repetitive movie watching

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One of my English students would watch a movie scene over and over again when he was little. He would watch a scene from a movie abot three times, and then watch it again with subtitles in English, French, or Spanish, with the speech in French or Spanish, in slow play, in fast play; several times for each variation. He would do this with every sequence until he had watched an entire movie.
Totally out of curiosity, is this kind of repetition a possible autism thing, or just a regular kid thing?

There was a time, that I watched each of the three Austin Powers movies, 10 times, in a row. Those were the days. I can't even sit through the first movie, without feeling uneasy, these days.

I can completely relate one thing that annoys my house mates at uni is that I can literally watch south park endlessly and repitivly.

I think the word 'variation' you used is important. All my special interests involve variations on a theme. Its the subtle differences that fascinate me. This is autistic in me but doesn't mean the child is autistic.

It's possible.
My cousin is autistic, and he would watch one scene of a movie over and over and over again. It's been a while since I last saw him do that, so I don't know if he broke that habit or not (but I don't think he did).
I'm an aspie, and I would also watch the same movie or just the same movie repeatedly when I was little. But now-a-days I'd listen a song or an album repeatedly.
Perhaps it has to do with the aspie/autie trait that we enjoy repetition.

i've watched the star trek 'tin man' episode more than 100 times. i can perform every role in 'silent running'. and -certainly i'm normal

I know a lot of NTs that would rather watch a movie that they've seen 10 times than one that they've never seen before. I don't think that is autistic in nature.

However the scene by scene over analysis, altering it in each variation possible, differentiating each subtle nuance... that is a VERY CLASSIC sign of autism. That is not to say that the child is autistic... but it's a reg flag that's being waved vigorously, screaming to be looked into.

As a child I use to watch movies over and over and over and over and over again. I would wear out the VHS tapes. The main movie I watched as a kid was Disney's animated Robin Hood. And honestly, I could still watch it over and over and over again.

Of course now that I am older, I've noticed that I do the same repetition of watching the same thing over and over again. Sometimes it's a comfort thing for when I am stressed or tired or just need something to drown out noises.

Other times because it some how, in a vague or almost close way, relates to my interests. Those times I can zone in and blank out the world concentrating on the movie or show.

I've never watched a movie in slow-mo before... I might have to try it for some of the animated movies, since that is my interest.... That's a good idea...

I can go on mind trips about certain movies..currently I am obsessed with Bugsy Malone...I was more prone to watching the same movies over and over again when I lived in my little rooming house...I would also listen to the same records over and over again..

I have a portfolio of movies that I watch over and over and over again..............and I haven't been a kid for many decades

When I was three I was obsessed with the movie Aristocats. I watched it every day for five months, and eventually I was able to recite the entire movie word for word. I also had the Aristocats squeaky toys, purse, sweatshirt, stuffed animals, etc. It was all I ever talked about - looking back, I can see that this was my first special interest. But re-watching movies or TV shows is pretty normal, to an extent. Almost everyone enjoys watching their favorite movies again, and I know a lot of people who'd choose to watch an old favorite again rather than see something new.

I did the same with "The Measure of a Man" (TNG). I love that kind of episode where they dig deep into human prejudice and still come out on the good side. It feels like there is hope for humanity after all. And androids

To return to the thread: I'm halfway between 30 and 40, i have a bunch of movies i see regularly, "The Big Lebowski", "Ronin", "Sneakers" (etc) and i expect that i will be (re)watching them until my heart stops.

in one day i listen to pig pun still not a player over 25 times in a row on you tube.
and when i was little i watched the same vhs over and over. idk why i'm still doing doing it.

I watched the movie "Willow" 40x as a kid. It's my favorite movie of all time. I dunno why but I felt like I needed to know it inside out. I guess it is kind of an Aspie/special interest thing to be repetitive like this.

I still do this today as an adult, but with music. It's almost like a compulsion and I can't stop listening to the same song until I make myself sick of it.

My mother teaches autistic children and says they can quote films verbatim because they watch them over and over.

I hate, hate, hate movies BUT I do watch TV shows and clips repetitively. I'm talking for days on end. Each time I get sucked into something a little bit more, I get really fixated on segways on talkshows and fascinated by how they introduce the next guest, the format and rhythms of sitcoms, the timing, sometimes I subconsciously rewrite things in my head to make the show a little bit more funny. I also like to absorb all the traits and speech patterns of the characters. I did this as a child as well. I just get really interested in what's going on behind the camera. I'm the same way about commercials. My aunt says I was obsessed with commercials as a kid and would talk about them all the time.

Last edited by MotownDangerPants on 07 Aug 2010, 9:59 am, edited 2 times in total.

I watched the Wizard of Oz about 700 times when I was a kid. I'm not exaggerating on the number either. It made my stepmother crazy.

And yes, variations on a theme sound right - that's how all my interests are - they seem disparate, but they are all connected in my mind.