When I was 7 years old, my older sister was in the cast of “Oklahoma!” at our elementary school, Mildred H. Aitken. At the same time, I was introduced to the 1955 film version that starred Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones (The Partridge Family). Sure, there were some moments that still stick with me such as “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” “People Will Say We’re In Love,” and of course, “Oklahoma!” but there is a character that I often look to as an autism/neurodiversity advocate and public speaker more closely.
That character is the film’s antagonist, Jud Fry played by Rod Steiger. For those of you who don’t know who Jud Fry is, he is the hired farm hand who has feelings for Laurey, but she doesn’t love him in return. Of course, Jud goes out of his way to ensure that Laurey is his and Curly is out of the picture. A visual example of this is in the “Out of my Dreams” ballet where Jud (still portrayed by Rod Steiger in this sequence) demonstrates his goals in getting Laurey by killing Curly in balletic fashion.
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But looking at Jud Fry now, I see that he may have been a bad guy, but he was really an antagonist that I can strongly relate to in terms of wanting to be accepted by someone that will never do so. Now, if you know me close, you know that I tried my hand at dating and that I had crushes on other women who viewed me as someone who is stalking and not respecting their boundaries.
Jud is kind of the same way and while he may have been forceful, he had good intentions. The problem was that he refused to accept the fact that Laurey will never love him and unfortunately, that is the case with a lot of individuals, both on and off the spectrum. Most people will often look at this musical and see the character of Jud Fry and go, “he acts like that one guy who won’t leave me alone” or “that one girl who won’t leave me alone.”
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It’s also worth noting that Jud was also viewed as a social outcast, to which most people on the spectrum are. In fact, he also had thoughts of taking his own life as evident in the song, “Poor Jud is Daid.” What’s more is that Curly seems to be mocking him that he was better off dead. This is another example of individuals on the spectrum who are often bullied by others saying that they are better off dead.
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Now, I also saw a live updated stage version of Oklahoma! last year and while that version of Jud was decent, it doesn’t capture the feeling of what Rod Steiger’s Jud Fry had. He may be a tough guy, but Jud was as the song goes, “the most misunderstood man in the territory” and there are quite a few of those in the world today, especially for those on the autism spectrum.
If some need help in for example, dating or finding the right lover, then don’t judge them, help them because the more misunderstandings about someone there are, the more Jud Fry’s are there likely to emerge.
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Catch you all later!!
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