By the shores of Gitche Gumee...

[old_cutter_john]

_wind_spirit_ and I saw a movie yesterday evening - a movie I'd recommend to all my friends, especially those who haven't yet spent any time with me in the real world but would like to risk it. Indeed I left a voicemal message for _wind_spirit_'s twin sister this morning, telling her she must see that movie. She and her husband stay with us fairly often, and it's always

Comments

[nickykaa]

I love that movie. I frequently recommend it when I give presentations on Autism. Perhaps if I eventually get around to getting in romantic relationships with women again, I'll invite prospective partners to watch it with me, as a useful conversation-starter and perhaps a litmus test of sorts (I guess if it were a prospective romantic partner, I'd want her to watch Mozart and the Whale with me, too).

It's a sad indicator of mainstream prejudices that Snow Cake isn't more widely known - that it got very little promotion and very little distribution to first-run theaters, even despite Alan Rickman's huge cult following.

The most interesting thing that Snow Cake got me thinking about is this: as strange as it seems to us Autistic people, neurotypical babies and children are born wired with the need for social interaction, and they very quickly learn to cultivate behaviors that will generate more experiences of interaction with their parents. This is actually the central factor in the early development of a neurotypical child's personality. (Weird, huh?)

Which raises the question: what are the effects on the development of a neurotypical child's personality when one of the major parent-figures she's trying to engage in interaction is Autistic?

My sister and the daughter in Snow Cake have vastly different personalities, but both of them are exceedingly clear and direct communicators; both of them have a personality and presence that is big, charismatic, intensely expressive, and impossible to ignore; both of them are astonishingly outgoing, socially fearless, and capable of engaging anyone in interaction; and both of them go out of their way to engage the people they encounter who seem the most challenging to engage.

And River is shaping up to have every single one of those qualities as well. In fact, the daughter in Snow Cake is an entirely plausible illustration of what River might grow up into.

This merits further research, and it's quite possible that I actually could get a research grant to study it someday.

[anais_pf]

Oh, from everything I've seen, River is going to grow up to be triply as delightful as the already wonderful daughter in Snow Cake.

[old_cutter_john]

You could probably meet her at the traditional birthday dinner in Berkeley on July third, then take a circuitous route home, stopping in New Orleans and Atlanta.

[nickykaa]

That is the most wonderful idea for an itinerary ever! It's really tempting to make it happen. I actually have that weekend free of any obligations.

[anais_pf]

That is the most wonderful idea for an itinerary ever! It's really tempting to make it happen. I actually have that weekend free of any obligations.

[old_cutter_john]

We just saw Mozart and the Whale. Intense! You know, my bones creak; and I can't see; and when I go into a room, I don't remember why. I've become fond of quoting that old Rolling Stones line, "What a drag it is getting old." The movie reminded me what a drag it is being young. Much worse than where I'm at now.