# Stanley Kubrick: Autistic...or Sociopath? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295 "2017-01-04T03:57:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/1 "2017-01-04T03:57:44Z")
During the filming of The Shining, Kubrick basically terrorized Shelly Duvall into acting scared. On some other film, when an actor asked “What’s my motivation”, Stanley just walked away without answering. IIRC, both auties and socios share an un-empathetic mindset. In Your Humble Opinion, which was he? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/2 "2017-01-04T04:19:16Z")
Maybe better suited for Cafe but --------- like Piers Anthony I’m betting somewhere in the autism spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/3 "2017-01-04T04:29:13Z")
Going to move this over to Cafe Society Cafe society is full of stars! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/4 "2017-01-04T04:46:07Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > During the filming of The Shining, Kubrick basically terrorized Shelly Duvall into acting scared. On some other film, when an actor asked “What’s my motivation”, Stanley just walked away without answering. > > IIRC, both auties and socios share an un-empathetic mindset. > > In Your Humble Opinion, which was he? [Re-read his wiki.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Kubrick) He was a hugely influential, towering creative intellect in movie making and you want to stamp him with some sort of simple minded psychological dysfunction label because he did not suffer fools gladly and was hard on actors? My God. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/5 "2017-01-04T05:14:59Z")
Kubrick was not “hard on” actors, he was violently abusive and cruel. I’ve seen no evidence that he was either autistic or sociopathic, though. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/6 "2017-01-04T09:11:00Z")
Wouldn’t obsessive-compulsive be a better description of Kubrick? He often did large numbers of takes of shots. This became more common later in his life. The way he treated actors was just a part of his insistence of getting a scene to be exactly the way he wanted it to be, no matter how much it bothered other people. Kubrick and Frank Sinatra died the same year, and both were shown in the montage of movie people who had died during the year at the Oscars in 2000. Sinatra was famous for refusing to do more than a few takes of each shot. I was at a party where members of the local film society watched the Oscars that year. As the tribute to recently dead movie people was being shown on the big screen TV that we watched, I said, "So Sinatra and Kubrick both arrive at the Pearly Gates at the same time. St. Peter says, “We held off Kubrick appearing before the Pearly Gates for two months so the two of you would arrive at the same time. You two are going to do a movie together here. Mr. Kubrick, you can do as many takes as you like for each shot. Mr. Sinatra, you have to allow him to do those takes. This is because you’re going to be in heaven, Mr. Kubrick, and you’re going to be in hell, Mr. Sinatra.” ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/7 "2017-01-04T12:32:39Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Kubrick was not “hard on” actors, he was violently abusive and cruel. I’m not sure if this is a hijack, but aren’t almost all Directors? I’m not in that business at all but I thought that the gist of it was that Good Directors are Not Nice People. (…and that Producers are generally Bullies and wanna-be Loan Sharks who want all their money back _Now_.) Maybe thats just a bad movie stereotype though. Maybe most good directors say, “Thats fine. Go with it and we’ll edit later.” Maybe most Producers say, “The movie will be shot by the end of August? Cool. But I’d like a status report on where you are on this before The World Series… ok?” ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/8 "2017-01-04T13:30:52Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > I’m not sure if this is a hijack, but aren’t almost all Directors? No. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/9 "2017-01-04T13:36:53Z")
I never considered him to be either–just a misanthropic asshole. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/10 "2017-01-04T13:50:26Z")
I’ve never read any biographies about him or anything but he didn’t seem to have any of the deficits as far as speech in his youth from what I have read, People with Asperger’s don’t have verbal delays like others with Autism but now they reclassified a lot of things in the DSM where everything is just lumped together as ASD. I think the guy definitely had OCD and had a stern, serious personality and took his work extremely seriously and was perfectionistic. I would vote that he doesn’t merit an actual diagnosis of autism, merely certain traits like hyper focus and maybe difficulty with empathy for the actors he directed. His wiki article has a quote from someone that knew him saying that he was not the recluse he was made out to be and was quite gregarious. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/11 "2017-01-04T13:52:22Z")
There are plenty of great directors who treat their actors well; a good sample are those that had a “stock company” of actors they used over and over: John Ford, Preston Sturges, Woody Allen, Wes Anderson (do you really think Billy Murray would stick around if he’s being abused?), Mel Brooks, Robert Altman, Ingemar Bergman, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/12 "2017-01-04T13:57:39Z")
Then there’s James Cameron… ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/13 "2017-01-04T15:37:43Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Re-read his wiki.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Kubrick) He was a hugely influential, towering creative intellect in movie making and you want to stamp him with some sort of simple minded psychological dysfunction label because he did not suffer fools gladly and was hard on actors? > > My God. just an aside, I find that people who profess that they “don’t suffer fools” are usually complete arrogant jerks. Just like people who can’t tell the difference between “being brutally honest” and “being an asshole.” ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/14 "2017-01-04T15:45:08Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I never considered him to be either–just a misanthropic asshole. Whose films were anything but… ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/15 "2017-01-04T16:50:36Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > just an aside, I find that people who profess that they “don’t suffer fools” are usually complete arrogant jerks. Just like people who can’t tell the difference between “being brutally honest” and “being an asshole.” This X1000. Usually, when people say they “don’t suffer fools,” their definition of “fools” is “anyone who’s not me.” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/16 "2017-01-04T17:04:03Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There are plenty of great directors who treat their actors well; a good sample are those that had a “stock company” of actors they used over and over: John Ford, Preston Sturges, Woody Allen, Wes Anderson (do you really think Billy Murray would stick around if he’s being abused?), Mel Brooks, Robert Altman, Ingemar Bergman, etc. Steven Spielberg does has a good reputation as well. Other than Julia Roberts, he hardly has any complaints about working with actors. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/17 "2017-01-04T17:20:28Z")
If anything, I’d say he had OCD. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/18 "2017-01-04T17:30:36Z")
> [@](#): > > During the filming of The Shining, Kubrick basically terrorized Shelly Duvall into acting scared. On some other film, when an actor asked “What’s my motivation”, Stanley just walked away without answering. Maybe that’s what was needed, in both cases, to get the artistic results he wanted. Because you can’t argue with the end results: The man was certainly a great director. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/19 "2017-01-04T17:43:19Z")
Kubrik was neither autistic nor a sociopath (as if these were the only options anyway). Some of the greatest directors have been hard on their actors, as witness that other cinematic genius Alfred Hitchcock. It’s notable that there was never a shortage of actors lining up to work with these two directors. They knew that both were capable of inspiring them to give their greatest performance. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/20 "2017-01-04T17:48:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Maybe that’s what was needed, in both cases, to get the artistic results he wanted. Because you can’t argue with the end results: The man was certainly a great director. Sure, but if I said I needed to scream and mentally abuse my staff to get the results I desired out of them I’d be fired in a heartbeat. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295.md?page=2)