What do you think about the movie "Chocolate"?

Post Reply New Topic

I am asking because my mother came up to me the other day and said that the character in this movie reminded her of me (which I'm still trying to figure out how to take. HAHAHA!) The movie is called "Chocolate." It is a Thai film by the makers of Ong bak. The main character is an autistic girl whose special interest is Muay Thai.

Here is the official trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoccbDV5NOI

and here is a fight scene in the middle of the movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj3X-_tEKsw&feature=fvwrel

How do you find this film as it portrays autistic people? Offensive? Awesome? Love? Hate?
Please give your reasons.

...What did I just watch?

That was my initial reaction too. I do think this is very offensive.
...yet somehow I can't stop watching it! I love martial arts movies!

Maybe my mother was right.

I think it looks pretty good actually

The trailer was a little offensive, but the martial arts were good,

I just watched it. I don't think it was really offensive...Maybe the part where she eats the poorly animated fly (Why is she scared of them when she's older if she's eating them when she's young?), the ball catching freak show part, and the "you might need to protect yourself in the future, so dodge this knife!" part. I also don't understand why she can't say "OK" when she can otherwise speak reasonably well.

It never explicitly says she's autistic, the doctor just says she has a problem with the development of her brain...

How is it offensive?

She's scared of the fly in adulthood because her environment has influenced her. You know, like how most north Europeans used to be afraid of gay people, and Jews. Either that, or she way always scared, and ate the fly to get rid of it .

i thought it was a great movie actually. im fairly sure it is on youtube. i didnt think it was offensive. i thought it was nice seeing somebody on her end of the spectrum being portrayed, not as a victim or child that needed to be babied(she might have needed care but she could also protect herself and others), but as somebody who could be capable. also films about autistic people dont just tend to be about the autist, the autist can become periphery. this film was all about her and she isnt a passive player in the film. stuff doesnt happen to her- she makes stuff happen and it doesnt just depict her family and their feelings and stuff or show her as some sort of plot device, there only to make everybody else feel good. basically i liked it because she was female, not white, autistic and kicked butt and saved the day. her autism is a little stereotypical except for the bit where she's all not clumsy and doesnt move awkwardly when she's handing peoples arses to them.

i liked this review:
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/double-ra ... sm-ableism

Ah, JD rocks that movie.....yummmy!

I do like this movie a lot. I was just expecting more people would be offended I think.

When I was little I had really bad motor skills. I don't know if it's because of spectrum stuff, or because ambidextrous kids often have these problems. Either way, my parents put me in dance, sports, painting, all sorts of things to help with my motor skills, but to no avail. I couldn't catch a ball, write legibly, or even move with a beat properly. I was still clumsy as all get-out until I found martial arts. It took a while for me to get the hang of things, but now I feel like a superhero of normalness (if that makes any sense). Most people don't understand that running up a flight of stairs without tripping, just being able to accomplish pull-ups are just as profound to me as beating bad-guys. I never for a second suspected that I could be the kind of person someone would call "strong," and as a young teenager, seeing this happening made me rejoice in my training. Perhaps that's what my mother recognized as familiar.

Obviously, I am far far at the opposite end of the spectrum as Zen, but just learning how to be more comfortable in your own body through martial arts, I think that's what I like about this movie.

I love martial arts, and I love what it's given to me. In other news, here's an interesting study on martial arts increasing coordination activity in the brain: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_15-8-2012-12-15-31

This study was among the general population, not people on the spectrum, but it's still interesting none the less.

???????????
Of course all I know of martial arts is through my little sister...

I loved it. I watched twice. I like martial arts movies in general, and Thai ones are my favorites. I wasn't in the least offended, becaus there was really nothing to be offended about. No one can get the representation of autism absolutely right because it differs from person to person. Also, she was just more severely affected than some people with Autism. She actually reminded me of one of my autistic brothers.
Anyway, it was a fun movie. I would recomend it to others, though not as a representation of autism.