There are many movies that I've never seen before, but some seem to get the reaction of, "How have you never seen that?!" Like it's so shocking that I haven't seen it because it's been so steeped in our society that everyone should have seen it. There are so many movies that I haven't seen out there, but for the really special ones, (the ones that changed movies, our culture, our lives) I'm making a special effort to actually watch them. I'll let you know what movie will be coming up each week in case you want to watch it with me and see if you have the same thoughts I do about each one, or if your opinion on it is different.
Since April is Autism Awareness Month, I figured that it would be fitting to start my journey into movies with Rain Man. This is a movie that has long been discussed over the past 30-some years for having amazing acting and dealing with a subject that wasn't well discussed in the 80s when it was made. I don't know a whole lot about the plot other than Tom Cruise is given custody of his autistic brother and he has to adjust to life with someone who depends on him. I know it got a lot of critical acclaim and won some awards. Each of the actors were praised for their performances, as well. Other than that, I have no preconceived notions of what the movie will be like and how it will go. I can only assume that, because of the way 80s scripts went, Tom Cruise's character will be a selfish guy that can't empathize with others in the beginning, but will learn the value of taking care of someone and seeing through their faults to finding the best parts of them by the end. Seems to be the way of things in the 80s. So, here I go to watch the movie!
As I suspected, Tom Cruise did exactly as I thought he would, but it did not start out how I thought it would. Here I go thinking that he finds out about his brother after his father's death and he has to adjust to life with a new person depending on him. I had no idea that he would pretty much kidnap his own brother to extort "his half" of the inheritance. The journey was a great experience, though, except for the totally cringeworthy moments of the first 30 minutes. Now those cringe moments were more so because of the narcissistic behavior that Cruise's character displayed, and not so much because of anything that would be considered uncouth by today's standards. I am an extremely empathetic person and I tend to overanalyze why someone feels the way they do, or reacts they way they do. To see a person on such the extreme side is nearly intolerable to me. Charlie Babbitt is such a character that feels entitled to everything he's never been given and feels that a great injustice has been served when he finds out that the entire fortune he'd been under the impression that he was going to inherit. He goes to some pretty extreme lengths to get the thing he feels he's owed without a care or concern for the people that get caught up in his scheme. Most of all, his own brother, Raymond, gets caught up in Charlie's scheme to collect his "fair share." Charlie has no care for Raymond's routines and need for regularity. He can't even begin to understand what the doctor is saying when he's explaining that Raymond's brain just doesn't work the same.
I have to wonder, if I had seen this movie when I was a teenager, would I have agreed with Charlie's motives more or would I have still thought that he was an entitled narcissist that needed to be knocked down a peg so he could begin to have a little empathy for others? Who knows? But as an adult looking at the situation, with the attitude he had as a child, I wouldn't have let him drive my super valuable car either. I may not have called the cops, but there would have been severe repercussions for something that extreme. So in his later years, since his attitude of, "I deserve it" only got worse, his father's decision to cut him out was well justified. The fact that he got the car was a miracle.
His first actions with his own brother were to completely ignore all of his needs and to basically walk him off the property where he had lived since Charlie was a baby, and take him on a road trip across the country. He learned pretty quickly that an autistic mind is not one to mess with, though. Charlie tries to get across the country quickly, so he gets plane tickets to travel as fast as possible. The problem is, Raymond has memorized every crash that every airline has had and refuses to get on an airline that has crashed before. Charlie refuses to believe that Raymond won't get on the plane, so he starts to be forceful in urging Raymond towards the terminal. Lesson 1 that Charlie had to learn the hard way: If an autistic person doesn't want to do something and you are trying to force them into it, they aren't constrained by societal norms to stay quiet, so a loud outburst is possible, and probable. Charlie makes the smart decision, his first one where he puts his own needs aside for his brother, and decides they'll drive across the country. As Charlie is faced with new levels of Raymond's rituals, he begins to consider what another person is going through and how they might feel about a situation.
It isn't until they're close to Vegas that Charlie realizes a deep truth that changes his perspective about Raymond. When Charlie was young, if he would get anxious or upset, the Rain Man would sing to him to calm him down. As time passed, the Rain Man disappeared from his life, so he assumed this was an imaginary friend. As he's having a conversation with Raymond on night, he realizes that Raymond was the Rain Man (he was a baby that couldn't pronounce Raymond properly, so it came out as Rain Man) and Charlie is the reason that Raymond was put into the facility in the first place. Their father worried that Charlie would be hurt by Raymond, as might have happened while running a bath for Charlie as a child. This is the key to unlocking Charlie and getting him to see someone else's life instead of his own. Up until this point, Charlie had gone back and forth between "getting it" and being completely clueless. He still makes bad decisions after this and forgets to see to Raymond's needs at times, but he's finally paying more attention. In the end, he realizes that he really enjoys Raymond's company and he's glad to have a brother. Definitely hits you in the feels at times.
Both actors did amazingly well with their roles. I was truly disgusted by Charlie's arrogance and entitlement in the beginning and I truly felt for Raymond when his rituals and routine got disturbed. I could tell when he'd had enough of being in the casino and when he was on the edge of an outburst. Hoffman was amazing at showing his emotions and distress without much variety in dialogue. Cruise was great at pulling off the arrogance, but still being able to make it believable that someone with that level of narcissism could actually find empathy. I understand why it got such critical acclaim and is referred to by so many when discussing movies.
If you haven't seen it yet, I definitely recommend it. And this is definitely the month to watch it. Check it out on Prime or Netflix.
This upcoming Sunday I'll be watching Napoleon Dynamite. If you want to watch along, it's available to stream on Hulu. I'll let you know how it goes next Monday!
For more movie love, check out my other blog, "You're Watching That Again?!"
