Fredo - Autistic?

I just wanted to throw this out for discussion. I have often wondered if Fredo did not have some form of Autism, even if it was on the higher functioning end of the Autism spectrum (maybe like Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified [PDD-NOS] or Asperger's Syndrome [like it is rumored that such men as Einstein and Bill Gates had/have]).

I say this because of the obvious challenges he seemed to face intellectually in both Godfather I and Godfather II. Also, in Godfather II, we see that when Vito's mother was talking to the Dom that killed her husband and her oldest son, she is asking him to spare Vito's life. Her reasons are that Vito did not talk much and was "slow" (I am paraphrasing). This, too, could have been a sign of autism or autistic traits, even in Vito. So, then, if Vito was a person with autism of some sort, then, it is possible that the trait was passed from Vito to his son Fredo. Autism is known to be passed typically from the father's side.

I am a Special Ed teacher and have both a husband and a son who have diagnoses on the autism spectrum. Fredo reminds me a lot of my husband. Granted, I know that the actors were given direction to act like the characters, but, as it stands, Fredo portrayed many tendencies of Autism and/or the personality traits of people who would have had Autism during that time, but, because there was no wide-spread knowledge and diagnosis, would have been rejected, ridiculed and suffered low self-esteem.

In Godfather II, Alfredo as a baby is shown to have been crying and sick all the time. When I first saw this, I thought that maybe his being sick and having high fevers as an infant somehow contributed to his mental deficiencies. Upon subsequent viewings, I then thought that maybe Fredo was not "sick", per se, as much as he could have been a child with Autism, whose sensory "mechanisms" are not firing correctly and he was crying because of being overstimulated. Additionally, children with Autism can sometimes be "sicker" that children without Autism.

In Godfather II after Michael's mother dies, he is talking to Fredo, asking him why he betrayed him. Fredo goes on to say that he was tired of having to take orders from Michael, his younger brother (I am paraphrasing). He tells Michael something to the effect of, "I'm not dumb like people say I am. I'm smart. I can do things." This says to me that he had always been treated like he was dumb or slow, probably because he did odd things -things that could possibly be attributed to Autistic behavior. (I might add this is where I could really make the connection between Alfredo and my husband, as my husband is the "black sheep" of his family, with his mother accusing him of "not trying hard enough" to succeed, but, she had been too ashamed to get him tested for Autism when he was younger; we got him tested when we got our son tested. My husband has always felt like he played "second fiddle" in the family to his younger brother).

I would LOOOOOVE a discussion on this, if anyone cares to comment. Thanks!

As for Vito's mother telling Don Ciccio that her son was dumb witted, she was not telling the Don that because Vito was ACTUALLY dumbwitted. She made an attempt to make Don Ciccio feel sorry for young Vito, an attemt to hopefully play on Ciccio's emotions.

Vito was far from being dumb or having ANY form of autism. This was a boy who had lost his father, witnessed the death of his brother and his mother all in a matter of days, and then escaped the wrath of the person who was responsible for killing the young boy's family. He traveled to a new country, upon his arrival was locked up for 3 months, and then went out into a strange new world all on his own, still only a young boy. That young boy survived the mean streets of a new world and eventually became one of the most powerful men in the country.
Autistic? I don't believe so.

As for Fredo, well I think that he was just plain dumb and insecure, that's all. If he had some kind of disease, or was autistic, I don't think that he would have been given the responsibility of driving his father around, don't think that he would have been allowed to carry a gun, and I highly doubt that he'd be given his own crew of men.


Interesting theory on your part, however, I think that you may be reaching just a bit here.

Welcome to the boards.

Good points, Don Cardi. However, one might consider that, based on observations of some educators of late, it is said that George W. Bush might very well be somewhere on the Autism spectrum because he exhibits many qualities of someone with some type of learning disorder...seriously! Autism does not necessarily equal Rain Man; there are varying degrees. If the leader of one of the largest countries in the free world could possibly have a disability, then anything is possible. Just a thought...

I am with Don Cardi on Vito. Yes, his mother said those things, but she had just lost her husband and older son and was trying to get the Don to spare Vito's life.

As for Fredo, I didn't see any manifestations of Autism. He didn't seem to have any problems making eye contact with others, he didn't seem to have trouble with social interaction (he was a bit TOO social, according to Moe Greene), he didn't shy away from physical contact, he showed no proficiency in math or science, and he didn't show any tendency toward obsessive-compulsive behavior. Certainly someone with Asperger's would have shown at least two of the traits I described.

He was simply not as aggressive or bright as his brothers.

Welcome, AR--very thoughtgul post!
Others here have speculated, from time to time, that Fredo's childhood illness may have affected him as an adult, but I don't think anyone has linked him to autism.
In the novel, Fredo (who's a much more minor character than in the films) is described as "inclined to dourness." But he's a major force in II (whose modern plot, as you probably know, didn't appear in the novel--it was created for the film). I've always felt that Fredo was drawn far too broadly--he's almost comically, satirically stupid. I doubt that FFC and Puzo intended any subtlety in Fredo, and giving him autism would have been far too subtle an explanation for his behavior. Then I came to realize that the broad stupidity made his treachery all the more treacherous--who'd have expected it from that dunce?

You know far more about autism than I do. But, good friends have an autistic son. When he was a little kid, one of his major symptoms was that he was hyperactive. As a teenager, the manifestation that I see is that it's hard for him to listen during conversations--he can't restrain himself from breaking in. I realize that those aren't the only symptoms of autism, but I didn't see either of those in Fredo.

Fredos a great character, I think Fredo was weaker then the other sons probably because of the way he was brought up - possibly different to the other children, the good old nature vs nurture debate.

Autistics don't bang cocktail waitresses two at a time.

Sorry.

C'mon. Didn't anyone read Mark Winegardner's book? Fredo's biggest problem is his sexuality.

I'm afraid i'm with Don Cardi on this one.

Why are you "afraid" of being with me on this? What are you afraid of

Why are you "afraid" of being with me on this? What are you afraid of [/quote]