Movie Alert: Temple Grandin

Like anyone else, I have my biases. There are times I feel strongly about one thing or another and I can't really explain why. For example, I cringe anytime anyone uses the R word (shame on you, Rahm). I tend to avoid movies where celebrities are playing someone who is mentally challenged -- haven't seen Nell, I Am Sam, The Other Sister, just to name a few.

But the other night, I was laying in my bed waiting for my dosage of cold medicine to kick in, when I stumbled upon the HBO movie, Temple Grandin. In it, Claire Danes is Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who overcame her disability to attend college, earn a master's degree and a phd. Her specialty was animal science and in the 1970s, she helped farmers develop a more efficient way to slaughter cattle. She studied the animals and realized that in alot of ways, they were like her and there were certain things about the existing process that freaked them out, long before they were killed.

It's amazing that the entire process of slaughtering the animals didn't bother Temple. But she said "I'd rather be slaughtered than have my guts ripped out by a lion, if it's done right."The real Temple is now a professor at Colorado State University and has written several books about autism.

Overall, it was a really good movie and Claire Danes did an excellent job. The movie was also inspiring, because this was a woman who had a door (there's a recurring theme with doors in the movie) slammed in her face each and everytime, but she remained determined. All of us could use that perseverance from time to time.