Tim Burton an Aspie?
So Tim Burton - director of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Night Before Christmas and other fantastical movies - might have . If Crippled Monkey were horribly cynical (which, of course, I'm not), I'd note that Mr Burton has now joined the long line of people who are quickly being diagnosed with AS or autism these days - a subject that our columnist Tom Shakespeare also wrote about a few months back, stoking up a great deal of controversy on our messageboard in the process.
But back to Tim Burton. How did this expert diagnosis come about, I hear you ask. Well, it's all down to his partner, Brit actress Helena Bonham Carter. She just been making a 91Èȱ¬ TWO film called Magnificent 7, which is "inspired by real life supermum Jacqui Jackson and her extraordinary children", who featured in the Ouch-supported documentary My Family and Autism back in 2003. Having played Jacqui, it would appear that Helena now sees herself as some kind of expert on people on the autistic spectrum.
Helena's diagnosis is based on the fact that Tim Burton is highly intelligent but lacks social skills. Hmm. She goes on to say: "Tim will kill me, but while making this drama I realised he actually has a bit of Asperger's in him. You start recognising the signs . . . We were watching a documentary about autism and he said that's how he felt as a child. Autistic people have application and dedication. You can say something to Tim when he's working and he doesn't hear you."
Right. Well, there you go. That proves it, then. Er.
Comments
There's a difference between being an Aspie and a Geek - and Burton is the latter.
Well she might know what she is talking about, she is married to him. My partner wasn't diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome until he was 42. Until the diagnosis I just thought he was a very awkward man.
Edward Scissorhands has many Autistic traits. Many HFA people seem a bit eccentric or a bit of a geek unless one actually lives with them. And once you discover the term HFA and what it means you discover they weren't just a bit eccentric, they were in fact a bit autistic.
Partner's of undiagnosed HFA adults can end up with Cassandra Syndrome. Speaking the truth about the person's autism but everyone else not believing them. Until about two years later when you have hunted down a specialist who can diagnose adult autism you finally get validation. There are many, many undiagnosed autistic adults out there. Struggling with their lives and they don't know why.