Mac from Chicken Run...Aspergers?
LtlPinkCoupe
Veteran

Joined: 7 Dec 2011
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,044
Location: In my room, where it's safe
The Aardman movie Chicken Run was one of my main special interests when I was a little kid, and my favorite characters from the movie were Babs (the cute innocent one who was always seen knitting) and Mac, the chicken with the thick steampunk-esque glasses who handled all the engineering in the escape plans.
I got a plushie of Babs shortly after seeing the movie with my aunt, and I carried her everywhere and she pretty much was my comfort item. Many years later when I was in high school and went to a flea market with my dad, I saw a plushie of Mac in one of the glass cases and got so excited....I asked one of the staff if they would please unlock the case she was in and I carried her in my arms all over the store until we checked out and left. I still sleep with both of them, along with some other plushies....
Ever since I got back into Chicken Run a couple months ago, I've been thinking about how much I relate to Mac - We both kind of keep to ourselves for the most part, we have strengths/interests that not many other people have, and when we get nervous or excited, it can be difficult for people to understand us, or for us to make ourselves understood - like in the part where Mac is excitedly talking a mile a minute about the concept of "thrrrrust" in her thick Scottish accent and Rocky the rooster is totally lost...I always thought Rocky was kind of rude to Mac, tho; it's not her fault she has a thick accent and gets so excited/nervous that she's hard to understand. He should have just asked her, "Could you repeat that please? I didn't quite catch it." We also have ideas that people don't always understand, like Mac and her miniature catapult idea, for going "over the fence."
Another thing Mac and I have in common is how we have really gentle, shy personalities for the most part, but can get really impulsive when we're upset or angry, or see an injustice taking place. There's this one part where Bunty (one of the hens who is the best egg layer and has obviously become arrogant and something of a bully due to this) accuses Babs of making Rocky leave, and grinds her knitting project into the mud with her foot. At this point, Mac snaps to, looks right at Bunty like, "Alright, that's it; you're dead" and then says something like, "See how YOU like being pushed around" while giving her a shove, which then escalates to her screaming and flailing wildly at Bunty while some other chickens hold her back. That part reminds me of how I can go from relatively calm and pleasant to angry in just a minute or two over the most trivial things, or if I feel I or someone I care about has been insulted or wronged somehow, and can in some cases actually become verbally aggressive/threatening to break/hit people or things if I can't calm myself down, or have one of my calming objects with me (like my stones, a Tangle, or a plushie). I actually like the part where Mac starts beating on Bunty, cuz I don't really like Bunty at all; I never have. Like I said, she was just kind of a bully.
I actually think if Mac were to go in for an evaluation, she just might end up being on the spectrum somewhere. For all her quirks, aggressive moments, and somewhat minimal screen time, she's a real sweetheart, at least I think she is.
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I wish Sterling Holloway narrated my life.
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" "Life isn't fair, Calvin." "I know, but why isn't it ever unfair in MY favor?" ~ from Calvin and Hobbes
i do not remember much of chicken run (i saw it a couple of times as a kid, wallace and gromit also), mac does sound sweet and possibly on the spectrum from what you said.
i know i can relate to you and Mac with the impulsive tendencies when upset/angry, lower than average impulse control is common among us on the spectrum, i know it is for me! i have liked to rip up papers and smash things when i get upset of overwhelmed, which has not happened often in my past but my world is becoming increasingly whelming...the tide of adolescence...lol
i do not think i put on an imposing facade, i have a soft voice and a less than confident manner of walking but i have surprised a lot of people with sudden head banging and screams. and i've found myself winding up in front of counselors, parents and even a police officer due to things i have said when i was exceedingly upset and likely wouldn't have uttered otherwise.
i doubt she was meant to be portrayed with an ASD, probably not but from your description she paints a description that beats that of most other characters on shows and movies that are meant to be on the spectrum...
my school actually keeps love chickens as part of the "green academy" and the agriculture programs, i like to visit them before i leave. they don't run freely out in the open, right now, the greenhouse and similar structures were recently torn down because they did not meet the zoning laws or whatever. i'd sure like to play with them sometime.
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