The Emmy and Golden Globe award winning 2010 HBO film “Temple Grandin” follows the remarkable life-story of Mary Temple Grandin, a woman whose ideas revolutionized animal welfare. Animal welfare, or the handling of livestock in a humane way in the context of meat production, is an important branch of meat science and is central to the sustainability of the meat industry worldwide.

Temple is first introduced to beef cattle as a teenager while staying with her aunt and uncle for the summer on their ranch in Arizona. She is drawn to and captivated by the animals, watching them carefully. In one scene, the cattle become agitated as they are stirred up by the ranch-hands for inoculations. Temple notices that the animals become calm however after they are placed in a squeeze shoot, a device that closes and gently restrains cattle. Temple, who is autistic, experiences anxiety attacks, and at one point puts herself in the squeeze shoot to calm herself. Shown throughout the film as being adept with tools, Temple builds herself a “squeeze machine” that mimicked the effects of a hug and the squeeze shoot that she could use at any time to calm herself. Throughout the film, her squeeze machine plays an important role in allowing her to function at a high level first in her studies and then in her work in animal welfare. Today, that same concept is behind the use of weighted blankets, which provide comfort to autistic and non-autistic people alike.

Back in high school, Temple forms a connection with her science teacher, Mr. (William) Carlock. Temple, fascinated by science, was instantly drawn to Mr. Carlock when she learns that he used to work for NASA, and it is Mr. Carlock who realizes that Temple learns about and understands the world through images (Temple is depicted in the film as having a photographic memory). After showing his students a film with an optical illusion, Mr. Carlock challenges Temple to explain how the illusion is possible. Going through many cardboard models that failed to reproduce the illusion, Temple is patiently encouraged and given clues by Mr. Carlock until she figures it out. Earning her classmates’ respect with the feat, Temple, her classmates, and Mr. Carlock celebrate by launching a model rocket. Mr. Carlock encourages Temple to pursue her passion and attend college.

Temple predictably struggles at college. She does not fit in with her classmates and she receives an F mark. Not understanding the purpose of her squeeze machine, a university employee throws it into a dumpster. Unperturbed, Temple runs a scientifically sound study using her classmates as subjects to prove that her squeeze machine is therapeutic. Impressed by the scientific nature of her experiment, the university allows Temple to rebuild her squeeze machine and continue her studies.

Ultimately, Temple finds her way, graduating with a degree in psychology and delivering a speech at her graduation. A factor in her success was another connection she develops with Alice, a visually impaired roommate. Like Temple, Alice perceives the world in a less conventional way and is perceived by others as different in some way. The two develop a friendship, and Temple pushes herself to allow Alice to touch her to walk arm in arm so as to guide her while walking (Temple is shown as being averse to human touch, which is why she used her squeeze machine in place of hugs). Temple also pushes herself in other ways, such as when she, after being mocked by her classmates, asks someone if a seat was taken so as to sit at the front of the class. Temple holds dear something Mr. Carlock told her and starts to view things in life as doors opening onto new worlds and opportunities.

The push towards animal welfare is found on a tour of a feedlot as Temple begins her master’s degree back in Arizona at Arizona State University. While on the tour, Temple becomes distracted by the cattle mooing. As she stated, her autism gives her insight into the experience of the cattle, and she is preoccupied by the poor design of the feedlot from the cattle’s perspective. Returning to the university, she overcomes her advisor’s skepticism to have her thesis be about the behavior of the cattle on the feedlot. Temple understands that the feedlot’s poor design is “spooking” the cattle, and that this was slowing down operations, causing inefficiencies, and costing the feedlot money. The advisor tells Temple to get the feedlot to sign off on her project.

In addition to the usual skepticism, Temple also deals with the feedlot manager’s open sexism. Sneaking onto the feedlot, Temple continues to collect data for her project. Convinced of its merit, another feedlot employee agrees to sign off on the project after revealing that he signs everything for the manager and encourages Temple to also observe cattle at auction and on ranches. Temple’s fortunes continue to climb when someone at the Arizona Farmer Ranchman periodical agrees to read anything Temple writes, and eventually she is published.

Her name known at this point, Temple finally gets the chance to prove her animal welfare design when she is approached to design a new feedlot after the firm’s previous designer leaves. The design works like a charm, with the cattle voluntarily entering the dip vat without needing to be forced in. Still, skepticism remains, and it isn’t until Temple makes another connection that she gets the chance to implement her design in another facility. Throughout the film, Temple is afraid to walk through the automatic doors at the grocery store because of her autism. Another woman with an autistic son helps Temple through the doors one day, and she introduces Temple to her husband, who works at another local feedlot. Towards the end of the film, Alice joins Temple for a tour of a facility she designed. Even though Alice is visually impaired, Temple wants her to be there. Whereas Temple feared other people would become overwhelmed by what they were physically seeing, she feels Alice can sense the un-spooked atmosphere Temple had worked so hard to create.

“I touched the first cow as it was being stunned. In a few seconds, it was going to be just another piece of beef. But in that moment, it was still an individual. It was calm. Then, it was gone.”

Temple made no pretense about what was to become of the cattle. She felt that since the cattle were raised for human consumption, humans owed the cattle respect – a respect reflected in their ability to remain un-spooked in Temple’s animal welfare design. Reflecting back on a documentary she had seen where a prey animal was hunted down by a lion and on her design, Temple said, “Nature is cruel, but we don’t have to be. I wouldn’t want to have my guts ripped out by a lion. I’d much rather die in a slaughterhouse if it was done right.”

Stay tuned to the MSABD website and MSABD Quarterly newsletter for further stories on animal welfare at MSABD and in Wisconsin.

“Temple Grandin” is available and for rent on several streaming services. Moreover, any one of 27 DVD copies can be borrowed from the South Central Library System, which includes the Madison Public Library, via LINKcat with a free card. Finally, those with a NetID from UW-Madison may watch the film on-demand for free on the UW-Madison Libraries website.

This article was posted in Program Features.