Summary
Rain Man is a classic American movie that was directed by Barry Levinson and released in 1988. The movie follows the life of Charlie Babbitt; a young business man whose company is struggling and needs money. Charlie learns that his rich father, who he hasn’t spoken to in years, has died and he only received his father’s car and rose bushes, and nothing else from his father’s three million dollars of wealth. Confused and angry, he sets out to find who the three million dollars has gone to. In the search, he discovers he has a brother, Raymond, that was hidden from him for 20 years. Raymond has autism and lives at a special home for the mentally handicapped. Out of rage and anger, Charlie steals his brother from the home and demands his part of the three million dollars in exchange for Raymond back. The rest of the movie is Charlie’s struggle to understand his brother’s brilliant yet complex mind, while wrestling with his own issues along the way.
Analysis
The main conflict of the movie is between Raymond and Charlie’s struggles to understand his brother on a mental and emotional level. I believe that the main purpose of this movie is to show that those with autism have complex and beautiful minds, and while their disability hinders them from certain activities, it opens them up to a completely different and beautiful world. This can be very difficult for able-minded individuals to understand, but when we spend time and invest emotionally into those with disabilities it can be easier to understand their complex and often difficult lives.
In class we read an excerpt from Dolmage’s, “An Archive and Anatomy of Disability Myths”, that spoke of different myths about those with disabilities. One of those myths dealt with the idea of people pushing for a cure to disability and not accepting those with disabilities for who they are. Early in Rain Man we see this. We see on multiple occasions Charlie taking his brother Raymond to the doctor and asking the doctor to help him. Charlie was hoping that the doctor would have some medicine or treatment for his autistic brother that would help “cure” him from his autism. Every time Charlie would seek out this treatment for his brother he was met with the same answer, the only treatment for Raymond was to nurture and care for him. These answers upset Charlie and he kept looking for a cure for his brother.
Also, present in Rain Man is the use of negative language towards those with disabilities. In “Contemplating the (In)visibility of Disability”, we read that “Disability-related language reinforces the connection between disability and inability, negativity, undesirability, abnormality, and inferiority” (Valle 24). We see Charlie in the early parts of the movie using horrible and offensive language towards his brother. He calls Raymond “retard”, “stupid” and an “idiot”, none of which are true.
Half-way through the movie we see a change of heart in Charlie that is very troubling. Up to this point Charlie has been treating Raymond horribly by calling him names and being flat out abusive to him. Charlie has been acting on every single stereotype and myth that we have learned in class so far. Searching for a cure, thinking he can fix his brother and feeling sorry for his brother because he is different from himself. There is a scene in the movie where Charlie notices that Raymond is reading a jukebox playlist, then quizzes him on which songs are connected to which number. Raymond remembers every single number, memorizing them all in a matter of minutes. Charlie then begins to realize how his brother is brilliant with numbers and has an incredibly memory.
From then on Charlie begins to treat his brother with more respect and kindness. At this point in the movie many people began to get warm feelings, thinking about how great a guy Charlie is for learning to treat his brother in a humanly way. This part made me sick. Charlie only began to treat is brother correctly when he learned that he was brilliant. Then Charlie uses his brother’s brilliance to gamble and win tons of money. The main issue here is he only shows respect to Raymond when he learns he can gain something from his brother. I have a huge problem with that on an ethical and moral level and I believe everyone should.
Those with disabilities, especially autism like Raymond, have complex minds that do not function in the same way an abled-minded person does. People with autism see the world differently, and in Raymond’s case he didn’t see a relationship with his brother necessary at all. Sadly, Charlie only wanted a relationship with his brother when he learned he could use him to get something he need, money through gambling. It is a classic, “I only want to be friends with you if there is something I can gain”, type of situation.
This movie can be very problematic for many and opens an array of questions. While it does give us a view into the beautiful mind of a person with autism it also portrays a message that deals with the use and exploiting of those with disabilities. In the end of the movie Raymond was taken away from Charlie, and Charlie came to the realization that he was using his brother for his own good. The ending is sad yet the movie drives home a deeper point. Those with disabilities, while they may see the world in a different way, need to be respected and cared for not because they can offer something, but because everyone deserves to be loved and cared for regardless if they have disabilities.
Questions
In today’s society, do we see people caring for the disabled only if there is something to be gained? Maybe money, maybe the feeling that you are doing something good?
What is the best way to approach popular culture that promotes negative stereotypes about those with disabilities?
Work Cited
Rain Man. Directed by Levinson, Barry. Performances by, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino, and Hans Zimmer. Santa Monica, CA: MGM Home Entertainment, 2004.
Valle, Jan W., and David J. Connor. “Rethinking Disability: a Disability Studies Approach to Inclusive Practices.” McGraw-Hill, 2011, pp. 16-36
Dolmage, Jay Timothy. “Disability Rhetoric.” Syracuse University Press, 2014, pp. 31-61
Challenging Bodies 
Having never seen Rainman, I was particularly grateful for your in depth summary and analysis. In particular I enjoyed how fervent and passionate you were about Charlies maltreatment of Raymond. I thought your analysis on how some people only treat disable people with kindness and respect after they have something to offer was exceptionally profound and relevant to how some people conduct themselves today.
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I think there are many people in society today who truly care about the disabled, and this is why they take care of them where assistance is needed. At the same time though, I think that there are many out there who are only doing it because they can gain something from it. I believe that many people feel that caring for the disabled puts them on a moral high ground, as if they are morally greater than other around them. This by no means describes everyone who cares for the disabled, as I’m sure there are many who genuinely have a passion for the work they do.
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I agree with you Noah. I believe that there are genuinely caring people that care about everyone in society, whether abled or disabled. From my experiences, I have witnessed several leaders that take time out of their day to be with the disabled community because of their caring personality, such as those being involved with the Special Olympics organization. I admire the people that help with that because they do so without making it known to other people. They do it because they want to, not because they want other people to know that they do.
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In response to your first question, I often times find myself automatically assuming that big companies or famous people are helping/campaigning for people with disabilities because they want to benefit from it. I feel like it’s easy to assume this because it would make the company or famous person look good. It’s hard to determine whether someone is doing a nice thing from the goodness of their heart, or if their doing it to boost their reputation. However, I do realize that not everybody is this way and some people are genuinely nice.
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I love how you ended your post by saying that everyone deserves to be cared about and loved. I totally agree. Honestly, that is the reason I want to be an occupational therapist and work with children with disabilities. I believe that everyone deserves to feel loved, seen, and known for all that they are and I hope to exemplify that in my career. However, helping others feel loved, seen, and known for who they are makes me feel good inside because it makes me feel like I was a part of God’s work here on Earth. Thus, going back to your first question, I still gain something from helping others. Yet, I’m not sure if that is a bad thing. I think we were created love God and others, so I think it makes sense that we would gain something when we do those things.
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I really enjoyed your analysis of this well known film! I have only seen parts of this movie but from what I do remember was how uncomfortable and sad I was when Raymond was mistreated and then used by his brother. In regards to your second question, I think that by analyzing popular pieces such as this one and opening up the conversation is what helps us make a change in a culture that frequently promotes these negative stereotypes. I think that by just letting a movie be a “feel good” piece were are doing a disservice to society by not having intentional conversations. I also think this movie helps provide a sense of appreciation towards those who treat those with disabilities with the kindness and love that they deserve, just as everyone else does.
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