Movie Therapy-- "The Imitation Game"

Objective: 

Teach our son, TsukiMoon, about feelings and motivations of others.

Theory:  

Watching movies that have complex character development will build TsukiMoon's understanding of people.  Also watching closeups of faces that are 12-15 feet tall helps TsukiMoon see and internalize emotions of others.

On the ground:

Finding the right movies that are character driven, are fast pace, but aren't heavy on violence or sex is a trick.  TsukiMoon is 9 years old, most of the movies in this specific area are not appropriate, not fast enough paced, or not an interesting subject to him. 

Our first choice to try out this theory was "The Imitation Game" this holiday.  It was a perfect movie for TsukiMoon   It was about WW2, TsukiMoon's favorite subject.  It was fast paced but character driven, full of emotional turmoil and nuance.  Plus telling an early story of the person who created the Turning Machine didn't hurt either.

"The Imitation Game" is true story is about British Intelligence breaking the Nazi enigma machine which would decode all of the Nazi troop movements.  The theory of Alan Turning was that it took a machine to unlock the secrets of another machine.  Going against all his colleagues and his seniors, frustrating them greatly, he pursued something that he believed in.  It turned out that his answer was correct.  

The way that the actor, Benedict Cumberbatch, played Alan Turning as a person on the spectrum.  Wether this was true I don't know but it was good for TsukiMoon to watch a person communicate badly with others and watch the reactions of others to his seemly illogical reactions (relative to "normal" people).

TsukiMoon enjoyed the movie.  We talked as a family how Turning could have communicated better, what clues he missed in the people he worked with.  It is important for TsukiMoon to learn problem solving by seeing solutions that work and those that don't.  A good first start.