Patrick Alderman

Film 1070
Midterm Paper
2 March 2014
There have been many films about an individual orkin! ith or overcomin! a
particular disability" hether it as somethin! they ere born ith" or throu!h an
accident or incident# $ein! able to atch somebody overcome seemin!ly insurmountable
odds makes for a !reat story" and leaves the audience in ae of the characters stren!th
and coura!e#
%n most cases" these movies the audience is an outside observer" atchin! the
prota!onist stru!!le ith often day to day trials that e typically take for !ranted# &e
sympathi'e ith the individual stru!!lin! ith the disability" and empathi'e ith their
family" or friends ho help them reach their !oals# This is because as an audience e
typically stru!!le to empathi'e ith the prota!onist" as very fe of us can truly
understand hat it is like to be in their situation# As an audience member e need a
friend or family member to relate to# Tom (ruise in )*ain Man) is a prime e+ample of
that relatable character" orkin! ith ,ustin -offman.s disabled prota!onist#
%n this paper % ill be e+plorin! ho throu!h the use of Mise en /cene the movie
)Temple 0randin) alloed the audience to relate directly to the main prota!onist" by
alloin! us to literally see hat she as thinkin!# Thou!h a series of shots e !et an idea
of hat is !oin! on in her head" and can then empathi'e ith the character directly" rather
than ith a non1disabled character orkin! ith her#
The film maker does this in a fe different ays# There are hat appear to be
hand ritten notes" like hat you mi!ht see in blueprints that are superimposed over hat
is happenin! on screen" there are flashes of ima!es that relate to hat somebody is
sayin!# They interrupt the scene for only a brief moment" and then return to the film
!ivin! a small !lance into Temple.s thou!hts#
%n the openin! credits the film maker uses the blueprint ima!es" as a reference to
Temple.s future career desi!nin! more humane and efficient slau!hterhouses" and as a
reference of thin!s to come# The same blueprint style drain!s come up anytime Temple
observes mechanical movement such as a !ate" or the vent in her room# %t shos up a!ain
later in the film hen observin! ho cos move in a circular fashion# These observations
play a key role in her career development" and the ima!es help the audience understand
ho Temple thinks and sees thin!s# 2ater in the film" it comes as little surprise that
Temple desi!ns an automatic !ate" complete ith the time you have before the !ate
resets" at her Aunts house# The movement of the !ate mirrors the movement of an earlier
vent she sa ith the superimposed blueprint lines#
Another instance of a superimposed ima!e is hile Temple is still on the farm"
she !ets don on all fours and crals thou!h the same path they lead the cos throu!h to
!ive them medication# As she crouches don" a silhouette of a co is superimposed over
her" !ivin! the audience the idea" that she is puttin! herself into the cos position#
3ssentially" hile Temple is tryin! to !et into the mind of a co" the audience is alloed
to !et into the mind of her# &hile the co silhouette is e+tremely brief 4only a fe
seconds5" the idea of her as a co remains throu!h the rest of the scene as she crals
don the same path that hundreds if cos have folloed reactin! in ays it ould be
easy to understand those same cos did#
&ithout the co silhouette" the entire scene takes on a different look and feel#
/uddenly" it.s 6ust a !irl cralin! throu!h takin! notes# 7ot only does the audience not
understand hy" it makes it more difficult to relate to Temple in !eneral" as most people
ould not choose to cral throu!h the pen" hen they could observe it more comfortably
from the outside lookin! in#
The third ay e !et an idea of hat Temple is thinkin! involves flashes of
ima!es on the screen# These are usually related to conversations she is havin!" or
comments others make toards her# For e+ample" one character tells her she is a miracle"
and e !et a shot of 8esus alkin! on ater" or somebody mentions shoes" and e !et
flashes of to do'en different sets of shoes# These flashes help the audience understand
ho she thinks in ima!es rather than ords#
%t is important for the audience to understand ho Temple relates ima!es for later
scenes# Particularly any scene involvin! automatic slidin! doors as Temple associates
these ith a !uillotine" as seen by a flash of a descendin! blade# Armed ith this
knoled!e" it becomes perfectly understandable hy Temple may be scared of those
doors# % ould also be terrified of anythin! that reminded me of a !uillotine#
9nce a!ain" ithout these flashes" the scene takes on a holly different feel#
%nstead of a completely understandable fear" Temple simply appears to be scared of
slidin! doors# %nstead of empathi'in! ith her pli!ht" the audience no relates to outside
characters" ho look on Temple ith confusion" and derision# The !uillotine shots also
ouldn.t have made sense ithout the earlier flashes into Temples thou!hts to establish
them as a theme throu!hout the movie#
%n conclusion" thou!h the use of mise1en1scene to sho Temples thou!hts
throu!hout the film the character of Temple 0randin becomes much more relatable and
understandable alloin! the audience to empathi'e ith her# % for one started atchin!
the film ith little to no understandin! of autism" and the stru!!les people ith autism !o
throu!h# The ima!es presented as Temples thou!hts helped me find a much better
understandin! of her condition and ho vies the orld# As she said" it.s ),ifferent" but
not less#)