jtur88

The movie played like typical made-for-TV Lifetime-network fare. It jogged along disappointingly with a staccato linearity like an autistic child tapping his foot. As an adult Aspergers myself, I could relate quite well to the character, as I can relate to the real Temple that inspired the movie. In general, Danes played the part fairly convincingly, and I have a great deal of admiration for her, for her willingness to do it without the phony sensitivity that so often rears its ugly head. She was more convincing than Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man", but fell short of the stellar portrayal by Vincent Gallo in "Buffalo 66", whom I suspect is an Aspergers in real life. One important message that the picture understood and conveyed is that the high-function autistic is typically quite content with her own life, and would be unwilling to be "cured" in order to be like other people.

Seeing this video was a life altering experience. My 9-year old daughter was watching MTV one day, and I walked through the room when Liquid Television was on. I couldn't take my eyes off it, and suddenly realized that there was a new generation out there that was making just unbelievable material. (Aeon Flux was also introduced in Liquid TV.) This little film stuck in my mind all those years, and two decades later, I still remembered it and googled it and dug it out on YouTube, where it can be seen in its entirety.

When older people tell me that the younger generation is just a bunch of uncreative layabouts, I refer them to Black Hula to see just what people are now capable of doing, if you put tools in their hands.