved the story and the characters. It became really sentimental to me because of my friendship with another autistic person. The scene with all the letters on the wall still makes me tear up.

That being said, I can't stand computer animation and had a VERY hard time watching it visually.

One of the things I really loved about this movie was how it portrayed autism in a realistic and human way.

Most movies with autistic characters portray us as a burden to society who find redemption through some genius-level talent. Like we have to "prove" our worth yo society (and the fact is not everyone with autism is a geniue and that should be ok to accept )

Max felt like the most realistic portrayel of autism i ever saw on a movie, at least in my opinion. He was at a disadvantage in society like we all are, yet he was also highly intelligent despite some of his own flaws, and he did have a few flaws which mostly stemmed from his inability to "not get" the social norms around him (believe me I can SO relate to that with my autism!)

I liked Max because he was just trying to get by in life. He had at least a couple of people who cared about him like his penpal Mary and his elderly neighbor who was half-blind yet looked out for him as a kind of mother figure (reminds me of how the only person I really have to look out for my needs is my own mom).

But, yeah, I could see myself, after a few more decades, ending up like Max.

Actually I've not seen those, but I have seen Doc Martin and Rain Man.

walkingfundead and RedDeathFlower13...all good things...

I love that movie! Whenever I meet someone who doesn't understand Autism, I always suggest that they watch the movie.

Me too

It's a good movie, but I found some of the scenes/jokes jarring.

Everyone seems to have seen this - but me.

Neither have I.

If you are on the Spectrum then you might especially like the film:



I could easily end up like that.

I can't remember but do they actually say it's about Aspergers or do we just assume?

It's specifically about a man with Aspergers Syndrome who befriends a Neurotypical Girl living in Australia and they exhange letters as penpals for years. Much of the movie focuses on Max's life coping with his condition while Mary likewise copes with problems of her own growing up in poverty with an alcoholic mother and classmates who bully her.

Thanks. I've seen it so I know that, but do they actually use the word Aspergers in the film?