Autism at the movies

E has never been to movie theatre. In fact neither has his older brother.

Cars 2 is arriving in the cinemas very very soon and another family has invited us to join them. They have 2 boys who like ours are very keen on Disney's Cars. We are very careful about what we let our boys watch. We try to preview any movies/ shows that our kids might be exposed to and assess whether we think it is approiate material for their stage in life (or at all).

We were very impressed with Disney's Cars. Apart from the subject material being highly attractive for boys (racing cars, trucks, what else is there in life?), we thought the story line, the values it promoted, the growth of the characters were not only entertaining but produced much material to think through and chat about with our boys.

We are not particularly fond of movies which promote a black and white mentality: where there is a 'goodie' and a 'baddie'. For this is not a true representation of life. We are not all 'good' or 'bad'. We are complex. Our lives are complex. 'Good' people do 'bad' things or foolish things. 'Bad' people have a story, a history, have been shaped my a multitude of life experiences and are still capable of doing 'good' things. We prefer to think in the categories of wisdom and foolishness. What does a wise life look like? How do we learn from our failures, our mistakes? What does growth look like? How can we contribute to the world around us from who we are and what we have been given?

Although, Cars does have an element of black and white (Chick for example is presented as the 'baddie'), we think for the most part, the shades of grey in life are highlighted. Lightening McQueen grows and changes, he starts off rude and selfish, and learns what it means to respect others and rely on others. Doc is another interesting character - is he the baddie or the goodie? Again, another examples of the complexities of our character.

We don't know what to expect when we take E into the movie theatre. If anyone has tips for us, we'd love to hear them. It is going to be very hard to explain to him what will happen, especially since there is quite a wait for the movie to start. We will have 2 adults, so if need be one of us can leave with E and the other stay with his older brother. We will be reading some reviews of the film to try and make sure the movie is going to be appropriate for them.

Here is a trailer of the upcoming movie. (And if I am honest, I am a little bit excited myself).