What I thought of Billy the Kid
Saturday, January 26th, 2008We saw the documentary Billy the Kid last night. The director (Jennifer Venditti) and John Elder Robison (author of Look Me in the Eye…go get it and read it). We were late because we got lost…so I missed the first ten minutes or so.
It was good….although at some parts it was so hard to watch. I just covered my eyes with my coat. Mostly because I see Brianna do the same things that this kid was doing.
The director said they shot the footage in 8 days. That explained some of the things in the movie. There are times when Billy really seems to be playing to the camera. It’s the same feeling I get now when I watch my daughter in new social situations…I can tell she is “acting”, or “playing to a script” to get through the social stuff. I wish I could pour some of me or her brother into her, so she wasn’t so uncomfortable and she could just relax and put herself out there (because she really is amazing). That’s what I mean by playing to the camera - the director said Billy is into films (it sounded to me like it’s one of his THINGS), so I think he had an idea of how he was supposed to be acting.
But his aspiness still came through. One thing he did that I recognized is repeated things to make sense of them (oh, you’re Heather’s dad…). Brianna doesn’t do that so much anymore…but she used to drive me a little nutty with it. She wouldn’t just repeat stuff, she would repeat it in the form of a question. Or questions. I don’t know why she doesn’t do that so much anymore. I’ll have to ask her.
One way he is different than my daughter is he is very outgoing. Brianna is very very shy. I think it has saved her one sort of troubles. He would start talking and just tell the person all those things you aren’t supposed to say to a person you just met. That is when I would cover my eyes.
During the Q&A, one dad in the audience asked how much was edited out because they didn’t show any rants. I took “rant” to mean what I call “getting stuck” - going on and on and on and on about a topic. It was funny, you could tell who in the audience knew an aspie by who laughed.
This poor kid had a wonderful mom, but not so great dad (drugs are bad mmkay). Again, I have to think I was blessed with the parents I have to be able to be the right kind of parent to Bri. Thanks mom and dad.
I asked John Elder Robison if he had met Billy, and if Billy knew about his connection to KISS. Billy LOVES KISS. He had a homemade Guitar Hero set up….he had a guitar and an amp set up in front of his TV playing a KISS video. And then he mimicked what they did. (I thought that was so cool). John invented all the exploding guitars, etc for KISS. Although Billy and John haven’t met, John said he thought any true KISS fan would know who invented the guitars. LOL. Supposedly KISS is thinking about showing up at the premier in L.A. THEY SHOULD….and they should send Billy out there for it. Can you imagine? That would be so awesome.
If you don’t know and love someone with Asperger’s Syndrome, you should see this movie. It will show you that those “weird” people hanging around are just different. Cut them some freaking slack. If you know someone with Asperger’s, the movie is really wonderfully done - the sounds and sights were edited to try and simulate what the world “feels” like to an aspie. I think they did a good job with that. I also think it’s good she shot it in 8 days - she didn’t have time to get to be exhausted by his strangeness (At least we can tell Bri now that we need a break from it, and she understands. And we understand when she needs a break from us).
The movie strengthened my resolve to change how people on the spectrum are treated and seen by others. Eventually, I’ll get there…I’d love to go home and just help people understand their kids may not be bratty, just autistic.
The movie will be on HBO soon, then on DVD. It’s in some theaters now. I recommend it.
