Films and the like

A word of advice to anybody with aspergers: Don't watch films about Aspergers with anybody who knows about your condition. -It is a very unerving experience, one which I first encountered when my Family decided they wanted to watch Mozart and the Whale with me.
The entire time was an awkward verbal comparison of me. Every time a character did something, it was followed by a response of "That's just like Roscoe" or the opposite. I couldn't take the screwtanizing eyes, and turned off the film half way through.

the other day an aquantance rented a film called "Adam" We didn't know it at the time, but it;s about a man, age 30 with Aspergers; again, the stares, and comparisons, though thankfully, not nearly as much as the Mozart and the Whale experience.

Since I haven't written anything in a while, I want to talk about these two films, and without devulging any "Spoilers" regarding the films plots, give my opinions as someone with AS.

Mozart and the Whale:

Mozart and the whale is a film about a 20-something man and a 20-Something Woman both with AS, and both exhibiting different symptoms of their shared syndrome, who meet at somewhat of a support group for people with various forms of Autism. The film can be very insightful, and since it centers around two people with such different symptoms of AS, it is easy to relate, if not to both characters, at least to one. The movie doesn't shy away from the negative sides of AS, but also shows how tallented, and caring people with AS can be, despite our poor social skills. In my opinion, the film sheds a positive light on people with AS without being patranizing. The film can be a little overwhelming, as it has no subplot, and is very focused on telling it's one story. However, while it is a little too straight forward and and drawn out, if you have AS and can relate to the situations on screen, it is still a pretty good watch.

Adam:
Adam is about a man with AS who is 30, the film opens with the main character, Adam at a funeral for his father. Apparently Adam has been living with his father all his life, and now finds himself on his own for the first time. The film was good, and it had a secondary plot that made it easier to watch for people who couldn't relate to the character.
Adam has a much Higher functioning form of AS than the characters on Mozart and the Whale, he fixates on Astronomy, and doesn't like changes in his routine, or crowd situations, but aside from, and even despite that, he was a very high functioning character.
The film wasn't bad, but at times seemed more like a commercial for how friends and Family could cope with loved ones having AS, in the way they tried to explain it for the audience.

On a side note: Durring one scene Adam refers to himself as "An Aspie" -I hate that term. I have never met anyone with an actual diagnosis who refers to themselves as such, and I find it to be almost offensive. If someone has ADD you wouldn't refer to them as an "Aidy"

In my experience, the term is most commonly used by people who just THINK they have AS, or people who tell people they have AS for the attention and sense of identity.

But I digress, Adam (so I am old) Is a much easire film to watch for people without AS than the afore mentioned, Mozard and the Whale. Personally, I enjoyed the film well enough, but found The lead character's "level of functionality" harder to relate.

Where's your sense of humor

Let's discuss, if we may, Sense of humor. This is a topic once again, covered by many autistic parenting books, but rarely told froom the viewpoint of someone who has lived through it personally.
Growing up, I found things funny, I would laugh at certain things, and I would make up nonsense jokes, like any kid. However, Sarcasm was WAY over my head. Now, granted sarcasm is way over many children's heads, but I think usually by age 10 they've figured it out. I was having a hard timme at 12. I could never tell when people were being sarcastic. I had a hard time reading autible inflection, and had a hard time associating proper facial ques.
Further, I took everything very literally and at face value. This led to many embarrassing moments as a child.
Though I didn't like being "out of the loop" on jokes, I learned at a young age not to force laughter, and not to try to figure out what people were joking about out loud.
It was better to remain silent, seem disinterrested, and not react then it was to be made fun of for reacting inapropriately. People thought I was an odd loner-type, but it was better then them thinking I was an idiot.

At 13 I decided to put my foot down. I was tired of always being made fun of, I was going to get Sarcastic humor if it killed me. I started watching the MTV cartoon "Daria" Just about any time the title character said anything, it was sarcastic. I payed close attention to what she said, and tried to grasp the humor, always reminding myself to not take what she said seriousely. I then tried some of her jokes for myself and got positive reactions! It was odd, I was telling jokes I could barely grasp, and people seemed to love it. I continued my studying of the sarcastic, and slowly I caught on.
it goes back to what I have said in previous posts, regarding the way I feel like I don't quite fit in with humanity, Like I'm a third party observer, doing research on some sort of tribal people I don't quite understand.

Anyway,
Now sarcasm, and subtle humor are my favorite things in films and television. In fact, I seem more in tuned to it than other people. I am always on the lookout for it, and seem to see it more clearly than most. even when the joke rely's solely on facial expressions to communicae the humor, I can see it now.
I still have a hard time interprating sarcasm in real life, and consequently, opperate under the assumption that people are not being sarcastic. This makes me "Stand-offish" and people say I seem cold, and disinterrested. I figure the same principle applies now that did in my youth; It's better to be aloof that look like an idiot. Besides, I don't much like most people anyway, so if they think I'm a jerk, that's allright with me. I realize this tactic wouldn't work of most people. It's my understanding that people in general like to make new friends, Personally I don't.

It isn't that I go out of my way to be rude, I just don't feel comfortable around people, least of all new people.