We take a different film per episode and explore its relation to autism. Sometimes this is obvious - perhaps there is an autistic character, or a theme of neurodiversity. Sometimes this is less obvious - it may be that one of our contributors has seen autism expressed in the movement of the camera or the use of sound. Join us for explorations through a neurodivergent cinematic spectrum!
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We take a different film per episode and explore its relation to autism. Sometimes this is obvious - perhaps there is an autistic character, or a theme of neurodiversity. Sometimes this is less obvious - it may be that one of our contributors has seen autism expressed in the movement of the camera or the use of sound. Join us for explorations through a neurodivergent cinematic spectrum!
An episode which has been a long time coming, Georgia, David and Lillian finally tackle the cult classic cyberpunk sci-fi of Ridley Scott's groundbreaking Blade Runner.
There is much to discuss from this 'parable of neurodiversity' (as David puts it), including how the Voight-Kampff test of the film mirrors the real-life 'empathy' tests of autism diagnoses, and how the tag-line 'more human than human' relates to language used to describe (and dehumanise) autistic people.
The gang also consider the status of the cyborg 'replicants' as potential neurodivergent activists, while a special focus on the character of Rachel reveals how the film's cinematography potentially behaves in a neuroqueer manner.
The episode is inspired by David's article on autism and Blade Runner which can be found here if you have the access: https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/sfftv.2022.12
If not, you can find a version of the article in Chapter 4 of David's PhD thesis, which is available for free (after signing up to Academia.edu) here: https://www.academia.edu/45516790/The_Fantastic_Autistic_Divergence_Estrangement_and_The_Neuroqueer_Screen_in_Blade_Runner_The_Final_Cut_2007_and_Community_2009_2015_
And for even more on the connections between autism and Blade Runner do check out this blog series by SpeakerToAnimals: https://speakertoanimals.wordpress.com/2017/03/27/do-aspies-dream-of-electric-sheep/
Audio edits by 344 Audio.
Autism Through Cinema
We take a different film per episode and explore its relation to autism. Sometimes this is obvious - perhaps there is an autistic character, or a theme of neurodiversity. Sometimes this is less obvious - it may be that one of our contributors has seen autism expressed in the movement of the camera or the use of sound. Join us for explorations through a neurodivergent cinematic spectrum!
