Summary:
Charlie Babbit—a self-centered and insensitive young man— feels cheated, when a mysterious “trustee” receives his 3 million dollar inheritance. When he sets out to find this mystery person, he uncovers a surprising secret—a brother he never knew he had. An even bigger surprise is that his brother—Raymond—is an autistic savant, who doesn’t even understand the concept of money. In a last attempt to receive his “fair share” of the inheritance, he abducts Raymond from the institution he had been living in; but what Charlie thinks will be an easy task ends up being the most challenging experience of his life. Raymond’s odd habits—obsession over routine, sensitivity to loud noises, excessive rambling, continual rocking, and anxiety—leave Charlie feeling exhausted, annoyed, and somewhat overwhelmed. As Charlie spends more time with Raymond, though, his callous heart begins to soften, and his love for his brother begins to grow.
Response:
I think Rain Man is a fantastic movie! It is touching but at the same time funny. It also is a great source, in regards to my project. Raymond—an autistic savant—shares many of the same characteristics as those with Asperger’s; this is because Asperger’s is mild form of autism. Since Raymond has a very severe case of autism, though, all of the symptoms are intensified. Some of the symptoms that Raymond shares with those who have Asperger’s are his excessive rocking, his sensitivity to touch and sound, his obsession with routine, his inability to hold eye contact, his monotone voice, his naivety, and his anxiety. I was amazed—while reading some of my more informative sources—that so many of the Aspergian symptoms apply to Raymond.
One thing I found so interesting about Raymond is his incredible ability to deal with numbers, which qualifies him as savant. The first time I ever heard of a savant was in one of my earlier sources—John Elder Robinson’s book, Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s. Robinson describes savants as individuals with autism who “can focus their minds extremely sharply” (Robinson 207). Most savants have amazing gifts, as Raymond did. Raymond’s savant ability deals with numbers. It includes things such as memorizing numbers from a phone book, answering a math equation within seconds, and memorizing statistics. For example, while sitting in a restaurant with Charlie, Raymond takes one look at the waitress’s name tag and says, “Sally Dibbs. Dibbs Sally. 461-0192” (Rain Man). When the waitress asks how he knew her phone number, he replies, “I read the telephone book last night. Sally Dibbs. 461-0192” (Rain Man). Apparently, Raymond had memorized halfway through the phone book the night before, which I found to be quite incredible. Another thing that I found to be even more incredible was when a doctor asked Raymond the square root of 2,130, and he immediately answered, “46.15192304” (Rain Man). He was correct! I think Raymond’s ability is utterly amazing and intriguing. This movie was a fabulous source, for it gave me a visual of how individuals with autism and Asperger’s function in this world.
Rain Man. Barry Levinson, dir. Mark Johnson, prod. Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass, writers. DVD. United Artists, 1988.
Robinson, John Elder. Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s. New York, NY: Crown Publishers, 2007.
Charlie Babbit—a self-centered and insensitive young man— feels cheated, when a mysterious “trustee” receives his 3 million dollar inheritance. When he sets out to find this mystery person, he uncovers a surprising secret—a brother he never knew he had. An even bigger surprise is that his brother—Raymond—is an autistic savant, who doesn’t even understand the concept of money. In a last attempt to receive his “fair share” of the inheritance, he abducts Raymond from the institution he had been living in; but what Charlie thinks will be an easy task ends up being the most challenging experience of his life. Raymond’s odd habits—obsession over routine, sensitivity to loud noises, excessive rambling, continual rocking, and anxiety—leave Charlie feeling exhausted, annoyed, and somewhat overwhelmed. As Charlie spends more time with Raymond, though, his callous heart begins to soften, and his love for his brother begins to grow.
Response:
I think Rain Man is a fantastic movie! It is touching but at the same time funny. It also is a great source, in regards to my project. Raymond—an autistic savant—shares many of the same characteristics as those with Asperger’s; this is because Asperger’s is mild form of autism. Since Raymond has a very severe case of autism, though, all of the symptoms are intensified. Some of the symptoms that Raymond shares with those who have Asperger’s are his excessive rocking, his sensitivity to touch and sound, his obsession with routine, his inability to hold eye contact, his monotone voice, his naivety, and his anxiety. I was amazed—while reading some of my more informative sources—that so many of the Aspergian symptoms apply to Raymond.
One thing I found so interesting about Raymond is his incredible ability to deal with numbers, which qualifies him as savant. The first time I ever heard of a savant was in one of my earlier sources—John Elder Robinson’s book, Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s. Robinson describes savants as individuals with autism who “can focus their minds extremely sharply” (Robinson 207). Most savants have amazing gifts, as Raymond did. Raymond’s savant ability deals with numbers. It includes things such as memorizing numbers from a phone book, answering a math equation within seconds, and memorizing statistics. For example, while sitting in a restaurant with Charlie, Raymond takes one look at the waitress’s name tag and says, “Sally Dibbs. Dibbs Sally. 461-0192” (Rain Man). When the waitress asks how he knew her phone number, he replies, “I read the telephone book last night. Sally Dibbs. 461-0192” (Rain Man). Apparently, Raymond had memorized halfway through the phone book the night before, which I found to be quite incredible. Another thing that I found to be even more incredible was when a doctor asked Raymond the square root of 2,130, and he immediately answered, “46.15192304” (Rain Man). He was correct! I think Raymond’s ability is utterly amazing and intriguing. This movie was a fabulous source, for it gave me a visual of how individuals with autism and Asperger’s function in this world.
Rain Man. Barry Levinson, dir. Mark Johnson, prod. Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass, writers. DVD. United Artists, 1988.
Robinson, John Elder. Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s. New York, NY: Crown Publishers, 2007.
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