SNOW CAKE - on TV tonight

[Kathryn]

Film about a woman with AS, starring Alan Rickman (reason enough to watch it ) and Sigourney Weaver.

 

K x

[dooday24]

what time

 

thanx and wat channel xxxx

love donnaxxxx

 

soz didnt see the top lol

Edited January 10, 2009 by dooday24

[Kathryn]

Sorry - should have said in main post:

 

BBC2 11.10 - right now!

 

K x

[Clare63]

Thanks Kathryn......just turning over

 

Clare x x x

[hedders]

thanks now watching snowcake, doesn"t resemble my dd at mo but i hope to see some simular traits.

Edited January 10, 2009 by hedders

[Cat]

I can cleary see that Linda is based on Roz Blackburn in this film.

 

Cat

[dooday24]

thanx kathryn really enjoyed it will b getting on dvd

 

love donnaxxxx

[Kathryn]

I've never seen Roz Blackburn but I thought Sigourney Weaver's performance was excellent. I really believed in the character.

 

K x

[CEJesson]

ive seen it 3 times, shame it was on late at 11.10, brilliant film!

[Cat]

I've never seen Roz Blackburn but I thought Sigourney Weaver's performance was excellent. I really believed in the character.

 

K x

 

For me it was like watching Roz but only with a different face. Sigourney Weaver really did give and excellent and accurate performance.

 

Cat

 

[Clare63]

Thanks for the tip off Kathryn, I really enjoyed the film.

 

Clare x x x

[Mumble]

For anyone who missed it, it's available on BBC iplayer until 18th January

 

[Jannih]

For anyone who missed it, it's available on BBC iplayer until 18th January

 

I noticed that they had a number of advisers on the credits at then of the film, one of them being Temple Grandin. So the people who made the film must have wanted and an accurate portrayal of someone with autism.

 

[Mumble]

I noticed that they had a number of advisers on the credits at then of the film, one of them being Temple Grandin. So the people who made the film must have wanted and an accurate portrayal of someone with autism.

Yep, I assume it wasn't shown with the film last night, but if you buy the DVD there's a long extra documentary about the research that went into the film (and some hilarious deleted scenes )

[Mumble]

Yep, I assume it wasn't shown with the film last night, but if you buy the DVD there's a long extra documentary about the research that went into the film

And to add to that, the writer has an autistic son.

 

Now, has anyone seen 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape?' and would you recommend it? It's got Johnny Depp in it :wub: who cares for his autistic brother (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) - it's fairly pricey to buy as it's an older film (1993) which has been re-whatevered for DVD.

 

[pearl]

We've taped it been wanting to watch it for ages.

And yes I've seen Gilbert Grape ages ago, I can never remember the plots but I do remember the bit when he climbed up a pylon or water tower or something, goodness that was like life in our family

[niki]

watched it and loved it! all hail sigourney weaver thought it was fairly accurate even when the busybody nieghbour stopped Alex in the street and her response to autism was "oh yeah i know about auism i have seen THAT film" totally wet my pants laughing how many times have i heard that one. also loved the bit about the dog vomit that is sooo triki lol xx

[Kathryn]

For me it was like watching Roz but only with a different face. Sigourney Weaver really did give and excellent and accurate performance.

 

Cat

 

When she was lying on the bunk bed and stimming - waving her legs in the air and shining the torch - that was such familiar behaviour, I thought: she's definitely studied someone doing this.

 

K x

[zaman]

watched it and loved it! all hail sigourney weaver thought it was fairly accurate even when the busybody nieghbour stopped Alex in the street and her response to autism was "oh yeah i know about auism i have seen THAT film" totally wet my pants laughing how many times have i heard that one. also loved the bit about the dog vomit that is sooo triki lol xx

Ditto - I thought the mention of expertise gained by THAT film was a really nice touch. And I was impressed by how well researched it was.

 

Who is Roz Blackburn BTW?

 

I only managed to watch the first half of the film, but was intrigued by what I did see. But I have a (naive) question for those that saw resemblances with their loved ones. I know that autism isn't a one size fits all condition, and please don't shout me down as this is a genuine puzzlement on my part, but would an autistic adult really react in that way to the sudden death of their child - ie by not reacting (although as I say I only saw part of the film)? If so, I think that the penny is starting to drop for me about what the empathy part of autism really means

[Suze]

I hired this film when it first came out as so many people recommended it.But I really disliked it, did,nt like the story or the lorry crash etc, and was,nt bowled over by Alan Rickman, or sigourney weaver, I never watched it all , it just seemed bleak!

[Mumble]

Who is Roz Blackburn BTW?

"Roz Blackburn is an adult with autism who lives in England. At

three months old she appeared withdrawn, isolated and very much in a world of her

own. At six months she was erroneously diagnosed profoundly deaf. Finally at a year

old she was diagnosed very severely autistic but with average intellectual ability. Now

Roz lectures nationally and internationally giving insight into her own experiences and

the care and education practices she has observed. In spite of the severe limitations

imposed by her condition, Roz displays great courage (and a strong sense of humour)

in facing her fears and tackling life?s challenges."

 

would an autistic adult really react in that way to the sudden death of their child - ie by not reacting (although as I say I only saw part of the film)?

I can only speak from my experience and I don't have children. However, my Grandfather died about a month before Christmas - I didn't really know him very much and didn't react at all to being told other than fear for myself because he died from the same illness I have. Some people were shocked that I didn't react (and even suggested I was suppressing my true feelings ) but it really didn't have any impact on me because although being a blood relative I really wasn't close to him. I think also what's important to note from the film is that although to an NT (as in the people in the house after the funeral) she didn't seem to react to the death, she was reacting in her own way but this wasn't recognised as a reaction to others looking for a 'typical' reaction. And of course Linda didn't grow up with Vivienne and so may not have thought of her as her child as such - I hope that makes sense.

 

[CEJesson]

I loved the bit when Rickman's character Alex said something on the lines of:

 

"You know despite our differences Linda I think we get on rather well don't you?"

 

and Weaver's character Linda responds:

 

"yes, now go away please"

[zaman]

 

 

 

she didn't seem to react to the death, she was reacting in her own way but this wasn't recognised as a reaction to others looking for a 'typical' reaction. And of course Linda didn't grow up with Vivienne and so may not have thought of her as her child as such - I hope that makes sense.

yes, that makes perfect sense. Thanks

[Jannih]

Ditto - I thought the mention of expertise gained by THAT film was a really nice touch. And I was impressed by how well researched it was.

 

Who is Roz Blackburn BTW?

 

I only managed to watch the first half of the film, but was intrigued by what I did see. But I have a (naive) question for those that saw resemblances with their loved ones. I know that autism isn't a one size fits all condition, and please don't shout me down as this is a genuine puzzlement on my part, but would an autistic adult really react in that way to the sudden death of their child - ie by not reacting (although as I say I only saw part of the film)? If so, I think that the penny is starting to drop for me about what the empathy part of autism really means

 

I think that is a perfectly reasonable question and as you say everyone is an individual.

 

First let me say that I do not have a diagnosis and I don't self diagnose either but I certainly have autistic traits which have made life difficult for me in some areas. My experience and reactions when my mum died were not entirely " normal." She died after being ill for a month. I didn't express any emotion but I suggested to my sisters that we should " lay my mother out " We got permission from the ward sister but the nurses were shocked when they saw me with the trolley and even more shocked when I said I wanted to do it. I also went into overdrive supporting my dad with the practicalities of registeriing the death and organising the funeral. I went back to work after 4 days even though it was sugggested I could take sick leave but I just wanted to get back to work. It was only 3 months later ,when a regular customer , also recently bereaved , started to ask me about my feelings eg, "did I feel angry, did I feel resentful " etc that I became upset. I don't bare my soul very easily to family let alone a stranger.

 

My younger sister who is autistic, though never professionally diagnosed, was very vocal in her grief. She did have a mother fixation , to the exclusion of all others, and felt very dependant on my mum. I personally feel that she was upset because now mum was gone she was wondering what would happen to her. As it happens she has now widened her circle and made contact with friends from school days . They all have special needs and help each other out , which is not a bad thing.

[Tally]

Well, everyone is different, but in Snow Cake, her child had not grown up with her, she lived a long way away and they did not see much of each other. It seems that her parents just took the child away without giving them an opportunity to bond. I think that she did react, it just wasn't in a way that other people would expect. Like when someone said, "I'm sorry you lost your daughter" and Linda replied, "she's not lost, she's dead." That looks unfeeling and callous, but it doesn't mean that she wasn't feeling a deep sense of sadness just because she wanted to speak frankly about it.

 

I am an adult with AS and I find it hard to maintain ties with people I do not see regularly. I quickly lose touch with friends once I move on from the situation I knew them from. When my grandmother died, she lived abroad and I did not see her very often. It was only six months later when I got a birthday card signed only from my Grandad that it really hit me what her death actually meant. Had I been allowed to attend the funeral I think that would have happened sooner. At the time of her death I did feel a sense of loss, but by the following day I was feling normal again. At the time I realised this was "wrong," but thought it was because I am not biologically related to her, though now I realise it was because I didn't really appreciate that she was actually gone. When my dad's aunt died I attended the funeral and went through a more normal grieving process even though I also did not see her often, and in fact had not seen her for several years . . . I was actually on my way when I got the news. I was equally close to both these people, they had a similar role in my father's life, and their deaths were similar in that they both suffered long illnesses and we knew that they were in their last few days, but I was a teenager when my grandmother died, so that may also have influenced the difference.

 

Some NT people with no traits of autism at all go onto "autopilot" when someone dies, and go right back to work and handle all the arrangements just fine, but break down later in private.

[zaman]

Thanks to all for your responses. Both Jannih and Tally made me think about what a 'normal' response to death is anyway. When my dad died myself and my two brothers (all NT) reacted completely differently to each other. And I can remember how upset I was by the reactions of my really close friends (NT) at the time. I couldn't believe the amount of people that said 'he had a good innings'. If I ever catch myself saying that to someone I will give myself a hard slap!