The Movie Rain Man

In the movie Rain Man, Charlie Babbitt lives in Los Angeles and he owns a business that is failing and he needs money desperately. Charlie gets a call that his father has died and that the funeral is being held in Ohio. Charlie and his father had a falling out, but Charlie visits his father’s funeral to collect his inheritance. Charlie receives his dad’s favorite car and rosebushes, while a unknown source receives his father’s assets which add up to three million dollars. Charlie finds out that he has a brother named Raymond and he has received the three million dollars. Raymond lives in a mental facility named Walbrook and has savant syndrome. This is a form of autism that makes Raymond follow strict patterns, memorize anything he reads,

Raymond’s ability to calculate large math problems with lightning fast answers would be related to the increased ability in the left hemisphere of his brain. This could also lead to Raymond’s impeccable ability to memorize information that he sees, allowing him to memorize the phone book. Raymond’s need for planning and routines can also come from his left hemisphere. Another great portrayal of symptoms of an autistic savant is Raymond’s social developmental disability of acting like a kid and using toothpicks as silverware. Raymond is not able to be a contributing member of society as he is not able to differentiate the costs of different objects. It was very unrealistic in Raymond’s ability to know exactly how many toothpicks there were when they fell out of the pack. There is no known ability that would allow Raymond to know that kind of information and

Rain Man gave one of the first looks at what a savant was during its release. It was factually based for the most part and showed how life was as an Autistic Savant. The movie was very successful in showing the Frustration-Aggression theory. Charlie’s actions throughout the movie can almost be directly related to this principle. Finally, a type A personality can be seen throughout the entire movie. Rain Man did a outstanding job showing the characteristics of s type A personality. Even though the movie was just another way to entertain someone, it is always interesting to look up the facts behind a movie, and see how accurately a movie can demonstrate the ideas and principles being used within