I Hope There Are Others With Similar Stories

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Yomiko Readman probably has Asperger's herself. She has that narrow range of interest (books), she is socially awkward (she whines a lot--especially when someone takes her book--she is slow to get what's going on socially), and she has unusual mannerisms (such as always lugging around that briefcase on wheels). I therefore identify with her a bit.

In school, I was often called girlish and gay. I hated being called gay, but I never really minded being called girlish. In fact, I liked it a bit.

I've never really had a relationship either. I had one or two girlfriends (depending on your criteria), but we never really got that close. We just enjoyed talking about video games, the pentagon, etc. I am now not interested in girls or any sort of relationship.

I haven't seen the movie, but I've heard of it. It's probably pretty good, but I imagine it would have that strong French nihilism in it, which would make for a depressing view.

Okay. I heard something about that. I think one reason may be is that gender identity tends not to be very strong in aspies and autistics.

Yes, I thought she was rather aspie-like, as well.

My favorite anime character is Ayanami Rei (of Evangelion). She is also rather aspie-like. She is very awkward socially (she acts like she's totally unaware of other people a lot of the time), has a narrow range of interests (anything dealing with NERV and the Evangelions), speaks in monotone and has limited facial expressions, and seems to have an unusual thought process. She's also very introspective, which is another thing I identify with in her.



I did not like being called either a "boy-girl" or a lesbian. It always brought with it a lot of social stigma, such as taunting and occasionally getting pieces of paper and other random little things tossed at me .



I'm not sure what French nihilism is, exactly, so I couldn't really tell you if it's like that or not. There were some sad parts in it, and I feel a bit ambivelent about the ending, but I still thought it was a good film.

I am physically female but feel like a male brain trapped in a female body. I can do nothing but endure the costs of not conforming to normal standards of behaviour. I would consider sex change if it wouldn't result in my losing my scholarship.

Starting transition would cause you to lose your scholarship, why?

I've never seen Evangelion. Perhaps I should pick it up. But ja, Yomiko gets absorbed in herself too. Near the beginning, when she's reading that book die "unsterbliche Liebe", the people around her start screaming as murderous locusts come in and start killing people. She's just standing there engrossed in her book as an overturned truck goes sliding down the road past her within only a few feet of her. It wasn't until she was knocked over by the papers flying out of the truck that she stopped reading. That's just cool.

I understood the taunting behind being called a girl, but I always had another feeling too, one which did not accompany other sessions of being taunted. It was a strange longing desire to be a girl. I too did like the other person perceiving me as a girl.

I remember one guy said that I seemed so girlish. He didn't seemed to be taunting me; he seemed more annoyed. I was so happy that he saw me like that! I wondered what I was doing to cause him to say that, but he didn't elaborate when I asked him.

Nihilism is that sort of, Life doesn't matter, thing. There's no reason for our existence, blah blah blah. That's the base of the phiolosophy, and a lot of depressed stuff comes out of it. But maybe I'll see that movie when I get a chance.

Thanks!

^_^

Thats a hair like the book and movie "Neverending Story"'s lead character. In the beginning, he skips a test after being delayed by a jaint from bullies and runs up to the school attic to read.

I wonder if the gender thing may have some elements in spirituality, not that I necessarily firmly believe this, it is merely a theory, but could the dual spirit thing emerge in each succeding reincarnation or new or simultaneous life inhabitations as female then male and vice versa and the other half similarity alters on the opposite side. This concept is illustrated in Kenneth Brannaugh's "Dead Again".

Yes, you definitely should! It's my current favorite, as Rei is a bit of an obsession for me. It is very highly regarded by most anime fans, as well. The main storyline is of the "giant robot" genre, but that wasn't what drew me to it. What I like about it is the characters, they have a lot of depth to them, and there are a lot of psychological undertones in the show. It also deals with religion and philosophy, which I also find interesting.



Heheh, yes, I remember that scene .

In Evangelion, Rei is incredibly focused on her work at NERV. At school, she often stares out the window and only answers people with one or two word replies. She is very distant when it comes to dealing with people. She does not understand emotions, either, and analyzes everything to a fault (another thing I can relate to). I won't go into any specific scenes, because I don't want to spoil it for you in case you do want to watch it .



While I do not share this feeling, I can understand what you are saying, because I have heard about things like this before.

I don't understand why people have to treat those who are different from themselves in such nasty ways. I have a gay friend here at school who is very effeminite. He sometimes wears girl's clothing, usually just tops, not skirts, and he paints his nails, and speaks in a very high voice. He is more girly than I am, by far. At first, I was a bit confused by his behavior, and was not sure how to behave around him, but after I got to know him a better, I don't think of it as odd at all, it is just who he is. I wish other people could understand things like that, but it seems like they are often not willing to look past differences in this way.



I've heard of nihilism before, but I don't know much about it, and I wasn't sure if there was specifically a French branch. I personally agree that there is no reason for our existence, but if talk like that depresses you, I will refrain from speaking about it further in this thread .

Also, the movie did not have anything like that in it.

Epimonandas,

Actually, do you have any papers on the correlation between gender issues and Asperger's? Do you know where I can find any? I've heard so much about this correlation, but I've found little substance.

Thanks.

Huh, you know a good place to pick it up or see it on television?

I'm definitely interested in seeing this!

That sucks. I've dealt with gay people before. I actually find many of them friendlier and easier to get along with than many straights. My piano teacher is gay, and recently a friend of mine said he was gay. I told him that it's completely cool with me, but no I won't help find him boyfriends--I don't even do that for straight people.

About the differences thing, this is interesting. It seems that many hero-characters in anime and other stories stand out from their societies. You just know that they don't quite fit in with the rest of their society, and they tend to think very difference from the rest of society. Almost like having a bit of AS.

It doesn't depress me, I just don't want to watch a movie with it. But ja, you've convinced me to find a way to see that movie. Wish me well!

^_^

It was a great show until the last 2 episodes when they obviously ran out of time and money and just flung a load of hastily drawn gunk out instead - I'd ignore them and go straight to "End Of Evangelion" once you get there if I were you. (steels himself for the angry storm of protests from NGE fans....)

You mean Evangelion, right? I don't know about it being on television, but even if it is where you are, I'd suggest you go and rent the DVDs if you can, as they are likely to cut a lot of stuff out if they air it on public TV.

It's one of the best known animes, so Blockbuster may have it, though you should probably call them to check. I've also heard that Netflix rents out anime, if you use them, so they'd probably have it there. Just make sure that you watch the series first, then, you can either watch "Death and Rebirth" or skip it (there's nothing new, it's just recaps and the first half hour of the next movie), and then watch "End of Evangelion," and be prepared for your head to hurt .



Yes, I agree. In American films, as well, there seems to be a lot of "underdogs" who make it to the top (for example, Peter Parker as Spiderman).

The main character in Evangelion is not Rei, but Ikari Shinji. Shinji also has social problems, which is one of the issues dealt with in the show. A lot of focus is put on the interactions between people and dealing with the walls people put up around themselves.



I don't think I've met enough gay people to be able to agree or disagree with you. I do find that people who are "outsiders" or "different" in some way from the rest of society are usually much more accepting and easy to get along with, though.



That's good, I hope you like it .



Well, I agree that the last two episodes lack visual integrity. They have a marked difference in the animation quality (mainly using stills and old cells) from the rest of the series. However, I enjoyed delving into the characters' minds in the last two episodes, and I do not think that "End of Evangelion" would be the same if you just skipped over them. I see the last two episodes as what is going on Shinji's mind, while "End of Evangelion" is occuring simultaneously, outside of Shinji's mind, in reality. There is plenty of evidence to back this up, there are a lot of very similar scenes in the last two episodes that get carried over into "End of Evangelion," and if you pay attention and watch it a few times, you can see where specific events began to occur from "End of Evangelion" in the last two episodes, as well.

I remember seeing the rumour that "End Of" was only made in response to the overwhelmingly negative reaction to those last 2 episodes being "too philosophical", and that the reason it was made to be so apocalyptic in its scope was out of spite and to mock those comments..... And certainly, watching either "End Of Evangelion" or "Death and Rebirth" without having seen the series first would be an..... interesting experience

From what I've heard, what you've said is true. They had an extremely negative fan response, and went on to do the two movies. In the commentary on End of Evangelion they say that End of Eva was Hideki Anno's (the director's) way of saying "screw you" to the fans. In one of the sequences with all the flashing scenes, supposedly some of the text shown are death threats and hate mail that were sent to Anno after the end of the series.

Just to let you know I was not ignoring your response, I just have not found or remembered what specific sources I saw it at. I think one of them though that hinted on this was the Neanderthal theory, come to think of it. It tries to compare present day Bonobos to Neanderthal group based relationships and how that ancestry, I suppose, somehow correlates to Autism and all its spectrum range forms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo - Bonobos
http://www.rdos.net/eng/asperger.htm - Neandthal Theory
(That part is near the bottom of the page.)

Thanks! How much proof is there for the information therein?