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Few stories have been better suited to the film format that the life of autistic scientist Temple Grandin. Not because she's a breathtaking
beauty. Or even necessarily because her story is full of blockbuster plot twists.
It's her brain. The HBO original film “Temple Grandin,” directed by Mick Jackson and starring Claire Danes in the title role, does a brilliant and beautiful job of illustrating how her unique brain thinks in pictures. Instant recall of every image you've ever seen is both a blessing and a curse and the movie shows how she learns, with the help of her mother, aunt and teachers, to use her assets, even as she struggles with the limitations that autism imposes on her.
Diagnosed as autistic at the age of four, Temple Grandin was encouraged and sometimes pushed by her devoted mother, depicted here by Julia Ormond, to engage with the world, take a look at it from her distinct point of view and make it a better place. Though doctors predicted she would never speak, she ultimately graduated both high school and college and became a world-renowned animal behaviorist, completely revolutionizing the treatment of livestock in the cattle industry.
She also became one of the most respected advocates for autistic people, giving interviews and doing speaking engagements, writing books and teaching college classes. Not bad for someone who was never supposed to speak, huh? (I'm not really giving away the plot by telling you this, because the film is not about what she does, so much as the way she does it.)
As I watched this movie, I wondered, "Why couldn't this film have come out before 'Rainman?'" Then, at least, parents of autistic children -- and the world at large -- would have more than one popular image of what autism can be.
Claire Danes is amazing; she just disappears into the role of Grandin. Granted, prosthetic teeth are used to subtly change the shape of her face, but she also captures what Grandin has described as her “easily spooked” quality in the skittish way she moves throughout the film. Ormond gives a moving performance as the mother who never flinches in the face of her daughter's disorder, pushing her constantly to expand her comfort zone. David Strathairn, one of my favorite actors, portrays her immensely supportive science teacher, Dr. Carlock, with quiet genius.
The real star of the film, though, is the director, who took what some might have turned into a mundane Lifetime movie-of-the-week and drew a startling and unforgettable portrait of a beautiful mind.
As the parent of an autistic child, I was mildly disappointed to find a couple of things missing in the film. Most of her childhood is absent, as filmmakers chose to focus on how she used her autism, as an adult, to reshape an entire industry. There is a scene that shows her mother relentlessly drilling a four-year-old Grandin on flashcards, but no scene that actually depicts her first words.
Also, Grandin has, in interviews, been very straightforward about the fact that she takes certain medication, including anti-depressants. She began taking these drugs in her 30s and gives them a lot of credit for her current functionality. This is missing from the film, which focuses on her more creative and natural means of calming herself in the face of stress.
The description of Temple that her mother instilled in her, that would later become her motto for autistic people everywhere -- “different, but not less” -- is a moving and simple message that I sincerely hope the world adopts as its view of autism. We may not always understand these special people, but as “Temple Grandin” so brilliantly illustrates, they have so much to offer the world and a unique way of looking at it.
Temple Grandin
Tuesday February 09 2010 01:18:03 pm
JD in TLH
Temple Grandin & her HBO Movie
Monday February 15 2010 11:55:42 am
www.LeisaHammett.com
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