# 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:** 2
**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, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/21 "2017-01-04T18:43:52Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > 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. True, but drill sergeants, coaches, and chefs do it all the time, so I bet it’s industry specific. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/22 "2017-01-04T18:44:30Z")
There’s no question that Kubrick displayed some OCD tendencies. In one of the documentaries, a memory is shared how Kubrick once left explicit details on how to care for his animals whilst on holiday. It seems these directions go on for 15 pages. [cite via 46 seconds of youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqjLBgm-oTk) As to his treatment of Duvall during the filming of the Shining, in the style of actors staying in character, Kubrick evidently didn’t think Shelly had the acting chops to pull off the needed sense of vulnerability, victimhood and terror so he took it upon himself to engrain these sentiments on to the actor. He would berate her work constantly and then applaud Nicholson’s effort with the two of them becoming fast buddies. There’s the alleged world-record-of-takes with the staircase scene when Jack is menacing Wendy who meekly tries to defend herself with a baseball bat. It seems they did 127 takes of this scene. I’m thinking this was done more to break down the character and the actress at the same time rather than some elusive search for the perfect shot. Either that or Kubrick was a heartless prick. Alas there doesn’t seem to be a happy ending for Duvall. The actress did a Dr. Phil episode relaying how she now suffers from mental illness. She is barely recognizable and in a word, looks terrible. I don’t know if she blames Kubrick in anyway but I’m thinking the nightmare experience that was the Shining may have left a deep seated scar or two. [clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ioTXdO5qt0) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/23 "2017-01-04T19:11:12Z")
> [@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. Yes. Can we no longer just be satisfied by saying that So-and-So is a right bastard, without the need for tagging with some mental issue? ---
**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, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/24 "2017-01-04T19:40:54Z")
I wonder if it wasn’t only Kubrick that was mean to Duvall but other crew as well. I watched The Shining once with the commentary on and one of the guys, a camera operator, makes this bizarre statement about Duvall having an “abuseable quality” about her I just thought that was a creep thing to say. Kubrick also did one of those 100+ takes torture sessions on Scatman Crothers until the older actor literally burst into tears and Jack Nicholson intervened and told Kubrick to take it easy on him. So yeah Kubrick was an amazingly talented director and an asshole they aren’t mutually exclusive or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/25 "2017-01-04T20:23:50Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > 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. I hear Ed Zotti gets away with it. ---
**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, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/26 "2017-01-04T20:34:16Z")
> [@pool](#): > > I wonder if it wasn’t only Kubrick that was mean to Duvall but other crew as well. I watched The Shining once with the commentary on and one of the guys, a camera operator, makes this bizarre statement about Duvall having an “abuseable quality” about her I just thought that was a creep thing to say. > > Kubrick also did one of those 100+ takes torture sessions on Scatman Crothers until the older actor literally burst into tears and Jack Nicholson intervened and told Kubrick to take it easy on him. So yeah Kubrick was an amazingly talented director and an asshole they aren’t mutually exclusive or anything. Crothers couldn’t remember his lines. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/27 "2017-01-04T20:48:33Z")
Right - but creating extreme mental stress is not likely to help someone remember their lines. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/28 "2017-01-04T20:53:34Z")
I tend to think he had a touch of spectrum-autism, because, for all the effort he put into his work, the acting is mostly shit. There is a great depth of flatness to his actors’ performances, which really jumps out at the viewer in his final film. Take Alex de Large, for example: the character is nearly devoid of emotion throughout the film, except for moments of lust, confusion, terror. Or Bowman and Poole, who are close to the most uninteresting characters ever depicted in an epic film. Try to watch Barry Lyndon and you will see a movie made by someone who simply does not connect with the material on a human level. Kubrick created some awesome artwork, but the lion’s share of it feels like the participants themselves are spectators. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/29 "2017-01-04T21:06:57Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > As to his treatment of Duvall during the filming of the Shining, in the style of actors staying in character, Kubrick evidently didn’t think Shelly had the acting chops to pull off the needed sense of vulnerability, victimhood and terror so he took it upon himself to engrain these sentiments on to the actor. He would berate her work constantly and then applaud Nicholson’s effort with the two of them becoming fast buddies. There’s the alleged world-record-of-takes with the staircase scene when Jack is menacing Wendy who meekly tries to defend herself with a baseball bat. It seems they did 127 takes of this scene. I’m thinking this was done more to break down the character and the actress at the same time rather than some elusive search for the perfect shot. Either that or Kubrick was a heartless prick. It should be noted that the one director Duvall had worked with the most in the previous decade was Robert Altman, who could be seen as the anti-Kubrick: also a genius, but in a very loose, unstructured, improvisatory way. Not that he wasn’t exacting, but he was famous for putting his actors front-and-center since as a storyteller, his movies were so often about human dynamics and the special energy that’s created from large casts and huge narrative tapestries. So Duvall was probably used to having a director that was more nurturing and a support system of fellow actors around to encourage and feed off of. And it shows, because she’s brilliant in those films (especially **3 Women** ). Kubrick’s genius was rooted in being a storyteller concerned with a far more meticulous canvas where actors played only one part. And for most of the shoot, she had only one other professional actor to bounce off of, which had to have been far more isolating and unusual for her. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/30 "2017-01-04T21:57:44Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Crothers couldn’t remember his lines. Kubrick: “Okay, then Jack hits you in the back with an axe.” Crothers: “Line?” Assistant: “AAAAGGGLLKkkkkkuuhhhhhh…” ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/31 "2017-01-05T03:51:21Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > "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.” I’d have made them do it the other way around. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/32 "2017-01-05T04:14:39Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Then there’s James Cameron… Has he finally shut up about the Titanic? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/33 "2017-01-05T04:30:09Z")
> [@pool](#): > > I wonder if it wasn’t only Kubrick that was mean to Duvall but other crew as well. I watched The Shining once with the commentary on and one of the guys, a camera operator, makes this bizarre statement about Duvall having an “abuseable quality” about her I just thought that was a creep thing to say. I always thought she projected a sense of fragility, which isn’t quite the same thing, I hope. When she was cast in the live-action version of _Popeye_ I thought she was born to play Olive Oyl. I recently saw a documentary on the making of _Dr. Strangelove_. Contrary to Kubrick’s reputation for repetition and perfectionism, he let Peter Sellers improvise much of his performance. Must have trusted that he’d get what he wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/34 "2017-01-05T04:40:48Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I always thought she projected a sense of fragility, which isn’t quite the same thing, I hope. When she was cast in the live-action version of _Popeye_ I thought she was born to play Olive Oyl. > > I recently saw a documentary on the making of _Dr. Strangelove_. Contrary to Kubrick’s reputation for repetition and perfectionism, he let Peter Sellers improvise much of his performance. Must have trusted that he’d get what he wanted. Peter Sellers might have been one of the few people on Earth who was enough of an asshole in his own right to intimidate Kubrick. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/35 "2017-01-05T17:28:14Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > …I recently saw a documentary on the making of _Dr. Strangelove_. Contrary to Kubrick’s reputation for repetition and perfectionism, he let Peter Sellers improvise much of his performance. Must have trusted that he’d get what he wanted. He didn’t do too many retakes on _2001_, either, according to Keir Dullea: [I met Keir Dullea tonight! - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=616628) ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/36 "2017-01-05T19:22:12Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > Alas there doesn’t seem to be a happy ending for Duvall. > > The actress did a Dr. Phil episode relaying how she now suffers from mental illness. She is barely recognizable and in a word, looks terrible. I don’t know if she blames Kubrick in anyway but I’m thinking the nightmare experience that was the Shining may have left a deep seated scar or two. [clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ioTXdO5qt0) Wow, the poor woman is looking really rough. I hope she’s getting some good care. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/37 "2017-01-05T19:43:31Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > True, but drill sergeants, coaches, and chefs do it all the time, so I bet it’s industry specific. Drill sergeants are going for a specific thing and certainly don’t scream at anyone outside the context of basic training. It is certainly not true that chefs and coaches commonly scream abuse at their employees, and I sincerely doubt screaming and yelling corresponds with success in those fields. Another director known for being decent with his employees in Clint Eastwood. Eastwood has a reputation for being remarkably efficient and timely in his productions, and very quiet and kind with his staff. After working with him on “Sully,” Tom Hanks commented that he found it kind of intimidating that Eastwood wouldn’t even yell “Action!” ---
**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 10, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/38 "2017-01-10T00:08:41Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > Wow, the poor woman is looking really rough. I hope she’s getting some good care. I just saw that clip. I had avoided watching anything about it because I thought it was just another January Body-Shaming show. That clip makes her look so around the bend and sad though. * * * \*\*Q: Did we (as fans) really need to see her destroyed that way on network TV? She obviously had big and noticeable problems before they even set up camera tripods in the room. Was there really NOBODY left to say, "Hey! Dr. Phil! Grow A Fucking Soul and Don’t Do This to someone who used to be Famous! Can you Do that? Can you Comprehend that? Are the words too damn hard to get? Is the Concept just too elusive? Do you NEED to buy a Vowel? If she was your mother, would you want that done to her? Well then… Next Up On Dr Phil…WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG with Shiny Headed Power Mad Ratings Whore Talk Show Pricks…\*\* ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/39 "2017-01-10T00:54:55Z")
Speaking of directors, Alfred Hitchcock was pretty strange. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295/40 "2017-01-10T14:14:44Z")
I’m fine with calling Kubrick a sociopath. It takes more than being an asshole to what he did to actors. It takes depraved indifference. Autism doesn’t fit. He’s too aware of the emotions he wants to elicit, and how to invoke them. Autism would only work if he were merely unaware of how his actions made others feel.You still have empathy; you’re just bad at knowing how you make others feel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stanley-kubrick-autistic-or-sociopath/776295.md?page=3)