The Truth Behind each Mask

In a way, this post is a review of "Adam", the Hugh Dancy-Rose Byrne starring movie released in 2009, however it's a bit more about human behaviour. No I'm not going to get into psychology or philosophy, and you might be intrigued by my views.

First... A brief background about "Adam"... the movie is about Adam, who suffers from Asperger Syndrome, which in turn is the reason for his odd behaviour when it comes to interacting with the society at large. The movie is a sweet romantic comedy with elements of drama included to give seriousness to the characters. Adam seems to survive on - meals consisting of All-Bran Cereal and Macaroni & Cheese and his love for electronics & astronomy (to be honest he's a know-all nerd). His life turns up-side down when he meets Beth who has just moved into the same apartment as him. Beth pulls Adam out of his sheltered life into the true world. The relationship they share is amazing (to say the least), and shows you an extreme case of love between two very different individuals. Anyways, I'll let you watch the movie to enjoy the feel truly.

What i'm interested in bringing out is the innocent honesty of Adam, which of course leads him to people's weird looks on most occasions. Asparger Syndrome (AS) might be called a neurobiological disorder but what's true, is that in many ways it keeps you a child... a child true to himself and true to everyone else. Why is it a disorder? Because we're used to social norms and lies and anyone who doesn't fit into our society is weird? Well, it led me to wonder... aren't we all the one's who have been ruined by age and social up-bringing? Aren't we the ones who wear masks day in and day out? Aren't we the ones who lie to our family, our friends or anyone else for that matter?

Day in and day out, we are expected to understand what other people are thinking. But we aren't ready to just express ourselves without having to lie. We just pretend to understand the world... we're expected to know what our loved ones are feeling, but is it that easy? And are our predictions always correct (ask a boy and girl in a relationship, you'll know what I mean)? We love to hide our true self because we're scared of what people would think about us. Wouldn't it be nice if for once the whole world wore no mask? Wouldn't you like to be honest to every person you interacted with? I think I would... I'd love to discard my mask and be able to speak my heart and mind out, without the fear of "what they would think". The world would be a better place if all of us had an element of AS in us. Initially it might sound difficult, it might sound uncivilized. but in the end, it would be beautiful.... Then again... that's my view. :)

Just one more thing... Do check out these two soundtracks from "Adam" (they're lovely):

"Someone else's life" by Joshua Radin

"When you find Me" by Joshua Radin feat. Maria Taylor

This post is dedicated to all those with Asperger Syndrome