They’re often called “children of the stars,” and as this documentary’s Chinese title suggests, they tend to feel lost trying to navigate this earth. But in Among Us (地球迷航) the children are adults, who have been diagnosed with autism since they were young.
All four of them face different challenges, have varying degrees of independence and can appear quite neurotypical on the surface — the autism spectrum is broad, something often misunderstood by the public. Among US does a good job of portraying this range, from Ting-wei (廷瑋), who has difficulties speaking and controlling his body but is a brilliant, expressive poet, to the highly imaginative Hui-lun (惠綸), who holds several part-time jobs and at one point leaves home for a week after arguing with his mother.
Despite this, the demographic range is limited: all four subjects are males, with three of them in their 20s. While autism is generally three to four times as prevalent in boys, it would have been worthwhile to see things from a female perspective.
Photo courtesy of Among Us
This film is a sequel to acclaimed director Lin Cheng-sheng’s (林正盛) 2010 documentary Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars (一閃一閃亮晶晶), which portrayed four autistic children and teens. It’s a familiar topic to Lin, as his wife Han Shu-hua (韓淑華) is an art therapist who has worked with people of all ages on the autism spectrum for nearly two decades. Each film took four years to make, and the comfort level and intimacy shown in Among Us is apparent.
The impetus behind the film is DB Art Collective (多寶藝術學堂) in Taipei’s Guandu (關渡) area, which Han launched in 2016 to help people on the autism spectrum express themselves artistically, gain life skills and plan activities. To spread awareness about autism, Lin launched a crowdfunding project to get the film into theaters and also have it sent to elementary schools.
The art collective is a wonderful conduit to portray the creativity and rich inner worlds of the subjects. All of them have loving parents who encourage them to express themselves through poetry, art and music. A big part of the film revolves around this relationship, which is not always easy, and the parents worry about what will happen to their children after they’re gone.
Photo courtesy of Among Us
Lin portrays the subjects’ vibrant imaginations, and they feel quite comfortable sharing their inspiration with the camera, expressively drawing or playing music.
Despite their talents, Lin doesn’t sugarcoat their situation or hype up their abilities, as autistic people being geniuses is a common stereotype, although only 10 percent of those with autism are savants. It’s more of a matter-of-fact, direct portrayal that isn’t sensational or emotional; they’re just as human as everyone else, just a bit different.
Although the cutesy animations and bouncy electronic soundtrack implies these adults are childlike, it does reflect their whimsical and fantastic inner worlds and serves to lighten the mood. Despite their many interests and evident progress during the time Lin has known them, the hard truth is they aren’t able to live regular lives, something that they are acutely aware of and upset about.
Photo courtesy of Among Us
As Ting-wei types in one scene, “My teachers told me that I would never be able to learn; I was anguished, I was furious but I couldn’t speak and refute them.”
“I want to go somewhere in outer space,” he types in another scene.
As society increasingly embraces cultural diversity, one message that the film sends to the viewer is that people who are neurologically different have much to offer.
Photo courtesy of Among Us
The film doesn’t reach any conclusions about how the subjects can survive and even thrive after their parents pass away, or explore what happens to those with less supportive or resourceful families, but the first step is to promote understanding so that there is even the possibility of a friendly future where they can exist among us. This touching documentary does just that.
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