Autism Spectrum Disorders In What's Eating Gilbert Grape

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a movie about a young man named Gilbert Grape. Gilbert takes care of his younger brother Arnie. Arnie has a developmental disability in the form of autism spectrum disorder. In real life, symptoms of autism spectrum disorder include deficits in social understanding and communication skills, repetitive and ritualistic behavior, and is sometimes accompanied by intellectual disability. These symptoms can impact the social life of the person with the disorder, as well as interfere with their education and work life. Autism can prevent a person from socializing and forming relationships with others. People with autism tend to repeat, as well as attach to, odd and unusual behaviors; a consistent routine is important

The movie develops the more stereotypical aspects of autism into Arnie’s character. Roughly twenty-five minutes into the movie, we come across a scene where Gilbert and his family are all eating dinner at the table. Gilbert tells his sister Ellen, to stop talking with her mouth full. He told her, “You’re making me sick. I am going to throw up.” Ellen replies with, “Okay Dad, sure thing Dad.” Gilbert then says back, “Dads dead Ellen.” Arnie then goes into hysteria screaming, “Dad’s dead,” over and over, slamming his fists on the table. The symptoms shown include a lack of social and emotional empathy, as Arnie displays inappropriate emotions, as well as the repetitive use of language, as Arnie repeats over and over, “Dad’s dead.” This scene is an accurate portrayal of someone with autism. Throughout the movie, Arnie is seen wearing Velcro shoes, referencing to the idea that he cannot properly tie his own shoes, despite turning 18 years old. As we watch his family eat dinner we also discover that Arnie cannot use silverware correctly. We see that Gilbert must watch Arnie take baths and tuck him in at night as well. The idea that Arnie cannot be left unsupervised is stressed throughout the movie. This is also an accurate portrayal of autism as it shows the deficits in adaptive functions; Arnie’s inability to perform simple tasks such as self-care.