Mary & Max (2009 movie)

Mary and Max is in so many ways brilliant. The movie is mostly narrated, in a drab english accent, with occasional dialog breaking it up. To get a good idea of the story-telling style, take a look at the visual style:

That pretty well sums it up. Particularly if you know what "Aspies" stands for.

It stands for "Asperger's Syndrome". A 'mild form of Autism'.

This movie speaks more intelligently about "mental disorders" than most psychology classes. The film makes understand that they aren't really "disorders". Many people who "suffer" from them don't mind that suffering. I, myself, can relate. I am an ADHD; but I don't feel that the last D should stand for "disorder". It can be quite a beneficial mental pattern if you want it to be. It doesn't have to be a problem if you don't let it. If you don't make excuses.

If you don't think of it as an "it". It isn't a disease like a virus or bacteria, where there is an actual bug. It is simply a pattern. ADD, Asperger's, 'Normal', they are all just patterns which are shared, more or less, by a few people.

Now that the rant is out of the way:

The movie has some very clever jokes and a good sense of humor among the darkness and intentional drabness of the style. It is not an uplifting movie, really, but it is very, very good and very, "very valuable".