Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun" ex. of Asperger's

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Last week I saw "Empire of the Sun" on TV for the first time since I saw the movie originally in a movie theatre. I liked the movie a lot when it came out, but I saw it before I knew what Asperger's syndrome was.

This time I saw the movie with completely new eyes, and I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed the same things.

First of all, Spieberg really is the master of details. There are parts of this movie that are really gorgeous, such as showing the main character (Jim, the boy) in a shot with bombs going off behind him like fireworks. Playing classical music during interesting parts.

But what I found really interesting is how the main character, Jim (about ten or eleven years old) is so Aspie. I hadn't noticed that when catching bits and pieces of the movie on TV before. Jim has an obsession with planes, and knows all sorts of information about them. You never see him interacting much with anyone his own age. His relations deal mostly with his parents, which is understandable, and other adults in the British community in the area of China in which they live. He relates to others on an adult level.

Then, when he gets separated from his parents when the Japanese begin to invade China, he is found by an American (John Malkovich) who is only using Jim for whatever Jim can produce in the way of food or resources during this chaotic time. Then he discards him when Jim is no longer useful. Somehow, though, Jim manages to make him useful to others, and thereby finds a way into a prisoner camp. In the camp, rather than build relationships with people, children or adults, he goes through this exercise of doing favors for individuals that endears him to that individual and helps him gain things in the camp. The war doesn't seem to be too hard on him, because he gets to be close, and witness the flight of, his beloved airplanes. He is taught by the prison camp doctor, and when he asks if he can get the shoes of a dying man when the man passes on, the doctor says "My, Jim, you are quite the pragmatic one . . ."

Anyway, without going into more detail, I suggest that people might want to see this movie to get an idea of whether or not they think Spielberg has Asperger tendencies.

Kris

It's possible he does. Certainly there are many disconnected people in his movies. It would be interesting to do an analysis on Spielberg's use of ET as a reflection of the AS condition. The main character in Close Encounters might be another example. Remember how obsessed he was with the formation? He kept building it out of everything including mashed potatoes until he could solve the puzzle. He also chose to leave with the aliens, perhaps indicating he felt like one himself.

That's right! I completely forgot about Close Encounters! If that wasn't a mashed potatoe obsession, I don't know what is!

It would be interesting to do an analysis on Spielberg and these AS tendencies. It would be a great Master's Thesis for someone . . .


Kris

I once did an analysis on the internal and external monsters in all of David Lynch's work. I'm not much of a fan of his movies as entertainment, but they are very interesting to analyze. I would definitely say something is going on with Lynch, whether it is AS, I couldn't say. Lynch used to (and perhaps still does) keep the diseased uterus of Dino DiLaurentiis' sister in his office. Somehow, that made me actually start to like him.


I never really thought about Spielberg because he seems so normal to me, but now that you've brought it up, perhaps he has more depth than I realized. Didn't he also do Poltergeist? That little girl, what was her name..Carol Ann...was pretty out there. Maybe that was his way of saying the only explanation for an AS kid was a poltergeist. Or, maybe he felt he was possessed by a poltergeist.

I've read a bit about Spielberg and apparently, he does indeed have Asperger's Syndrome.

That was interesting information for me because I'm taking Media Studies later this year and I'm hoping to go into film production as a career.

and AI ? the boy is not human of course , but i think he's very aspie-like.
i watched the movie with a few others and no-one seemed to like it, but i did.

Yeah, I haven't seen AI, but I think I'll watch it now, looking for aspie characteristics, just for fun.

Anniemaniac, how hard is it to get into the film production field? Just curious.

Kris

Wow. I never knew anyone else even saw or remember "Empire of the Sun"! I saw it twice at the cinema because it moved me so much (or maybe because I was identifying and didn't know it). I am a big fan of Speilberg's; he is one of my 4 favorite directors (others are Tim Burton, Alfred Hitchcock, and Paul Verhoeven)and it never dawned on me he had AS. Now I will have to rewatch all of his movies and look for clues. His attention to detail has always been excelent, and he does have obsessions with both robots and aliens.

i think empire of the sun is a great film. it's based on the novel by jg ballard, and is largely autobiographical. apparently he and his parents lived in shanghai during his childhoodand around the time of world war 2.

ballard in himself is an interesting person. apparently he is something of a recluse, and many, in fact most of his books revolve around somewhat bizarre plots and focus on ballard's own highly unusual preoccupations. many of the books involve characters who appear to have strong traits of autism or AS, including strange na dintense focus on unusual interests and difficult or unusual social communication. i would hazzard a guess that maybe ballard himself has AS, he's most cetainly not neurologically typical at least.

he also wrote crash, which the kronenberg film of the same name was based on. among his best novels are the atrocity exhibition, crash, the unlimited dream company, concrete island and high rise.

Peebo, thanks SO MUCH for pointing out that Ballard wrote "Empire of the Sun". That would be enough for me to check out his books, but then to hear that he wrote "Crash" REALLY makes me want to check him out. I loved that movie -- I thought it was one of the most effective movies on race relations. Now you've given me another author to explore! Thanks!

Kris

Maybe it's just me, but in the (spielberg-diorected) film "Jurassic Park", the girl, Lex, seems rather Aspie to me. She's 12, but is obbsessed with computers, (and sees herself as a "hacker") as much as her younger brother is obsessed with dinosaurs (and as he's 8-10, is probably a valid and "normal" obsession for his age.) Even he refers to her as a "nerd". And remember, Lex was knowledgeable enough to get the Park computer system back online after a corrupt computer security systems man took it down.

JulieArticuno

oh, just to clear up any misunderstanding, it was david cronenberg's 1996 film crash that waas based on ballard's book, not the more recent movie. ballard's book crash is about a man who becomes obsessed with automobile accidents. i actually was none to impressed by the film, although the book itself is a classic.

i would highly recommend his books, although they are quite controversial in places. "empire of the sun" and "the kindness of women" are probably his most accesible and easy to read works, but personally i would recommend his work from the late 60s and 70s, specifically the ones i mentioned in my previous post.

from the imdb website:

Plot Summary for
Crash (1996/I)

Since a road accident left him with serious facial and bodily scarring, a former 'TV scientist' has become obsessed by the marriage of motor car technology with what he sees as the 'raw sexuality' of car-crash victims. The scientist, along with a crash victim he has recently befriended, sets about performing a series of sexual acts in a variety of motor vehicles, either with other crash victims or with prostitutes who they contort into the shape of trapped-corpses. Ultimately, the scientist craves a suicidal union of blood, semen and engine coolant, a union with which he becomes dangerously obsessed.

Peebo, I looked up Ballard's books on Amazon.com, and quickly realized his crash and the latest movie "Crash" are two different things. Thanks for the heads up about this author, anyway -- I've clicked Empire of the Sun on my Wish List now.

Kris