Saturday, 02 October 2010
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Lie To Me - antithesis to autism individual
The Fox Show “Lie To Me” is in it’s second season. We like to look at characters on television and see autism characteristics. We speculate if a certain character is on the spectrum.While I was watching the latest episode of “Lie To Me,” I considered the lead character, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and how his character seems to be the antithesis of an autistic individual. In case you are not familiar with the show and it’s characters, let me explain. The show is about reading people’s faces and body language to tell if they are lying, hiding something, angry, happy, etc..
Dr. Cal Lightman is an expert in reading people’s emotions. It occurred to me how easily this character does this, compared to an autistic individual. My son has difficulties telling what others are feelings. He is always asking me how I am feeling. If I am upset, sad, whatever. He has a tendency to go strictly by the words you say, not what he sees in your body language, the tone of your voice, or your face.
I also noticed that, even though the character of Dr. Cal Lightman can read people so easily, he has difficulties in socializing with others. That makes me wonder, is it possible to be too good at reading the emotions of others?
I just think it’s interesting how something we work so hard to teach our children is the focal point of a television show. I also think it is interesting how the character that is so great at this on the show has difficulties with social interactions. What do you think?
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- From: autismlearningfelt
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Comments (4)
I think at times, if you are overly good at reading people in terms of the body language and so on that they exhibit, you end up assuming that everyone else is just as good at it, therefore you stop really using words to communicate thoughts and feelings, and instead rely more on the body language which very few people are actually expert at reading.
His difficulties with communication therefore might be something to do with thatMy 13yo son with autism loves Lie to Me and watches it with me (when the eps are age appropriate - there have been a few whose topics were way too intense for him), because it does show him that learning how to read and understand others is something that can be learned by rote, though it doesn't come naturally to him. He says he has found it helpful in many ways, and just the concept that this skill is so subtle and also so accessible if you just pay attention to certain things has been eye-opening. He loves the title sequence where it points out "this means happy" etc.
"is it possible to be too good at reading the emotions of others?"
I think this is a running theme of the show. Cal Lightman is based on a real person, behavioral psychologist Paul Ekman, who has written extensively how isolating this skill can be. It's worth watching with teens with autism - not just for them, but because Tim Roth is a powerhouse in the role :)
I love this show. another thing to look at with the character is the fact that he had to learn to read people. His stuff is science based not natural. Like the character in the show ( the brunette ) it is all natural and it upsets Cal. I believe if you look closely you will notice autistic tendacies in people that are highly intellegent or over the top in there field. Athletes are a good example, A lot of the extreme talented ones have a lot of problem with the social rules of society. ( koby,Jordan,Tiger the list can go on.)
great stuff
Curtis Maybin
Http://www.TheAutismNewsWire.com
The show is total fiction, its conceived by writers and directors and acted by Tim Roth who said that it was a mark of his acting ability that people believed in his character in the show because in real life he was absolutely useless at reading people. The show was written deliberately with the tension of a man who reads everything and can't put it into practice. Its the opposite of ASD in real life - reads nothing much and tries to act as if every nuance had been understood. Hard to draw a conclusion about a tv show that isn't in any way based on reality.
I wish there was a way of teaching people to read body language and emotions automatically but there doesn't seem to be - either you can or you can't be taught to look at it grossly but it will never be there unless you think of it and concentrate, its very, very frustrating.