Movie Assignment

Psychology 150 Name : Date : SUMMARY OF THE MOVIE 'RAIN MAN' Yesterday I got a chance to watch an excellent movie by Tom Cruise. The movie is all about two brothers in which the main character is Charles Sanford named "Charlie" Babbit, who is a self-centered automobile dealer. He is in Los Angeles and also worked as a bookie. The movie revolves around his life and depicts the change in his life with the stepping of his unknown brother Raymond. The movie starts with his business deals and then he gets the news of dismissal of his father. Even though he never had good relationships with his father, he went for the funeral. After reaching there he got the news that his estranged father left him from his last will, only a huge bed of roses and a car while the big mount money i.e. $3 Million was given to a trust fund to be distributed to someone unknown. He got upset and angry and decided to look into this matter. He found out that the whole sum of $3 Million was for "someone" named Raymond, who was Charlie's unknown brother. Charlie the younger brother was a hustler and was really good at dealing with people and situations. But since he was thrown out by his father when he was a teen-ager, he really got upset on Raymond after his death. Raymond the elder brother, was a autistic Savant and was residing in Walbrook Institute for years and years. He was the person who lived in a world of his own, lived very calculated life and was tuned for a specific life style. He was inherited his father's $3 Millions but didn't even understood the importance of money.

The Angry Charlie took a drastic step of kidnapping his own brother and wanted to take him to Los Angeles. But when he refused to fly except Quantas, he took him on a road journey to the west coast. This he wished to do as a threat to get the $3 Million inheritance from the trust against Raymond. In the long road trip journey, they got a chance to understand each other and developed a better understanding of each other. In this journey Charlie used the excellent capabilities of his brother, Raymond, to earn good money at casino. Even though he had to pass through difficult phases and also had to bear some very difficult circumstances in between, these good and bad experiences brought them near and Charlie got to like his brother and left all his money to him.

SYMPTOM PROFILE FOR THE CHARACTER Charlie's elder brother, Raymond portrayed a specific form of autism known as Asperger 's Dis. As per the popular definitions - A savant is a person with extraordinary mental abilities, and an autistic savant is typically someone with autistic symptoms who also has a single outstanding area of knowledge or ability. The extraordinary abilities may be in the areas of math, music and memory. There have been many famous artist like Kim Peek. He was the model on whom the character of Raymond was based at. He could almost instantly calculate dates for any event hundreds of years into the past or the future. Other savants, teen musician Matt Savage, could also perform impressive feats in specific fields but he was unable to take part in ordinary social activities. 1 While Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. 2 According to Darold A. Treffert, MD of the University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison,
1 http://autism.about.com/od/autismterms/f/savant.htm 2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism

Savant syndrome is a rare, but extraordinary, condition in which persons with serious mental disabilities, including autistic disorder, have some 'island of genius' which stands in marked, incongruous contrast to overall handicap. As many as one in 10 persons with autistic disorder have such remarkable abilities in varying degrees, although savant syndrome occurs in other developmental disabilities or in other types of central nervous system injury or disease as well. Whatever the particular savant skill, it is always linked to massive memory. Even though savant syndrome and autism have been closely linked, there are people who are savants without any autistic symptoms and there are many people with autism which do not show any signs of the savant syndrome. As per the facts that are available with us, around 10% of people suffering from autism show the signs of the savant syndrome. That is why, autistic savants is a rare possibility with very few people suffering from both these syndromes. 3 Raymond, the character portrayed for this syndrome in the movie clearly expressed both the behaviors. On one hand he was able to calculate complicated mathematical problems in his head with great speed and accuracy, and on the other hand he lives by strict routine and was incapable of forming human relationships. Although he had extraordinarily high-functioning and he could count cards at the casino, memorize obscure baseball stats and add up large and complicated sums quicker than a calculator, but his acts and nagging, including repeated talks of "Abbott & Costello", "Four minutes till Wapner" and refusal to fly on an airline except Quantas, was the ideal examples of this syndrome. Another example was his routine to watch the TV programs like People's Court and Jeopardy every day at the same time. He was very adamant and strict about his routines. Because of his this habit, Charlie had to push into someones house to let Raymond watch the show and ultimately he bought a mobile TV for him so that he could continue his routine.

3 http://autisticsavant.org/autistic-savant-2/autistic-savant/#more-24

SUMMARY OF THE CHARACTERS EXPERIENCE OF THE MENTAL ILLNESS Cognitive: a. Excellent ability to perform mental arithmetic and calculations b. Able to remember dates, numbers and old historic datas c. Quick learner learns dance very fast d. Also understand that money is something important when loses $3000 at wheel of fortune Emotional: a. became distressed when his normal routine was disrupted b. Understood his emotional bounding with his brother little bit and also started understanding his love for him Interpersonal difficulties: a. unable to form social bonds. His brother, Charlie, wanted to hug him after the win at Casino, but he could not accept that. b. Was not able to maintain eye contact with other people and not able to read body language. Other's response to his mental health issues: a. Other treated him as sick and abnormal and ran away from him, like the date he waited for. b. The people who understands his condition, i.e. Susanna, tries to help him.

CHARACTER'S COMPENSATION TO HIS MENTAL DISORDER He was not in the condition to do anything about his problem, The only solution was that he should have been living in a protected and the adapted environment so he lived in a special institution specifically designed for him. GROUP MEMBER'S RESPONSE After getting all A's in his report card, Charlie wanted to take his fathers car for a drive when he was a young boy. Since he was refused, he still took away the car and met with an accident and was in jail for two days, as his father refused to help him. Charlie left his home in bitterness and was not talking to his father. This made him rebellious and the news of his wealth of $3 Million inherited to his unknown brother made him even madder and he took him off for the revenge. In the state of confusion, anger and greed, he took him on a six days journey and by the end of it, Raymond started improving and he lessened the restrictions of his routine. He even realized that he may enjoy freedom to discover new aspects of his life, which were impossible till he was in institution. The mutual love, care and emotions can cure the difficult illness this is the morale of the story. Even though Raymond is not fully cured, he started understanding feelings and even started responding back to them. Charlie even came to know that his imaginary childhood friend was not imaginary, rather in actual he was his elder brother. This fact made him more emotional and attached to his brother. But he even realized that how difficult it would be to take care of Raymond all days and night and so he decided to gives Ray back. Charlies loved Raymond and it was not the question of money anymore. A strong emotional link was made between the two men. He decided that Raymond could go back to Wallbrook, but he would visit him every second week.

SPECIAL NOTE As a child, Charlie couldnt speak properly the name of his elder brother, so he called him Rain Man instead of Raymond. This is the reason why this movie is titled as RAIN MAN. Their father has brought Raymond to Wallbrook because he was ill and could have hurt the young Charlie by putting him into hot water, since he was a little baby at that time. However, at the later years when Charlie grew older, he just forgot that he had a brother, and he was even not been told by his parents and others. This made him even more aggregated and angry.