it’s a shame this is the best version of this that still exists but I think the best troll video of the 2016 political season needs to be preserved on here
ways in which Ash Fox reminds me of my own autistic experience:
- He dives so deeply into his interest in a comic superhero that he constantly wears a costume for it. His homemade costume of white pajamas, a cape, and pants tucked into the socks is specifically emulating his favorite character (who we see is on the comic book he reads in the film).
- I deduce from him wearing the same clothes all the time that he has sensory issues with clothes. The only other time we see him wearing a different outfit is when he’s wearing briefs to go swimming.
- He is hung up on one thing throughout the entire film: that he’s an athlete. He’s constantly trying to prove himself to his family, especially his dad who was/is athletic. Getting fixated on that reminds me of myself throughout middle and high school; I was always trying to improve myself and make other people respect me. He’s so set on it that the direct and indirect cues from others about how he’s not athletic don’t deter him. He lies about Kristofferson’s trophy, saying it’s his, because he wants to be seen as an athlete. Also he runs in front of a whole crowd of people shooting at them to prove he can be athletic to save their lives.
- Just the fact that he’s uncoordinated and awkward. His PE coach tries to indirectly tell him he’s not good at sports. His father calls him uncoordinated. He has trouble following Kristofferson’s directions to chop the lock off of the crate.
- He desperately wants a bandit hat. It reminds me of my fixation on objects. Especially when I was around Ash’s age, I would get fixated on obtaining certain objects, like knapsacks or capes or binoculars.
- He often says things in such a blunt and grumpy way that it upsets other people, or at least surprises them.
- Continuing on from the last point, he is pissed about the new changes that are happening around him. He doesn’t like that he has to share a room with Kristofferson, even though his cousin is amiable (and Ash still gets to sleep in his own bed!). He doesn’t like the shift in atmosphere around his parents. He gets snippy when Kristofferson starts getting to know Agnes at school (a girl who Ash either likes romantically or considers to be his friend).
- Sometimes he doesn’t respond to people with words, but instead does this little sequence of shaking his ear and spitting. He does this the exact same way several times in the film to express annoyance. I take it to mean he’s so overwhelmingly annoyed that he doesn’t want to or can’t speak, so he does this little stimming thing.
It looks like the British government is angling to ban the protest against the genocide in Palestine next Saturday. The reasoning is especially dumb given that nothing happens on Armistice Day other than the two minute silence and the protest begins two hours after that.
