Saturday at the Movies: X+Y (2014)

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Beginning tonight, every Saturday night on WrongPlanet.net, a discussion will ensue about a selected autism-related film. Please, take care to avoid spoilers (or, at least, flag them) to prevent potential viewers from learning too much about the story in advance of their viewing. Tonight’s selected film is:

X+Y, released in the United States as A Brilliant Young Mind (111 minutes), is a 2014 British drama film directed by Morgan Matthews starring Asa Butterfield (Ender’s Game), Rafe Spall and Sally Hawkins. The film, inspired by the documentary film Beautiful Young Minds, focuses on a teenage English mathematics prodigy named Nathan (Butterfield) who has difficulty understanding people, but finds comfort in numbers. When he is chosen to represent Great Britain at the International Mathematical Olympiad, Nathan embarks on a journey in which he faces unexpected challenges, such as understanding the nature of love. The DVD version of the film was released in 2016. Scenes from the film are available for viewing on YouTube under the search term X+Y.

This light romantic comedy was beautifully filmed in England and Taiwan. The film was based on the true story of real-life mathematical genius Daniel Lightwing, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder.

I enjoyed this film. Less comedic than some autism-related films, it still achieves some humor where needed. The production includes several notable actors and, while a studio movie, has the feel of an independent film. The review aggregator web site, Rotten Tomatoes, reports a 87-percent approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10 based on 62 reviews.

If you have viewed this film, what are your opinions about it?

I watched in over a year ago, but I thought it was great. It was a fascinating romantic coming-of-age sort of film. The interaction between Nathan and the other autistic teen (Luke) was particularly compelling. I think that was the least light-hearted scene in the movie. It was very "real" in the sense that most movies don't star autistics like Luke, but rather the ones like Nathan who find love and acceptance eventually.

Luke and Nathan's scene:

I thought the same thing. Not ever wanting to offend its audience, Hollywood rarely makes a "reality" film. Within the realm of autism, Hollywood would rather make a movie version of "It's a Small World" where autists are are very vanilla and friendly with one another. Despite our best efforts, that isn't always true. It has been said that Hollywood makes films about how the world should be, not how it is. In this case, however, we got a few characters who weren't exactly iconic.

Hollywood is all about entertainment and the Almighty Buck.

What do you think would have happened had movies been made about shantytowns during the 1930s?

There's always a need for some sort of escapism in entertainment. It's a matter of how significant issues are placed within the escapism, and how tastefully it is done.

Hehe! True, but for whom are (some) autism-related movies produced with characters who are, too often, the contemporary equivalents of Busby Berkeley's "Gold Diggers" or Ziegfeld Follies' performers?

I really liked X+Y! But, I amn't the only person who wondered about the validity a one or more of the relationships between its characters particularly its two autistic characters. At other autism sites, commenters disagreed with the credibility of the Nathan-Luke relationship ... because within mathematical competitions as well as within their own autism. Perhaps viewers wouldn't care too much about their relationship if we, the audience, saw it evolve from our POV instead of Nathan's. This slight directorial difference might have made it more believable.

One of my Czech filmmaker/professor friends from Columbia University told me that movies are nice as art, but the resulting discussions and debates they cause are even better. I guess he meant that movie goers bring their expectations and life histories with them to everything they see in a film ... and share with each other thereafter (the goal of any filmmaker). For that reason alone, I am glad we have some disagreement about what X+Y should mean.

I agree. Feedback is always important--and, hopefully, filmmakers will heed that feedback.

One should remember that a film a finite thing, and can't take all things into account. That is why relationships of all types seem like they are the products of a celluloid imagination.

Things will get better as far as the "realism" of autistic characters once filmmakers really get to know people with autism. Until then, their conception of such relationships will always arise merely from their imagination, and from third, fourth, or higher-hand knowledge of the condition of autism.

I used to be a lot like Luke when I was a teenager. I totally relate with that character in more ways than you can imagine.

I also found love and acceptance eventually. So not all hope is lost!

What a great film, I just saw it on DVD.

It's rare to see autistic characters in the movies that are recognisably real people rather than caricatures of the condition. The behaviour of the lead character was so like my aspie son, it blew my mind.

And that scene between Nathan and Luke was so powerful - it really got to the heart of the issue for these kids, who've been labelled as gifted but are all too aware of their social limitations.

Overall a sensitive portrayal of Aspergers - I highly recommend this for anyone looking for insight into the condition.