Analyzing The Film Dad's In Heaven With Nixon

I chose to watch Dad’s in Heaven with Nixon. The documentary was about Chris Murray a man who was born with autism. His brother who he referred to as Tommy tells the history of their family. The family grew up wealthy having a beautiful house in Southampton, New York and going on the beach every day to swim. While they looked like the perfect family in their pictures they were far from it. Three generations of Murray’s struggled with alcoholism and bipolar disorder. They struggled with their family relationships mostly among the Tom Murray and his dad and then Chris and his father. His mother Janice who just passed away in August was his saving grace and rock. While searching for medical options for her son they repeatedly told her he would never have a chance and that the best option would be to put him in a home. Instead Janice and her family worked hard to make sure Chris lived a normal life.
Most people see that a child who has a disability but is also gifted and talented to be a false dichotomy. They view this because they don’t believe that a child could be gifted or talented when in fact people like Chris who suffer from

Chris and his father seemed to have a pretty normal relationship with each other while growing up. Although he seemed to love his son he struggled facing the reality that Chris had autism. When Tom died Chris had a very difficult time processing his dad’s passing so that’s when he picked up a pencil and paper. Chris began to draw to help with the sadness and grief he was experiencing about the death of his father. His paintings caught the eye of Gloria Vanderbilt who seen one of Chris’s painting at a friend’s house one night while she was having dinner. She then went and told her friend Kerry Schuss how amazing Chris’s painting were. From that day on Kerry decided to represent Chris and help him become the great artist he is