#babygirl I imprint on blorbos you have never even heard of.

[hard-times-paramore]

Drive (2011) - An Autistic Reading

Have you guys ever watched this movie with Ryan Gosling? Did you know he's literally me. Hello, fellas, today I am going to talk about why I think Guy From Drive, the Protagonist of Drive, has this thang called autism.

Everything you see here is headcanon. It wasn't intentional on the movie's part. In fact, I know it and find it hilarious. Every writing choice in this movie that led it to be critically acclaimed as a sigma male film bro has only pushed this guy further into The Spectrum. Let's take a look at them.

The Jacket

You can't talk about Drive without bringing up Ryan Gosling's silvery embroidered scorpion jacket. This iconic costume design has him standing out in the crowd as the baddass that he is, a part of his personality and of the movie's visual design. He wears that scorpion jacket so often that it becomes his image in the movie's posters.

OR... It's his comfort clothing. This jacket gets progressively dirtier with blood as the movie goes forward and he does not take it out even when he has the chance to change. Because it's the right texture, it's comfortable and familiar. When everything is falling apart around him in the second half of the movie, that scorpion quite literally has his back.

The Gloves

We love a sexy pair of gloves. I like to think they have the same function, another comfort, since he's never caught driving without them on. Might be a sensory thing too, keeping things from touching his hands.

Which reminds me of this scene

This scene is very WOW. The SYMBOLISM. His hands are DIRTY because he is a CRIMINAL.

But he was also talking his way out of physical contact here.

The Brooding Attitude

Another thing you can't talk about this movie without bringing up is the fact the protagonist is Very Mysterious and Brooding and Quiet. Everyone wants to be as cool as he is with how Quiet and Mysterious he acts. I even saw people making fun at the fact that it takes him a good 30 seconds to answer anything addressed to him.

But to me, that was just screaming nonverbality. It's not even that he's an introvert, or awkward at socializing, since he happily seeks out Irene and her son Benício to chat with them. It's just that it's hard for him - the actual talking.

In this context, his monologue at the start of the film, which he repeats later on when he decides to help Standard, might be something he scripted, and rolls more easily off his tongue now.

People also point out his facial expression stays the same for the entire movie. He also often stares at everything in a very intense manner. It might be him being all baddass and calm and collected, or it might be that he just can't emote properly, something that happens a lot with autistic people. It's not like Ryan Gosling was being a lazy / bad actor, because he hinted microexpressions and acted with his entire body during the movie. A scene that definitely caught my eye was the one he was about to hammer a bullet into his enemy's face.

Sure, his face doesn't change even as he talks with the big baddy guy on the phone, but he's clearly angry to the point of twitching a little.

The Toothpick

I like that he had this little toothpick in his mouth all the time. He even asks Benício if he wants one, and the kid, thinking he's cool as hell, accepts so he can be like him. It's a nice little trait that adds extra personality to him.

It's also most definitely a stim.

The Cars

Last thing I have to add is the theme of the entire movie. This guy lives and breathes cars. He has three separate jobs and all of them involve cars. Every hobby and leisure activity he was portrayed partaking in the movie was in a car. He drives.

Cars are his special interest. We'll never know the choices that led him to his life of crimes, but we know he managed to include his favorite thing, the thing he loves and specialized on, into it. And he does a damn good job at it, his baddass movie protagonist-grade talent at being Mr. Drive.

Bonus: the theme song

Just cause "A Real Hero" by College is such an autistic song to me. Those lyrics about being "emotionally complex, in a grain of dystopic claims", all while the chorus repeats itself ad-infinitum, reassuring you that you've proven yourself to be a real human being (and a real hero). It's a common experience to autism, and I can confirm it, to feel alienated, like you're some sort of alien in a sea of normal people. The fact this song reassures me I'm human is very comforting.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[hard-times-paramore]

Babygirl I imprint on blorbos you have never even heard of.