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Rain Man Essay

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Released in 1988, writers Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow created a compelling story by introducing many to the world of autism. These two writers brilliantly plotted the dramatic story of a brother's greed developing into love in the 1988 Oscar winning movie Rain Man. Charlie Babbitt, the first main character played by Tom Cruise, is an arrogant, selfish businessman, striving to be wealthy, but his business is failing. The second main character in the film is Raymond Babbitt, played by Dustin Hoffman, who is an autistic savant who lives and is cared for at a mental institution. Charlie receives word that his father, whom he hasn't had contact with in years, has deceased. His father left an inheritance to Charlie and his unknown (or …show more content…

In the end Charlie did receive part of the trust money, but he no longer was concerned with the money as much as he was concerned with his "rain man." I thoroughly enjoyed this film and only hated it when it had to end. 1) The change of setting allows the viewers to see and understand the autistic behaviors of Raymond. 2) The character, Raymond, is realistic because the portrayal of autism was thoroughly researched by Hoffman studying autism and shadowing several autistics prior to making the film. The change of setting allows the viewers to see and understand the autistic behaviors of Raymond. One of the first scenes showing Raymond's autistic behaviors is when they stopped at a diner for lunch. The night before, Raymond was given a phone book to read at the hotel to pass some time. The next day at the diner, Raymond notices the waitress' name on her nametag and recites her phone number. By this, the viewer can see that Raymond has an incredible memory. During this scene, Charlie roughly squeezes the back of Raymond's neck. Raymond then pulls out his injury notebook and logs the date and injury of "squeezing the neck." This shows the odd behavior of Raymond. A box of toothpicks was dropped and Raymond could immediately tell there were 246 toothpicks on the floor. This demonstrates the mathematical abilities Raymond possesses. The next scene that clearly shows the autistic mannerisms of Raymond is when Charlie

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