48 Hour

last weekend the 48 Hour Film Project visited Utrecht, in the past I have participated but not this year.
In the last two and a half year I have become a fan of the 48HFP, even if I'm not making a film myself, I try to go to the screenings in Amsterdam and Utrecht and sometimes volunteer to help at the screenings.

Yesterday the films made last weekend where shown in Utrecht and Richard Schut (the organiser of 48HFP in the Netherlands) asked me why I didn't enter a team this time, after a few basic answers (no time, busy, broke) I said that I had a strange year, when he asked me what I meant I decided to tell that I was diagnosed with Autism.

This was one of the first times I told anybody about it (I told my direct family and one person at work) and to my pleasant surplice Richard didn't freak out or started to treat me like an imbecile. He asked what it meant to me and how it related to film making. This felt good and it gives me hope that the rest of my coming out will be easier.

I am Monster

A little follow up to the previous post.
If you going to make autism look like a monster than do it right.

I'm autism, I will raid your fridge, I will steal your credit card data and use it to buy on-line porn and when your loved one finds out your marriage will be over.
I'm autism, I will eat your cat and sexually molest your daffodils and spray pant obscene graffiti on your car.
I'm autism, I'm everywhere, just like McDonald's, I will leave my skate board lying around so you will break a leg.
I'm autism, I will make you listen to Celine Dion until you jump out of the window Alex DeLarge style.
I'm autism, I know where you live and I have the key, I'll use your toilet and won't flush.

Believe me, nothing I can come up with is more offencive than the original video.

I am Propaganda

After reading about the video "I am Autism" for several days I decided to take a look at it because I believe you should get to know something before you pass judgment. I was shocked on several points.

• It's badly made.
  
• It's completely from a Neural typical perspective.
  
• It portraits autism as a monster.
  

To a lot of people the quality of the video isn't that important but I'm a Film and a Potter nerd and Alfonso Cuarón is the man who made the best Potter film to date. For him to make something what can only be described as a lazy montage of home movies with a voice over is embarrassing. This is the director made "Children of Men", one of the best and most moving Sci-Fi films of the last five years. Billy Mann on the other hand has produced the likes of Take That and The Backstreet Boys, so to be honest I'm not that impressed by his track record.

It's completely about the parent/brothers/sisters/loved ones of those with autism and not about those who life on the spectrum themself. Granted that it can be difficult for a lot of people within the spectrum to express our feelings, especially those with more severe forms of autism but that doesn't mean you shouldn't ask. If a walking person would make a video like this about being in a wheelchair people will performer hit and runs with their chairs.

The most offencive part must be the portrayal of autism as a monster. I'm not making this up, here are a few quotes

• I am autism. I'm visible in your children, but if I can help it, I am invisible to you until it's too late. I know where you live, and guess what? I live there too.
  
• I work very quickly. I work faster than pediatric AIDS, cancer, and diabetes combined.
  
• And if you are happily married, I will make sure that your marriage fails. Your money will fall into my hands, and I will bankrupt you for my own self-gain.
  
• I will make it virtually impossible for your family to easily attend a temple, a birthday party, a public park, without a struggle, without embarrassment, without pain.
  
• Your neighbors are happier to pretend that I don't exist, of course, until it's their child.
  
• I will plot to rob you of your children and your dreams. I will make sure that every day you wake up, you will cry, wondering 'who will take care of my child after I die?'

This kind of rhetoric makes autism sound more like the mob or a child molester than a neurological condition. Just the act of explaining why all this is insulting seems insulting to me.

As I'm diagnosed less than six months ago and Autism Speaks not being active in the Netherlands (as far as I know) I have very little knowledge of this organisation but the more I read about them the more suspicious they seem. (update, done some reading, AS is bad people)

If you're still op for it here's the video.



Some other replies on this video.

LeftBrainRightBrain response
autismherd response
Cat in a Dog's World response

Mary & Max

Just found this, being a big animation fan and having doen a few attempts myself (my biggest achievement animation wise is a dinosaur origami short).
I was very pleased to come across Mary & Max, the trailer looks great and I can't wait to see it.



On a similar note I'm also looking forward to seeing Adam.
Having heard the interview with the writer/director Max Mayer on the Creative Screenwriting Podcast I feel that they really tried to understand autism. Unfortunately there is no Dutch release date yet.

And any film that gives Forrest Gump the finger is alright by me.

Archetypes of Autism in storytelling, an introduction.

Let's get theoretical, this post, like probably most of the post will be, shale concentrate on film because of the simple reason that I'm a film nerd.

After watching several films (long/short/fiction/docu) that deal with autism, sickness and disabilities I started to notice some patterns. I will address this patterns more deeply in other post but I would like to list a few elements that are very common.

That something is common doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing, done well the biggest cliché can be profound, but it's easier to do them bad than good.

First of all and this is also what saddens/angers me the most. Most stories dealing with any disabilities and or neurological and psychological conditions are not about the person with the disability or condition but about one of their loved ones. It's not about being autistic but about raising an autistic child or having a brother with Down syndrome. Don't get me wrong, these are important stories to tell but the balance is totally lost.

Secondly, a lot of stories portray disabilities and conditions pretty inaccurate. Focusing to much on the positive or the negative side. Something like autism is a very complicated and multi faceted thing. To sugarcoat or make it scary I think is counter productive and rather insulting.

And then there are three major story archetypes.

• The Disease of the Week. A story about the latest fad in medical fashion, usually made by people with very little understanding of the subject mater. Roughly 50/50 percent inspirational or scare story almost 100 percent sentimental crap.
  
  
• We Shall Overcome. Almost exclusively about parents whose child is born with autism, down syndrome or a disability and how the parents overcome the obstacles they face. Most true life accounts on television fall into this category(think Oprah). As said before these are important stories but please include the kid and be careful with the amount of sentiment.
  

The third is probably the most popular and also (in my opinion) the one which represents the biggest problems.

• The Holy Fool. This is a category almost exclusive to people with neurological and psychological conditions. In their naivety they say things that are so profound that normal people learn so much and are capable of bettering their live. Once again it's not about the person with the disability or condition but about the people around them. Reducing a person to a condition or disability so he can give wisdoms witch fit in a fortune cookie is doing nobody a favor. At first glance it might seem like a positive thing but I find it dehumanizes people in a profound way. And just a little bit of advice. If you have serious problems, talk to a psychotherapist, marriage counselor or any other professional, not to a bloke with a box of chocolates.
  

Storytelling has become the most dominant art form of humanity, it helps us deal with life, so therefore I think it's very important to represent it as accurate as possible. I know several people who when they hear the word Autism think of Rainman and are surprised that that is not necessarily the case.

Something fun

Just something that I really like. At first it might seems that the film Stingray Sam has nothing to do with autism but for me it does.

Last april while I was being testes for autism I took a week of to volunteer at the Imagine Film Festival (formerly known as the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival), I saw this film and met it's director and star Cory McAbee.

This film helped me in a time of confusion to feel okay about being outside the norm. It's film making outside the box at it's most accessible and funniest.

If you choose to download you get the trailer and a song from the film (both I-Pod ready)