Guest post: Harpreet Malla, M.A.
When my two greatest passions, movies and mental health, intersect, I become very excited. Especially when it is done well. I was invited to a pre-screening of director Gavin O’Connor’s The Accountant, written by Bill Dubuque, and while I expected a good thriller, I did not expect a genre-fluid, well-rounded portrayal of someone with tendencies of Asperger’s Syndrome. Note that the portrayal is sensationalized for entertainment purposes, but still retains value in its complex look at its characters and their unique struggles. The following review will explore themes of mental health in The Accountant, and as always with my writing, do so with minimal spoilers so you can save the treat of watching it for yourself and draw your own conclusions. The following will contain details that will not spoil any plot points moreso than viewing the trailer (see link below) or first fifteen minutes of the movie would.
The Accountant stars Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal, and J.K. Simmons (to the nerdy, yes, that’s Daredevil/Batman, Beca from Pitch Perfect, Shane Walsh from the Walking Dead, and J. Jonah Jameson from Sam Raimi’s Spiderman movies, respectively). While there is a temptation in Hollywood to portray characters as simple, unidimensional characters to further the plot, The Accountant rises above this impulse. Familiar tropes are turned on their heads as we follow the entangled storylines of Ben Affleck’s character Christian Wolff, an accountant with a special set of skills and Asperger’s tendencies, J.K. Simmons’ character Director Raymond, an agent for the U.S. Treasury who is hot on his trail and takes on a protégée (played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson) to assist him on his hunt, Jon Bernthal’s character who is a self-proclaimed “private security” agent with questionable motives and methods, and Anna Kendrick’s Dana Cummings, an ordinary CPA who gets embroiled in the mix.
What I loved about the film was the way it stretched the limits of its genre and gave us characters that were complex and multi-faceted, teaching us to view people in light of their own unique context and circumstance rather than using labels and assumptions to categorize them. The Accountant went beyond the disabled as differently-abled Asperger’s/Autism narrative that we have seen, and heard complaints about, in movies like Rain Man and delved deeper into protagonist Christian Wolff’s family life, coping, and early childhood via flashbacks. We see hallmarks of Asperger’s Disorder (a high-functioning subset of Autism that now falls under Autism Spectrum Disorder in the latest DSM-V), but it isn’t named until halfway through the movie as the focus is on Christian’s idiosyncratic experience of the world. My high school creative writing teacher whose motto was “show, not tell” would marvel at the excellent characterization woven throughout the movie—we see Christian struggle to recognize emotions and struggle to fit in socially, engage in self-stimulating behaviors such as rocking back and forth, display an extraordinary talent for solving complex math, blow on his fingertips before starting a task, use his special precision to his advantage in parking his large truck into tight spaces and shoot guns with stunning accuracy, and develop a routine in which he eats three pieces of bacon, three pancakes, and three eggs with the only silverware in his drawer- a single fork, knife, and spoon. Through these scenes, we are able to paint a picture not of what Asperger’s looks like, but what Asperger’s looks like in Christian’s life as an accountant who doesn’t always play by the rules.
In a series of flashbacks, we progress from seeing Christian struggle violently when overstimulated or faced with a disruption in his pattern (e.g., losing a piece and being unable to finish a Muhammad Ali puzzle) and being bullied as a child to slowly learning to adjust to his difficulties and learn to fight back. Refusing to “coddle” him with a reduced-stimulation environment and “encourage” his sensitivity in a specialized treatment facility for Autism, his strict military father undertakes a rigorous process of what a psychologist would call exposure therapy on his own. It is important to keep in mind that this is a sensationalized film and while it makes for excellent and thought-provoking entertainment, those seeking to understand the best evidence-based treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorders should consult a professional or direct themselves to the latest literature. While on their numerous military relocations, Christian’s father hires a martial arts tutor to train him to fight and forces him to confront bullies who had beaten him up. Again, the film resists the temptation to portray his father as a staunch military man – there is warmth here, too. His father holds him during emotional moments, helps him cope by using a soothing nursery rhyme (Solomon Grundy), and communicates his rationale for his approach with his son throughout Christian’s childhood. “There are always choices in life” he shares, before asking Christian whether he wants to choose to be a victim or fight back and own his differences with his schoolmates.
As an adult, Christian continues to use some of these techniques to train himself to better handle the lights, sounds, and overstimulation in the world around him. He practices recognizing common facial expressions and naming their corresponding emotions, a practice which frustrates and confuses those around him in tense moments when he calls out loud “You are angry” or “you seem upset.” In his nightly ritual at home, we see him methodically turn on a strobe light and play discordant rock music while rolling a wooden stick on his legs to stimulate himself. He even falls asleep with a Jackson Pollock painting above his bed which, as art aficionados know, is comprised of a series of random paint splatters to create an image that while artful in its mastery of unpredictability, is very displeasing to those who value order and patterns. Christian has found his balance in the world. He still enjoys solving complex numerical mysteries and maintains coin and comic collections. The nerdy holy grail of Action Comics #1 which first features Superman is seen at the top of his prized possessions, and when he makes a getaway later in the movie, it is one of the first things he packs in his backpack to take with him. With a supportive family who stood by his side and sought help for his early bouts of thrashing and rocking, he was able to settle into a career as an accountant that capitalized on his strengths and even make use of some of his special abilities as a precise marksman and martial artist.
I mentioned earlier that I was pleasantly surprised by this film’s refusal to neatly fit into one genre. Despite its primary categorization as an action/drama movie, it has elements of comedy and even romance. Despite his initial annoyance in meeting Anna Kendrick’s perky CPA character, he grows fond of her and is able to confide his difficulty connecting with others, “even though (he) wants to.” He shares this, of course, in a matter-of-fact tone, but what happens next is one of those beautifully rare human moments. Rather than gawk at his awkwardness or try to make sense of it, she relays a story to him in which she went to great lengths to buy a Vera Wang dress for her high school formal because she “just wanted to fit in.” She finishes her story by telling him that all humans want to connect, and highlights the universality of this struggle. I appreciated how beautifully this moment was handled, and liked that there was space in an action movie for a tender moment such as this one that serves to remind us that despite our differences, we may not be so different after all.
Another scene that echoes this thought is one in which J.K. Simmons’ Detective Raymond, an elderly Caucasian agent at the twilight of his career, sits down exhausted with his young African-American protégée who is just beginning her career and asks her about her difficult childhood in foster care and her criminal record. After recounting the details of her past, she balks at his attempt to show empathy and say “That must’ve been difficult.” “What do you know about difficult?” she retorts. In response, Detective Raymond shares some trauma that he experienced in his career, and how it changed not only the course of his career, but also his approach to life. We, like his young protégée, are left to process how despite his appearance as a privileged older white male, Detective Raymond has more to offer beneath the surface and has faced life-altering situations, as she has.
There are other instances in which appearances are not as they seem, but this is where I’ll stop otherwise some delightful twists would be spoiled. The film releases this Friday, October 14th and I encourage you to watch the movie for yourself and share your comments below.
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Harpreet Malla, M.A., is a psychologist in training who is currently completing her final APA internship experience at Santa Ana College in California while pursuing her doctorate in clinical psychology. She has a strong penchant for film, a passion for words, and a fondness for the geek subculture as it becomes mainstream and fulfills her childhood fantasies.
