Benny and Joon is the Neurodivergent Love Story We Need

Is mental health, illiteracy and neurodivergence stigmatized? Is Hollywood often contributory to the problem? Was a forgotten film in 1993 ahead of its time? Should you revisit a forgotten classic? If we are talking about Benny and Joon? Yes!

If you were to look up a synopsis of the 1993 Movie “Benny and Joon” you would likely read something like this:

Starring Johnny Depp and Mary Stewart Masterson, it is a story of two eccentric individuals, Sam and Juniper “Joon”, who find each other and fall in love. Aidan Quinn also stars, and it was directed by National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation director Jeremiah S. Chechik.

I would tell you that it is one of the best neurodivergent love stories told well and acted brilliantly.

The Plot in Brief

The movie tells the story of Benny and Joon, brother and sister. They had lost their parents some years back and Benny has had to take care of Joon. She has some struggles in life. There is never a name given to her condition, you only see the manifestations.

Benny takes care of her while running his auto repair shop. You see him missing out on life’s opportunities as he takes on the role of caretaker. He works and goes home to take care of Joon.

They end up taking in a friend of Benny’s cousin, played by Johnny Depp, named Sam. Sam is illiterate, sweet, and kind. He is also obsessed with Buster Keaton and B Horror movies with an almost photographic memory for his favorites. His main drive in life is he wants to help. He has some “issues” that are not named as well.

Sam’s first day at Benny and Joon’s home he cleans the house. They also learn quickly that he has a calming influence on Joon and she enjoys his company. For Benny, his defenses goes down and he sees an opportunity to go out with friends and even on a date. Joon, brilliantly played by Mary Stewart Masterson, develops feelings and attraction for Sam. In time they become lovers.

When Benny finds out he kicks Sam out violently leading to Joon having an episode on a bus that involves paramedics and police. Joon is taken away to an institution and Benny ultimately needs Sam’s help to get her back.

When the film released many movie critics had to assign a label. Joon had to be schizophrenic. Sam was just illiterate and they were too distracted by Depp’s Buster Keaton routines to pay attention to the nuance of the character and the director’s use of symbolism.

Movie critic Roger Ebert had the following to say in his review of the movie in the Chicago Sun Times, “The story wants to be about love, but is also about madness, and somehow it weaves the two together with a charm that would probably not be quite so easy in real life.”

How many rom coms and love stories on the silver screen would be easy in real life? When we are dealing with mental health or neurodivergence suddenly we have to have reality? But when we play mental health and neurodivergence in the most stereotypical “madness” and disability possible, that is brilliant and moving?

Joon

She has a rigid structure and is agitated when this structure is changed. In the movie you see her eating primarily the same foods without variation. There is a hyper-focus on painting. She has difficulties with socializing.

As far as misdiagnosis and assumptions, it is common for autistic people to be misdiagnosed or co-diagnosed with things like depression and even schizophrenia. If you were to watch this movie through the modern lens and understanding of autism her “episodes” could be a result of greater stress caused by difficulty with everyday demands.

As always, Mary Stewart Masterson is brilliant in her performance. Ever since I saw her in Some Kind of Wonderful, I have been amazed at her subtle ability where with just a look she can say so very much, and for this character, that just enhances the nuance and complexity of Joon.

Benny

In many ways, Benny needs Joon to be broken. He likely has separation anxiety that he has not dealt with. Losing his parents at a young age, Joon is all he feels he has left. And though he complains about all the life he is missing out on, he clings tight.

He sometimes uses his need to care for her as an excuse to hold back emotionally. Julianne Moore has a supporting role in the movie and we see Benny use Joon as his excuse to not allow an emotional or romantic connection with Moore.

There is a narrative that Joon is not able to live independently, but that narrative is driven by Benny deciding that Joon needs him. In poignant moments in the movie you find out the opposite is true. Benny needs her to be broken like the cars in his repair shop so he can fix her.

Sam

Sam is the only person in the movie (and I include Joon’s therapist who underestimates her) that does not see Joon as incapable, crazy, or broken. In a critical scene with Benny you learn that though Sam can’t read or write and is obsessive about his interests, he sees people through a very perceptive lens and one of his main drives in this life is to help, belong, and enjoy his interests.

His “eccentric” behaviors and obsessive interests and inability to read gets in the way of others giving him opportunities or heeding his perceptions.

According to Cross River Therapy, 21% of adults are illiterate with over half of Americans having a literacy rate below the 6th grade. Sam is not alone and instead of compassion, empathy and help, too many people face loss of opportunity, mockery, and grammar nazis on ivory towers of superiority.

First and foremost, it is a brilliantly acted love story with an amazing cast. We need more good stories in this life.

People who have mental health struggles, have literacy issues, and are neurodivergent are not less. Representation in film is not just about race and gender, but about challenging all stereotypes. From Joker to Black Swan to Rain Man the critics celebrate dangerous tropes that paint so many as less.

Through Sam and Joon we see brilliant performances where illiteracy, mental health and being neurodivergent is not the point of their lives or who they are. Despite everyone’s perceptions, it is not their defining characteristics any more then having arthritis pain in my right index finger defines me.

Where Roger Ebert and other critics tried to make the movie about “madness”, it is actually a love story in which the main obstacle is how others perceive people who are not seen as “normal.”

We have created a society where only what we have decided what is normative has a chance in this world. If you are unable to work a 40 hour a week job and have any special needs, the world is not for you. This is not just limited to capitalism, this includes even the very right to fall in love and live independently.

Sam and Joon will ultimately need the help of others to make grilled cheese sandwiches with steam irons, create art together, and live their love story. That is important as well. The idea of rugged individualism is not a kind or good or even a viable mode for a functioning society. It is one where we leave people who have a lot to offer relegated to a corner where they cannot help or realize a purpose, even though they want to and are capable.

​Benny and Joon. Ahead of its time over 30 years later. Rediscover it. Give it a watch.

I wish there were more movies that did not try to create “realistic” depictions of people who struggle by making the condition the enemy when it is actually stigma and poor perceptions. The portrayals in this film are more realistic in that there is nothing wrong with Sam and Joon, but there may be something wrong with us.

Movies like this remind us everyone is totally awesome and has a right to be true to themselves.

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