Came across this news article on Twitter not too long since and I just had to post it here and have a good old rant and rave about it. I suppose I should really be doing this on Minxy's Blog, but as it entails Autism, I thought I'd Blog on here!
I absolutely loved the film Mercury Rising long before I even gave birth to our son. It always fascinated me and for a long time I couldn't quite make my mind up whether or not the boy that plays Simon really was Autistic! Now I deal with Autism on a daily basis, I still love the film, but I find myself tending to watch more of what the character Simon is doing and acting like throughout the film rather than the film itself. Although, as said in the article above, Hollywood is 'sexing' up Autism and although promoting awareness via the 'A-list' celebs I do tend to see a lot of our son in Simon's (I don't know the boy's real name) character. The 2 things that really make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end when watching the film, is when he spins the wheels on the toy car and when he rolls his eyes to the top of his eyelids when he looks at you. Taylor does (or used to do) that all the time. And also, I must admit I have never watched The Rain Man, I have seen odd bits of it, but i've never sat down and watched it all the way through. I hear a lot that when someone mentions the phrase "He is Autistic" the majority of people's response is "oh right, like The Rain Man?" I must say, I have never had anybody say that to me. My usually heard responses have been "like the little lad in Mercury Rising?" and to be honest, when I was first told that Taylor was Autistic, Mercury Rising was my first though too!!
Anyway, what I am mostly annoyed about is as I said above, Hollywood's desire to 'sex' it up. I totally agree with this statement made in the article:
Dr Murray agrees. As a father of two children on the autistic spectrum, he says he relates more to something like The Black Balloon, an Australian film released last year. The story focuses on a family living with an autistic son and depicts scenes with the boy running down the street naked or throwing himself down on the supermarket floor.
It may not be as romantic as the story of a maths genius, but it's the reality, says Dr Murray.
"We've all had the supermarket thing happen. This rings true to us in a way that somebody doing the square root of a million and nine doesn't," he says.
I totally agree, Hollywood can still make Autism based films and portray the 'real' Autism and make viewers want to watch it and enjoy it. Everyone (women especially) loves a good tear jerker and Autism is just that. Every little thing they do is enough to make you cry. From tantrums in town, to the first time they tell you they love you! After all, if you want to see a fantastic 'real Autism' film hire or buy a film called After Thomas. It's absolutely brilliant, has a few well known actors in it and is a real tear jerker at the end. It's one of my favourite films based on Autism. xXx
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