Dream Child:
An Autistic Interpretation of Wonderland
� 2005 Devon Koren
Part One: Creative
To fulfill this section of the assignment, I have directed and produced a
short film entitled Dream Child that has been published on the
accompanying DVD. With a runtime of approximately 23 minutes, Dream Child
features my own daughter -- Aisling Stoirm (which is, incidentally, Gaelic
for .Dream Storm.) -- as the curious Alice. In addition to Aisling.s
intense patience through hours of stage directions and retakes, I was also
fortunate enough to engage the help of Ely Smith (the Mad Hatter, costume
consultant, keeper of cats and mice), Jill Collins (the March Hare,
caretaker of the star rabbit), and Matthew Schulman (music composer,
www.olympusmonsrecords.com).
While I am infamous among my group of friends as the woman who carries a
camcorder with her wherever she goes, I have absolutely no formal artistic
training in the art of filmmaking. In addition, the editing/production
factor of this project marked my first Studio venture; not only had I no
previous experience with iMovie, but I also had never worked extensively
with a Mac computer. Because of this, and the 5 hour block time
constraints for reservations in the Studio, the editing is somewhat
choppier than I.d like it to be, and there is a serious issue with the
sound -- the embedded mp3s ended up much louder than they should be, so
please take care when watching this film to listen at a low level of
volume.
Part Two: Analytical
At first glance, it may seem absurd to interpret Alice.s Adventures in
Wonderland as a work that represents an autistic perspective of the social
confusion, mismanaged logic, and sensory overload present in the .real
world.. After all, the term .autism. wasn.t even coined until nearly half
a century after Carroll had written his underground adventures for the
beloved Ms. Liddell. While the Mad Hatter may have very well suffered from
the same Mercury poisoning that is actively being attacked by parents as a
possible cause for their children.s autistic personalities, there is
little other immediate evidence that draws a specific parallel between
Carroll.s work and the autistic condition. However, as more children are
diagnosed with this elusive .disorder,. the more important it is for
family, friends, and loved ones to situate themselves within a paradigm of
understanding. This paradigm is most easily nurtured by exemplars, images,
and unique perspectives -- such as those present in Lewis Carroll.s
Alice.s Adventures in Wonderland. For those who stand audience to the
autistic tendencies of a loved one, Wonderland becomes a palatable
metaphor that helps describe the underlying rationale to the most chaotic
actions -- that helps makes sense out of (what appears to be) nonsense.
While the autistic perspective of Wonderland has remained an obscure
element of contemporary literary criticism, there have historically been a
few attempts to make these connections. In 1978 -- a year after Folstein
and Rutter.s twin study .revealed evidence of a genetic basis for autism.
(NAAR whatis_hist.htm) -- Richard Lebovitz and Rudolf Ekstein both applied
contemporary psychological definitions of autism to examples of Victorian
literature. While Lebovitz focuses specifically on the Dormouse.s
maladaptive behavior in the tea party scene of Wonderland (8), Ekstein
demonstrates how Lucy Lane Clifford.s fairy tale .Wooden Tony.
specifically describes autism and the process of its effect upon familial
and social institutions (124-125). While the traits associated with autism
in these early pieces of criticism have, for the most part, been replaced
with more accurate insights of the autistic mind in recent years, there is
still an emphasis on the importance of the inherent duality of children.s
literature -- its ability not only to portray a story of wonder and magic,
but also to subtly engage the reader/listener with higher levels of
thinking, such as a consideration of emotional, cognitive, and social
issues. Alice.s Adventures in Wonderland might be considered a similar
critical tool, providing an entertaining illustration of the sorts of
conflicts that pervade the autistic dynamic.
Much like autism, the complicated social conflicts that are portrayed
throughout Wonderland are rooted in issues of miscommunication. In .A
Caucus-Race and a Long Tale,. Alice continually upsets and offends the
other animals of the party by remaining completely oblivious to social
conventions, saying entirely inappropriate things, and misunderstanding
what is said to her. For example, when the Mouse begins his story, Alice
is bewildered by his use of a homonym:
Mine is a long and a sad tale!. said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and
sighing.
It is a long tail, certainly,. said Alice, looking down with wonder at
the Mouse.s tail; .but why do you call it sad?. (Carroll 50)
After the Mouse finishes his story, Alice is similarly confused by the
interchange between .not. and .knot.. Likewise, autistic individuals tend
to focus on the more concrete representations of words than those that
present an intangible idea. When Alice offers to .undo it. for him, the
Mouse chastises her, .You insult me by talking such nonsense!. (Carroll
52) and walks away. Indeed, many people become similarly frustrated with
the communication barriers between themselves and autistic individuals.
Autistics are often caught between the uneven dichotomy of logical and
socially acceptable behavior; similarly, Alice finds herself in situations
throughout Wonderland where she chooses logic over etiquette. When the
procession of the King and Queen of Hearts marches into the garden, the
three gardeners Alice had been speaking to throw themselves flat upon the
ground. Alice, however, chooses not to mimic this behavior: .What would be
the use of a procession...if people had all to lie down on their faces, so
that they couldn.t see it?. (Carroll 107) If the rules of etiquette go
against the rules of logic, Alice -- like the autistic -- is hesitant to
engage in them. Alice has a similar confrontation with the footman outside
of the Duchess.s house, when he is unable to give her any useful advice on
how to get inside the house: .Are you to get in at all?...That.s the first
question, you know. (Carroll 81). After debating the issue with the
footman to no avail, Alice eventually walks inside the house without being
announced, received, or invited. Incapable of bridging the gap between
herself and the institutionalized entity of social etiquette represented
as the frog footman, Alice falls back to her own logical reasoning of
discovering a means to an end.
Of all chapters in Wonderland, perhaps .A Mad Tea-Party. best describes
the inherent conflicts between autistics and accepted social behavior.
When Alice first walks up to the table, the Mad Hatter, March Hare, and
Dormouse all cry out, .No room! No room!. (Carroll 93) As these three
characters are huddled together at one corner, and since the table is
large, long, and set with many places, Alice perceives that their
statement of .no room. is a falsity; .There.s plenty of room. (Carroll
93), she says, and she takes a seat. While Alice does offer a valid and
honest statement here, she completely fails to comprehend the social
connotation of their remarks -- namely that it.s not very polite .to sit
down without being invited. (Carroll 94). Similarly, autistics have a
difficult time understanding implied requests such as this. Therefore,
specific, unambiguous language is most useful when engaging in verbal
communication with an autistic individual to avoid social confusion. The
language of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, however, continues to
confuse Alice throughout the party:
I believe I can guess that,. she added aloud.
Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?. said the
March Hare.
Exactly so,. said Alice.
Then you should say what you mean,. the March Hare went on.
I do,. Alice hastily replied; .at least -- at least I mean what I say --
that.s the same thing, you know..
Not the same thing a bit!. said the Hatter. .Why, you might just as well
say that .I see what I eat. is the same thing as .I eat what I see.!.
You might just as well say,. added the March Hare, .that .I like what I
get. is the same thing as .I get what I like.!.
You might just as well say,. added the Dormouse, which seemed to be
talking in its sleep, .that .I breathe when I sleep. is the same thing as
I sleep when I breathe.!.
It is the same thing with you,. said the Hatter, and here the
conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute.(Carroll 95)
This represents a direct attack upon Alice.s verbal communication skills
-- the same sort of confrontation which makes many autistics uncomfortable
when participating in social situations. Their subsequent discussion that
turns the logic of linguistics on its head is a good representation of how
confusing basic rules of language may seem to an autistic individual who
has no grounding in the discipline. To the autistic, most conversations
and social gatherings are similar to Alice.s experience at the Mad
Tea-Party: .Alice felt dreadfully puzzled. The Hatter.s remark seemed to
her to have no sort of meaning in it, and yet it was certainly English.
(Carroll 97). For those of us who live outside of the autistic sphere, the
confusion of the Mad Tea-Party provides an excellent simulation of common
complications with communication and sociality.
While it is likely that Lewis Carroll simply wrote in these conflagrations
of social communication to accentuate the comic affect of his child.s
tale, there is some suggestion among contemporary research in the field of
autistic spectrum disorders that perhaps Carroll had a more direct
connection with the issues complicated by an autistic mindset. In his book
Autism and Creativity: Is there a link between autism in men and
exceptional ability? Michael Fitzgerald suggests that Carroll may very
well have displayed features of high-functioning autism, or Asperger.s
syndrome (194). According to Fitzgerald, many of Carroll.s traits -- from
his discomfort in social situations to a reliance on strict routines to
pronounced visuo-spatial ability -- are those generally associated with
high-functioning autistics. In fact, Carroll.s obsession with children may
have been a product of these autistic traits: .Commonly, those with
HFA/ASP retain a childlike outlook, which makes being in the company of
children more satisfying. (Fitzgerald 199). Since it is impossible for us
to be certain of a diagnosis in this particular instance, we may never
know if Carroll indeed was speaking from experience when touching upon
these issues associated with autism in his work. However, this does not
make the effect of these details any less pronounced in Alice.s Adventures
in Wonderland.
Perhaps there is a danger in bringing to a text viewpoints, ideologies,
and definitions that were not necessarily applicable in that text.s
creation. Perhaps, by bringing an autistic perspective to Alice.s
Adventures in Wonderland, we run the risk of following in the footsteps of
many literary critics whose concepts are so completely divorced from the
context of the literature itself that their ideas lose relevance. On the
other hand, as the phenomenon of autism spreads throughout more and more
families, and as the mystery of the condition continues to baffle
physicians and specialists alike, turning to familiar literature to find
common metaphors that may help to describe and simulate this .disorder.
seems a constructive way to foster an understanding between autistic
individuals and the people who live outside their world.
Part Three: Relationship
In my film Dream Child, I have attempted to accent what I perceived as the
autism undercurrent. of Alice.s Adventures in Wonderland; in other words,
I worked to simulate an autistic child.s perspective of the world by
employing many of the metaphors and symbols which Carroll uses throughout
his text. My daughter, Aisling Stoirm -- who portrays Alice in this short
film -- was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of two.
Because of this, in addition to the basic academic/creative goals
explicitly laid out with this assignment, I also had some specific
personal objectives that I wanted to fulfill; mainly, instead of focusing
on autism as a disorder, I wanted instead to portray the condition as a
unique perspective on the world, which includes both the negative and
positive repercussions associated with sensory dysfunction, social
adaptation, etc. The weird duality of Wonderland as both a place of beauty
and fantasy, in addition to that of uncertainty and chaos, seemed to be an
excellent setting for this goal.
Time constraints and basic logistics defined exactly what scenes were
possible for me to shoot. I divided the film into seven .chapters,. with
four of them keeping their titles consistent with those of Alice.s
Adventures in Wonderland (Down the Rabbit-Hole, The Pool of Tears, Advice
from a Caterpillar, and A Mad Tea-Party), with the others simply derived
from other scenes throughout the text (The Cheshire Cat and The Queen of
Hearts). The last chapter, Waking Into Sleep, was a complete invention on
my part; by using some of the same imagery as is used in the opening
sequence of the film, I was attempting to create a Blake-ian cyclical feel
to the storyline, in addition to playing upon the ideas of repetition in
relationship to autism. However, I also wanted to make the separation
between waking life and dreaming life an ambiguous one. In addition, when
Alice. actually catches the White Rabbit at the very end, I was trying to
capture a sense of accomplishment and/or development within the cyclical
storyline.
Most of the fantastical elements of Carroll.s work have been translated
into real world representations in Dream Child. My reasoning for this is
simply to emphasize that it is the real world that seems like a Wonderland
to the autistic child; growing and shrinking fountains can inspire both
the terror and pleasure of The Pool of Tears, it is possible to have
conversations with cats who might not grin, and sometimes a deck of cards
is just a deck of cards. The most whimsical portion of the film happens
during the Mad Tea Party, when the creatures from Alice.s imagination
specifically come to life (even though, this eventually causes an overload
of stimulus when her imagination starts tormenting her.) However,
Aisling.s ever-present dreamlike persona paired with the distortion of the
soundtrack really helps to amplify the surreal quality I was trying to
capture in our portrayals of everyday objects.
I struggled with whether or not to include/encourage dialogue in the film;
I eventually ended up cutting it completely out and replacing the audio
track with electronic music provided by my friend Matthew Schulman.
Admittedly, this gives the film more the appearance of an extended music
video, but I also feel as if it adds to the immediacy and emotion of the
film more than any other detail. It was difficult to have my daughter
follow stage directions, not to mention an actual script; because of this,
I often found myself talking over some of my best shots, which were
conveniently wiped over with the addition of the mp3s. In addition, one of
the major focuses on autistic children in general is their difficulty with
communication. Due to the soundtrack taking such prominence in the film,
the eye of the audience is attracted to the nonverbal forms of
communication my daughter uses often (pointing, hand-flapping, nodding,
gestures, etc.) in addition to providing a barrier between the audience
and the words of any other character, which simulates the frustration from
Alice.s point of view. The soundtrack itself is so aggressive and jarring
in places (especially due to the computer glitch which caused it to
register much louder than it was supposed to) that the audience physically
wants to cover their ears with their hands the same way Alice does in the
film. In this manner, the film becomes a sort of simulation of sensory
dysfunction, allowing the audience to experience what it must be like to
have no control over regulating the sounds you hear. (Interestingly
enough, my daughter can.t stand to watch the finished product due to this
music!)
Most importantly, I hope to have created a film that fosters
understanding, acceptance, and education about autism, as opposed to
simply portraying the condition as a .disease that must be cured.. Autism
is, above all else, an intricate part of my daughter.s personality -- one
of the many combinations of traits which make her uniquely and beautifully
her. Ideally, this film will work as I have argued the text of Alice.s
Adventures in Wonderland works -- as a metaphor and interpretation of a
condition that is not accessible and understandable for most people.
Ideally, when an audience watches Dream Child, not only will they be
entertained by a unique, modern rendition of a classic children.s story,
but they will also become educated and can begin to imagine what it might
be like to live within an autistic frame of mind.
Works Cited
Carroll, Lewis. The Annotated Alice: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and
Through the Looking-Glass. Ed. and introd. Martin Gardner. New York: Wings
Books, 1960.
Ekstein, Rudolf. .Childhood Autism, Its Process, as Seen in a Victorian
Fairy Tale.. American Imago: A Psychoanalytic Journal For Culture,
Science, And The Arts 35.1-2 (1978): 124-145.
Fitzgerald, Michael. Autism and Creativity: Is there a link between autism
in men and exceptional ability? New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2004.
Lebovitz, Richard. .Alice and Autism: A Psychological Approach to the
Dormouse in .The Mad Tea-Party... Jabberwocky: The Journal of the Lewis
Carroll Society 8.1 (1978): 8-12.
NAAR. .What is Autism? -- History.. About Autism. 2005. National Alliance
for Autism Research. 21 April 2005. .
