Stop right now. Stop whatever you are doing. Go right now to rent and watch Temple Grandin. This film is one of the best ways I know of getting inside another human being. To feel what they feel. If it were possible to know how people thought, learned, felt, lived, became who they are, how would we be changed? We often think of changing others, of changing the world. But few think of changing themselves. Temple Grandin should give us pause to reflect on how our deficiencies may hurt others.
At the same time, consider the lifelong giving of those who care for others so unique. Temple Grandin had the providential good fortune of a caring mother. Some of her teachers became personal mentors. She helped ranchers with the designed beauty of her cattle dips and slaughter houses (yes, slaughter houses). As Temple herself says, “Nature is cruel; we don’t have to be.” Grandin earned undergraduate, masters, and doctoral degrees but her place of honor in the academe is that she honored cattle as deserving respect and human kindness. Temple’s ability to commune with animals, to see their fear or calm, became a place of peace for herself. Seeking the comfort of a machine’s “hug” was for Grandin a desire to find her way in the world; to be human.
“Going through another door” is a constant metaphor. Though overused, the point is driven home that strange is difficult until strange becomes our friend. Many will seize on the current mantra of “see through our differences.” But it is the “difference” of autism that makes Temple Grandin who she is. Cultural concerns for difference make us miss the point that we are alike, we are human. To be a human being, to sense the struggle and tension of life, is not gained from our finite, fragile capacities. Source for our empathy, for our humanity, comes from outside of ourselves. Were it not so, Temple Grandin would become, as Claire Danes reminds us in the film, “just another piece of meat.”
Temple Grandin will be a comfort to many who ache to reach their own family members in their worlds. Temple Grandin will remind those who research the complexities of life that complexity has beauty and a wholeness of its own. Temple Grandin will remind educators that children should be accepted as we find them, helping them to gain tools for world living. Temple Grandin should be the only two words necessary to remind the strong they have an obligation to defend any minority. Temple Grandin should be enough to spur the insensitive to consider their insensitivity.
We cannot help but weep as we are dropped into Grandin’s life. Director Mick Johnson makes us feel Grandin’s pain. Claire Dane’s performance is Emmy worthy if the phrase means anything. Julia Ormond and David Strathairn are top billing in a superb supporting cast. And three cheers to HBO for signing off on a movie whose off-putting phrase “slaughter house” cannot bode well for a business run on revenues. Do not eat popcorn. Do not fall asleep. Do not judge Temple Grandin by its title. Do nothing else until you watch it. And do not forget the Kleenex.
Not rated. There is simulated animal killing and tense, emotional human relationships.
(9/1/10) Congratulations to HBO, Johnson, Danes, Straithairn, and Ormond for their Emmy winning performances. Ecklian Reviews: Temple Grandin Mark Eckel is Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Crossroads Bible College.
The DVD will not be available until September 14. Meanwhile, those whose thirst must be quenched after Mark’s intensity of enthusiasm for the movie, can listen to interviews with the woman herself, right this very minute. Or you can download them into your iPod, and listen to them as you fiddle about the garden.
Go to NPR.org; at the bottom of the page, you’ll find a list of programs, and click on Fresh Air; type Temple Grandin in the search box. She’s got numerous interviews there. All are fascinating.
Mark, I look forward to seeing it. You’ve certainly piqued my interest. Patrick, thanks for the info about DVD availability and interviews.
well written blog. Im glad that I could find more info on this. thanks
You have done it again!! Piqued my interest in a film I probably would have over-looked!! Then to know Claire Dane is prominent in it, is another good reason for watching!! Thanks Honey for your observational skills that are ever before us!! :>) They also have heart and how precious that is to your Mom!!! :>) I love You!!!
I have seen this incredibly moving movie (yes, you do need kleenex). At times it is painful to watch but it shows that everyone has value and a unique talent despite having what are considered to be “disabilities.” It reminds me of a story from my youth about a person who had fallen off a cliff and rescuers were limited in their rescue efforts because of nightfall. A blind boy climbed down to the victim, comforting and staying with the victim until daylight and subsequent rescue by “seeing” rescuers. When asked about his heroism, the blind boy said, “The night was not an issue for me because I cannot tell when it is dark or light.” We are limited by our own perceptions and only when we are shown stories like this and Temple can we expand our thinking of others and their capibilites.
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
My sister bought this movie for my mom and we were enthralled. My mom’s interest in autism and her personal history in the cattle business lent itself to an interesting and captivating perspective to Temple Grandin’s story. Temple Grandin is AMAZING!
Great review Mark of a great movie. After seeing the movie I have now read her book, “Seeing in Pictures”. This book gives the reader a closer look into how the mind of someone with autism functions. Well worth reading.