Investigating autistic presence and expression on film and TV. We push beyond the obvious and seek out autistic themes and concerns in films from across the cinematic spectrum. We consider the ethics of performing autism, while also celebrating the autistic pleasures offered by the camerawork and the soundscapes. We delve into the works of cult directors who have hit upon an autistic way-of-seeing, perhaps without ever intending to. We entertain new possibilites for re-thinking beloved films in a neurodivergent light. Join regular contributors Janet Harbord, Georgia Bradburn, John-James Laidlow, David Hartley and Alex Widdowson for their fascinating and diverting discussions of a whole suite of suprising and challenging films. This podcast is brought to you by the Autism Through Cinema project, based at Queen Mary, University of London and funded by the Wellcome Trust. For further information on the wider project, visit our website at autism-through-cinema.org.uk and follow us ...
Episodes
Friday Nov 12, 2021
Friday Nov 12, 2021
We take the whimsical streets of Paris for Jean-Pierre Jeunet's cult classic Amelie in today's episode, brought to us by our very special guest autistic film journalist Lillian Crawford. We take great pleasure in revisiting Amelie from an autistic perspective, finding neurodivergent expression in the heightened audio and visual richness of Jeunet's film. Amelie herself is a character who uses various autistic techniques to figure out the people she meets, by using objects and wordplay rather than direct communication to reach her understandings. Things are not entirely rosy: concerns are raised about the film's adherence to heteronormativity, as well as a lack of non-white characters, as well as its sanitised vision of a picture-perfect vision of Paris.
Huge thanks to Lillian Crawford for bringing this film to the podcast. We've all become big fans of Lillian's writing on film, and we'd very much encourage you to seek her words out. Visit her website here: lillcrawf.co.uk and follow her on Twitter here: twitter.com/lillcrawf
You also heard the voices of our regulars John-James Laidlow, Alex Widdowson and Janet Harbord.
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