The 'real' Temple Grandin
A few weeks ago Kris and I were watching The Colbert Report and Claire Danes was one of his guests. She was promoting a new movie she was in, called Temple Grandin. When we heard what it was about, we were both left longing to see this movie. It's about an autistic woman (based on the life of Temple Grandin)who overcame many obstacles and a cruel society and has led an amazing life. It was riveting...I couldn't take my eyes off of the screen the entire time, for fear I'd miss something. I wasn't sure how I felt about Claire Danes in this role when I first saw previews for it. But let me assure you, 10 minutes in you forgot you were watching Claire Danes and she really became Temple Grandin. It was an amazing performance and an extremely well-written script.
If you know anyone with Autism, or just want to understand Autism better, watch this movie. When Temple Grandin was 4 and diagnosed with Autism in 1951, they suggested she be institutionalized for the rest of her life and her mother was told she had a form of infantile Schizophrenia. How limiting our society and medical professionals were in the 50's. There wasn't much understanding of Autism at the time, and so the 'professionals' assumed that parents of autistic children just weren't nurturing their children and that is why they behaved the way that they did. Unbelievable. Can you imagine being told that it was YOUR fault that your child couldn't talk or interact 'normally' in social settings, when you'd done whatever you could to help them succeed? I'm thankful there is so much knowledge out there now about Autism. This movie is just another step in the right direction towards showing the world how intelligent and FUNCTIONAL people with Autism can be. Unlike Rain Man and I Am Sam, which are both good movies for becoming more aware of people who are not 'like us', Temple Grandin is based on the life a real woman who accomplished incredible things in her life! Obviously there are different sides of the spectrum and some people will be higher-functioning than others. I was fascinated by this film and recommend that you see it.
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