Was Chauncey Gardiner an Aspie?

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The 1979 film Being There featured Peter Sellers as Chance the Gardener (AKA Chauncey Gardiner) who is (according to Wikipedia.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_There) a "middle-aged man who lives in the townhouse of an old, wealthy man in Washington, D.C. He is simple-minded and has lived there his whole life, tending the garden. Other than gardening, his knowledge is derived entirely from what he sees on television. When his benefactor dies, Chance is forced to leave and discovers the outside world for the first time. [...] Chance's simple words, often due to confusion or stating the obvious, are often misunderstood as profound; [another character in the film] finds him direct and insightful, qualities which he admires. Chance's simplistic utterances about gardens and the weather are interpreted as allegorical statements about business and the state of the economy."

Produced and released before Asperger's Syndrome (AS) was even known to many American mental-health professionals, I wonder now if Chance could have been an adult with AS.

If you have seen Being There, do you agree? If you haven't seen it, you should. It is a great comedy without the slapstick. Besides, it was the last Peter Sellers film released before he died.

I've never seen the movie, but from what I understand, the lead character, Chance, is actually simple minded though he is perceived to be wise. As Aspies range from being intellectually average to above average, I think it unlikely.

I wondered about that. People kept misunderstanding what he was saying, thinking he was being abstract when he was being literal.

Yep. The Cauncey character was, of course, just that; a character. But, I saw certain behaviors by him and his surrounding characters that suggested some real (or mistaken) characteristics. In other words, his friends seemed to behave more as stereotypical NTs than he did as a possible Aspie.

It was all accidental, because in 1978/9, very few Americans (professional or not) understood much about AS; let alone Hollywood. Still, I often feel a little like Chauncey.

Funny - we watched Being There last Wednesday as part of my autism group's movie club, and a friend of mine had several theories over not only Chance's behavior, but also his background, which of course was shrouded in mystery throughout the entire film. I guess the makers intentionally left it up to interpretation.

I always liked that movie a lot, but the autism attribution seems like a stretch. I also enjoyed the book on which it's based.