USA TODAY International Edition
Autism & guns in Affleck thriller
Hollywood walks fine line with ‘ The Accountant’
Ben Affleck’s new thriller, The
Accountant, plays up the positives in portraying an adult with autism: His character Christian Wolff is a math savant and genius bookkeeper with movie- star looks to boot, despite that dorky pocket protector.
But Wolff’s line of work — combing through the books for powerful crime families — and his use of multiple military- style firearms required filmmakers to walk a careful line in the action film, opening Friday in theaters nationwide.
“Any opportunity to shine a light on this world is important,” says Ernie Merlan, executive director of Exceptional Minds, a non- profit vocational center for young adults on the autism spectrum in Sherman Oaks, Calif. “My only concern is this is a Hollywood shoot-’ em- up like we’re used to, but this time it’s a protagonist who has autism, with guns.”
Director Gavin O’Connor says the film was driven by the challenge of a protagonist “that’s different” and was cognizant of the world he was entering.
“Certainly, I had conversations about the potential perspective people could have on this character,” O’Connor says. “But I took great sensitivity making sure the script was bulletproof so that the audience would understand what’s motivating the violence. To me, in telling the story, the violence had nothing to do with Asperger’s syndrome.”
Characters with autism and Asperger’s syndrome, a high- functioning subtype of autism, have received increasing Hollywood attention since Dustin Hoffman’s Oscar- winning performance as card- counting savant Raymond Babbitt in 1988’ s Rain Man. In 1998’ s Mercury Rising, Bruce Willis protects a child with autism from assassins, and Hugh Dancy played a lonely man with Asperger’s in 2009’ s Adam.
But The Accountant breaks new territory in Hollywood by depicting an action hero with autism — Affleck’s character kills with unblinking lethalness, for reasons left a mystery in the trailers and revealed gradually in the movie.
Autism has been inaccurately implicated in the media as a cause of extreme violence, says Laurie Stephens, director of clinical services for Education Spectrum, an Altadena Calif., therapeutic center for autism, and a liaison on the film. She cites reports about the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, which focused on perpetrator Adam Lanza’s Asperger’s diagnosis.
“There’s absolutely no relationship between violence like this and having an autism spectrum disorder or Asperger’s,” Stephens says. But “it’s definitely going to be a concern” when a movie presents a character with autism who has guns “and who engages in this kind of aggression/ violence.”
Affleck’s accountant takes out sinister figures with kill shots to the head, but “what I think was well- done was that there was an explanation here,” Stephens says. To protect him from bullying, Wolff’s father instills a fighting mind- set that evolves into a strong sense of self- preservation in adulthood.
“He’s not out there randomly killing people,” Stephens says.
Affleck, who says he felt deep responsibility in taking on the role, watched “a lot of documentaries and movies, read a lot of books and listened to podcasts” on autism. He cites a pivotal meeting with O’Connor and the students at Exceptional Minds “to talk to them about their lives” to frame his character.
O’Connor notes that he has shown The Accountant to people on the spectrum who have praised the unique hero. “It’s a better time to be different than it ever was, and I wanted to celebrate that,” O’Connor says. “That’s where my heart was as a storyteller.”
Merlan, who wasn’t paid for his school’s involvement in the film, says he was ultimately pleased. Wolff kills because “they broke his moral code,” he says. “This movie shows the depth and capabilities of someone with autism. In my opinion, this was a good thing.”
“It’s a better time to be different than it ever was, and I wanted to celebrate that. That’s where my heart was as a storyteller.” Director Gavin O’Connor