10/30/2022 0 Comments Rainman toothpicks![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Although Raymond replies “Yeah” when Charlie asks if he wants to accompany him to Los Angeles, he is unable to process the actual import of the question, and consequently once he leaves the Walbrook grounds he repeatedly insists on going back since his departure obviates his regular routines. Having no prior understanding of autism, Charlie concludes from all this that Raymond is a “retard,” and in his determination to ensure that he obtains his share of the inheritance he essentially kidnaps his brother, taking him along for the ride without securing the permission of Dr. Bruner and Raymond’s ward attendant Vern inform Charlie about the significant social challenges that Raymond struggles with as a person with autism, including a tendency to repeat certain statements over and over difficulty with making eye contact an extreme sensitivity to touch a specific set of rituals and routines he is accustomed to which cannot be disrupted and high anxiety which he suppresses by continually rocking back and forth or reciting the lines “Who’s on first, what’s the guy’s name on second base?” – lines from an old Abbott and Costello show. Having been previously unaware of his brother’s existence, Charlie is incredulous to discover that despite having inherited $3 million Raymond simply has no understanding of the concept of money. A treatment facility for people with mental and developmental disabilities, it has been home for at least 20 years to Raymond who is arguably moderately high-functioning but still unable to really care for himself and all that entails. The funds have in fact been entrusted to a trustee who oversees their distribution to the Walbrook Institute where Raymond lives. After pulling some strings with a banker, utilizing his polished skills at conning, he learns that the lucky recipient is none other than Raymond Babbitt (played by Hoffman), an autistic individual who turns out to be Charlie’s older brother. To his bitter chagrin, Charlie discovers that he has only inherited his father’s prize rosebushes and fancy but antiquated automobile while the estate’s net worth of $3 million has been placed in a trust fund for an anonymous benefactor. However, upon suddenly learning of the death of his estranged father, Charlie abruptly changes course for Cincinnati in order to attend the funeral with the preeminent desire to discover what inheritance he may have been left. While trying to extract himself from the descending financial bedlam, he decides to take a vacation to Palm Springs with his girlfriend/employee Susanna (ably portrayed by Italian actress Valeria Golino), who has innumerable difficulties in her relationship with Charlie due to his refusal to share important personal details and his failure to really listen closely to her concerns. The film opens with Charlie Babbitt (depicted by Cruise in one of his finest performances), a narcissistic and selfish young wheeler-dealer in Los Angeles who is struggling to resolve an impending crisis for his car dealership over its failure to comply with EPA standards. #RAINMAN TOOTHPICKS MOVIE#I saw the movie again this past weekend, and watching it for the second time made an indelible impression on me with respect to its portrayal of autism and the enormous strides that have been made in our knowledge of autism in the 30 years since Rain Man’s release. I first watched Rain Man, a 1988 cult classic film starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, when I was much younger and in the early stages of finding out more about the nature of autism after having learned that I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. A look at a classic film’s depiction of autism and that developmental disability’s subsequent treatment three decades later ![]()
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