I Hate Rain Man!

Post Reply New Topic

It wouldn't be so bad if society didn't use it was their refrence for autism. It's so annoying when someone finds out I am autistic and they ask, "You mean like Rainman?" No! Not like Rainman, dumbass! Another thing I don't get is that when Charlie takes him to the doctor, why does the doctor say he is "high functning"? If he is oh so "high functioning" why is he in an institution?

hate is a very strong word , unfortunately people seem to identify with the extremes of a disorder a movie about your basic complex Aspie is too subtle for basic public consumption.

Yeah but testosterone doesn't do the same things.

Adam > Rainman by a great margin.

I don't think asking people to perform feats is demeaning. It's perfectly normal for neurotypicals to do it especially young people. If someone can sing or dance (or fart loudly or invert their eyelids, in the case of teen boys) they get asked to do it all the time.

I used to have savant like skills as a kid. People would challenge me to multiply 6 figure numbers in my head and I'd do it in about 10 seconds. I haven't done it since like age 8 though, I'm not sure if those skills are still there,

High-functioning, my foot. If anything, he represents those who are too low-functioning to post here.

In the 1980s, many people considered to have conditions such as Asperger's today were not diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum. Not until 1994 did Asperger's become a diagnostic category in the DSM. As late as 1993, it was thought that most autistics had little to no speech and that 80 percent were considered mentally ret*d. This video serves as evidence. There was a large debate regarding facilitated communication at the time, questioning whether or not these words were truly the thoughts of the autistic or that of the facilitator.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyvw0Wu8b2M

2:13-2:22


In 1988, there were different standards as to what high functioning and low functioning were.

When this film came out, there was no autism spectrum, only LFA. In the 80s, when autism was virtually unknown, it was very good, and his behaviours (besides the savant stuff) were very accurate interpritations of most autistic people. Also, since there were much less people being diagnosed, and they were all low-functioning, I assume that a higher percentage were savants too.

Rain Man was based on Kim Peek, a Savant with a photographic memory. Kim was NOT autistic.

Kim memorized over 12,000 books, reading two pages at a time, one with each eye and taking just a few seconds to read a page.

During Daniel Tammet's documentary 'Brain Man', Daniel and Kim meet up in Utah. There is a very moving segment where Daniel and Kim are seen walking arm in arm talking about their experiences.

Kim was completely dependent on his father for his day to day living and Daniel not only lives an independent life but he is also already financially independent at a relatively young age. Daniel is an Autistic Savant.

Kim had an IQ of around 71, Daniel's IQ has been measured at 150

Kim Peek died just before Christmas, on December 19, 2009 and I have no doubt that Daniel Tammet shed more than a tear for a dear friend and the man who inspired the move Rain Man.

A quick search on Google or YouTube will show that Kim was/is not the only prodigious savant unable to live independently.

Whether or not savants are able to function independently, I am filled with awe at their gifts with mathematics, languages, art, music etc and I think the world is poorer without them and without Kim.

Rain Man was the first in a series of movies about Autism without which there MAY not have been any movies made on the subject.

For this I will be forever grateful because I discovered my AS after watching a trailer for Adam.

In memory of Kim Peek 1951 - 2009

Well said Blindspot.

There are autistic savants, or just savants and their stories make good films. Does the OP hate Shine too?
People on the autistic spectrum are all different, so you will probably never see a film that relates to you. Usually it's the LFA with an incredible gift have the most films. And it's not just the autistic too. Good Will Hunting was about a non-autistic man with incredible math ability. People like films about geniuses.

Careful there....

Actually, that's not really true. A strict classical definition of autism, like the one Kanner used, basically excludes anyone with significant cognitive impairment (however, it does place somewhat more emphasis on developmental delay than modern criteria, which may sometimes look like cognitive impairment, but is really something else entirely). If you go read Kanner's papers, you will see that many of his patients were "high-functioning", and some would even be diagnosable with Asperger's according to modern criteria.

I don't mind Rain Man so much, but found 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' quite upsetting - parts of the film seem to suggest that families of autistic people secretly want to beat the crap out of them and only tolerate them because they have to.

Interesting. I never saw that movie and I didn't know that there was an Autism theme to it.

'Being There' is one of my favorite movies (regardless of theme); I'm not sure if Chauncey is actually meant to be Autistic (or simply just academically challenged) but regardless, there are two wonderful and powerful scenes at the end;

At the funeral of the US President, the Coffin Carriers are discussing how Chauncey may be their party's only hope for holding onto the Presidency!!

After the funeral, Chauncey walks on water, on a lake...because he doesn't know that he CAN'T.

I don't dislike Rain Man (Pardon my French), although I have never seen the movie. The guy who made the movie is just like any other director, he wants money! I have seen the documentary "BrainMan" though, and its cool.

I also agree. In fact, 'Brain Man' the documentary really inspired me enough to make me understand more about autism...

Which brings me here.

Thank you, Mr. Tammet!