A Presentation on how the film Rain Man relates to Autism and emotions.

1. {
Emotions, Autism,
and Rain Man
Reann Buta
Blockbuster Project

2. Emotions are defined as: a conscious
mental reaction experienced as strong
feeling usually directed toward a specific
object and typically accompanied by
physiological and behavioral changes in
the body
Emotions are experienced as feelings or
moods and are caused by a stimulus or
stimulus context.
Emotions are very powerful and are
triggered by psychological changes.
What are Emotions?

3. Perception, learning, and memory are all
involved in experiencing emotions.
Emotions can govern how we actually feel,
such as feeling happy, sad, angry, guilty,
nervous etc.
Behavioral responses can motivate us to
act out or express our feelings.
Emotion regulation: the ability to respond
to the ongoing demands of experience with
the range of emotions in a way that is
socially acceptable.
Emotions Contd.

4.  Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a range
of complex neurodevelopment disorders
characterized by social impairments,
idiosyncratic interests, communication
difficulties, and restricted, repetitive, and
stereotyped patterns of behavior.
Those with Autism tend to:
 have deficits in emotional regulation leading them to
be less organized and have less goal-directed emotion
 have a less balanced emotional state
 have a higher chance of hyper arousal
 lack the ability to infer the mental states of both
oneself and of others
Autism (ASD)

5. Movie Synopsis: When Charlie Babbitt learns
that his father has died, he returns home, where
he discovers that he has an autistic older
brother named Raymond and that his father's
fortune is being left to the mental institution in
which Raymond lives. Motivated by his father's
money, Charlie checks Raymond out of the
facility in order to return with him to Los
Angeles. The brothers' trip ends up changing
both their lives.
Rain Man

6. Rain Man contd.
 Although Raymond has autism,
he also has superb memory
recall, but little understanding
of subject matter thus making
him an "overgrown child". He is
frightened by change and
adheres to strict routines.
Except when he is in distress,
he shows little emotional
expression and avoids eye
contact.
 Until later in the movie, Charlie
is unaware of Raymond’s
autism and struggles with
being constantly frustrated
with him even after he becomes
aware of his autism.

7.  In Rain Man, Raymond displays certain criterions
of autism all throughout the movie.
 Examples:
 Raymond was very inflexible to adhering to specific
routines or rituals such as when he wasn’t able to have his
toothpicks and maple-syrup ready in front of him before
pancakes arrived at the diner.
Connection

8.  Raymond exhibits the use of repetitive use of language or
idiosyncratic language as he and Charlie drove through
the city; Raymond imitated noises he heard such as
howling .
Connection

9.  Raymond is socially inept and is unable to communicate
with others adequately such as with his brother and his
brother’s girlfriend.
Connection

10.  I feel that the movie Rain Man had a very realistic
take on autism and the different emotion involved
with it.
 I think it was great to make Autism more widely
understood by placing it in the media.
 I think that more realistic portrayals such as this
film should be portrayed within media because of
the importance of the subject and its need to be
recognized by society.
My View

11.  Other than personal notes:
 Google Images
 www.wikipedia.org
 https://prezi.com/-xbg5tcygzwh/emotion-dysregulation-and-
autism-spectrum-disorder/
 http://dramatica.com/analysis/rain-man
References