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A Date With Rosie Palms is no longer a trope


* {{Malaproper}}: Joey refers to [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbating]] as "master painting." Naturally, Bettelheim assumes that this is deliberate obfuscation to further separate himself from the world.

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* {{Malaproper}}: Joey refers to [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbating]] masturbating as "master painting." Naturally, Bettelheim assumes that this is deliberate obfuscation to further separate himself from the world.
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* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Joey's drawings look like they were drawn by an actual child, and a photo is shown of the apparatus he built around his bed. Considering the inaccurate depiction of autism, Joey's improbable use of symbolism, and Bettelheim's history of child abuse and fraud, though, it's almost certain that most of the story was made up.
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"Joey: A 'Mechanical Boy'" is an article by Bruno Bettelheim, originally published in the March 1959 issue of Psychology Today and later republished in ''The Empty Fortress''. The article was published as nonfiction but is most likely fraudulent, making it possibly the first ever fictional depiction of autism.

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"Joey: A 'Mechanical Boy'" is an article by Bruno Bettelheim, originally published in the March 1959 issue of Psychology Today Scientific American and later republished in ''The Empty Fortress''. The article was published as nonfiction but is most likely fraudulent, making it possibly the first ever fictional depiction of autism.
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* {{Malaproper}}: Joey refers to [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbating]] as "master painting." Naturally, Bettelheim assumes that this is deliberate obfuscation to further separate himself from the world.
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The story [[https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs.uoregon.edu/dist/d/16656/files/2018/11/Bettelheim-Joey-A-Mechanical-Boy-1ao74zg.pdf can be read online]].
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* RobotsAreJustBetter: Joey is a believer in this trope. When his teacher tells him not to kick a pipe in the playground because the pipe is harder than his foot, Joey says, "That proves it. Machines are better than the body. They don't break; they're much harder and stronger." He wishes he could replace his brain and limbs with machinery, because then he wouldn't forget, lose, or spill anything.

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* AllPsychologyIsFreudian: Not surprising, since Bettelheim was a Freudian psychologist. At one point in the story, Bettelheim is surprised by Joey's short-lived obsession with feces, since his "personality damage" predates the anal stage.

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* AllPsychologyIsFreudian: Not surprising, since Bettelheim was a Freudian psychologist. Joey's problems are all caused by his parents, and he expresses his feelings through elaborate symbolism. At one point in the story, Bettelheim is surprised by Joey's short-lived obsession with feces, since his "personality damage" predates the anal stage.



* HappilyFailedSuicide: Joey attempted suicide three months before entering the Orthogenic School.

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* HappilyFailedSuicide: Joey attempted suicide three months before entering the Orthogenic School. Once there, he discovers that life can be enjoyed.
* MentalHealthRecoveryArc: The story follows Joey as he learns to appreciate emotion and eventually makes a full recovery from his autism.
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* TantrumThrowing: Sometimes Joey's machinery "explodes," and he screams "Crash, crash!" while throwing light bulbs and radio tubes

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* TantrumThrowing: Sometimes Joey's machinery "explodes," and he screams "Crash, crash!" while throwing light bulbs and radio tubestubes.

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* AbusiveParents: Joey's mother left him alone in the playpen all day, fed him on a strict four-hour schedule no matter how much he cried, never touched him unless necessary, and generally treated him with cold indifference. His feckless father punished him for crying at night before mostly disappearing from his life.



* DrivenToSuicide: Joey attempted suicide three months before entering the Orthogenic School.

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* DrivenToSuicide: DisappearedDad: Joey's father was sent overseas when Joey was eighteen months old, after which he and his mother moved in with his grandparents.
* HappilyFailedSuicide:
Joey attempted suicide three months before entering the Orthogenic School.


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* TantrumThrowing: Sometimes Joey's machinery "explodes," and he screams "Crash, crash!" while throwing light bulbs and radio tubes
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[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bettelheim_joey_a_mechanical_boy_self_portrait_wdlm7f_752x1024.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:EARLY SELF-PORTRAIT by Joey shows a robot made of electrical wires. The figure symbolizes the child's rejection of human feelings. Raised by his parents in an utterly impersonal manner, he denied his own emotions because they were unbearably painful.]]
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"Joey: A 'Mechanical Boy'" is an article by Bruno Bettelheim, originally published in the March 1959 issue of Psychology Today and later republished in ''The Empty Fortress''. The article was published as nonfiction but is most likely fraudulent, making it possibly the first ever fictional depiction of autism.

Nine-year-old Joey arrives at the Orthogenic School identifying as a machine. Bettelheim discovers that his parents' emotional abuse has caused him to withdraw from the world of emotions and social interaction, and he is coaxed out of his shell over the course of three years.
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!!"Joey: A 'Mechanical Boy'" contains examples of:
* AllPsychologyIsFreudian: Not surprising, since Bettelheim was a Freudian psychologist. At one point in the story, Bettelheim is surprised by Joey's short-lived obsession with feces, since his "personality damage" predates the anal stage.
* DrivenToSuicide: Joey attempted suicide three months before entering the Orthogenic School.
* SurprisePregnancy: Joey is the product of one, causing him to feel rejected in the womb.
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