Hi All. I have been watching a lot of House lately, and just started “Extrodinary Attorney Woo”. I am curious to know what you all think of their portrails of Autism. Is it pandering? Representation? Romantisation?
Also see “The Good Doctor”, “Atypical”, “Love on the spectrum” etc.
Good representations I’ve seen:
- Abed Nadir (Community)
- Tina Belcher (Bob’s Burgers)
- Jonah Byrde (Ozark)
- Woo Young-Woo (Extraordinary Attorney Woo)
These characters all made me feel validated and seen, while not being put in their respective shows only to make fun of them. Sometimes their autism is used to create humorous situations, like Tina and Young-Woo, but it’s never done in a mean-spirited way.
All of the Belchers are great representation, though none are canonically Autistic.
Louise: She’s autistic. She can’t help it.
Tina: Yeah, I’m Autistic.
Hugo: Bob.
Bob: Just a sec. No, you’re not autistic, Tina
Is that the reference? Cause that looks pretty definitively like a child mocking another child and not a diagnosis or canon confirmation. The only other reference in that episode is a callback joke to this bit.
I’ve only seen one episode of Woo, and it felt to me like they were treating her autism as a magical attorney super power. I wasnt sure if that was valued representation or not, hence the question. I guess its not wildly different to seeing neurotypical characters with extraordinary abilities. I did enjoy it though, and will keep watching.
Love me some Troy and Abed in the Mooorrrrninngg :D
Woo definitely gets better, but you have to acknowledge that there are some “super power” autism people out there (I personally fall more on that side of the spectrum). That being said, they don’t shy away from the other side of the spectrum and they don’t claim that one kind of autist has more worth than another.
I was friends with a guy in my youth who definitely had savant aspects. Things he was interested in mostly. For example he loved cars. Not motorcycles, not big rigs, just cars.
In a 4 hour car ride he would look out the window and give details about the cars and at the end of the ride you could ask him about car models that we’d seen between certain mile markers. He had it all catalogued in his head and could tell you what order the cars were in, their color, year, options, weight, GVWR, motor type, style, transmission type, really just about anything.
Yeah, I get that its a spectrum, but I dont know the distribution, hence why I am seeking opinions here.
I guess i was just worried that it sets up an unrealistic expectation/stereotype, that may not be beneficial?
“Oh you have autism? Thats so cool, whats your super power?” - This kinda of thing. Kind of the Autism version of “Oh, your asian, you must be good at math”.
Ill definitely watch the rest of Woo anyway, I did enjoy the first episode.
While I know people have complaints about how it sometimes infantilizing and played for laughs et cetera, when I first watched Big Bang Theory back 2007 or so, it felt both like an eye-opener and deeply validating.
Sheldon doesn’t mask. He is not anxious. He is not ashamed of who he is. He never “learns to chill and be normal”. He is helpfully insightful at times. And he retains close friends who repsect him and he keeps a successful career. That was beautiful to see.
It made me believe I could exist as myself.
I know the “front lines” have moved since then, and most people expext more from representation, but I will ever be grateful for what that series gave me.
it felt both like an eye-opener and deeply validating.
Sheldon doesn’t mask. He is not anxious. He is not ashamed of who he is. He never “learns to chill and be normal”. He is helpfully insightful at times. And he retains close friends who repsect him and he keeps a successful career. That was beautiful to see.
It made me believe I could exist as myself.
I felt that way too when I first watched TBBT, since I watched it alone… Then I watched the show with other people in the room and realized that he was the butt of every joke. And from that point on I could never stomach watching the show again. It’s disgusting.
Weirdly, I didnt even think of Big Bang Theory.
I dont think there is anything wrong with liking media that speaks to you.
I like that Sheldons Autism isn’t a “super power” like the Good Doctor. If a magic pill “cured” Sheldons autism, then he would still be a scientist. If a magic pill “cured” the good doctor, he becomes useless.
Fwiw, I am not on the spectrum.
The big bang theory is an abomination
In terms of production and acting it’s not bad. The troubling aspect is the charactisation of the neurodivergent experience, as if it’s fun and games for all involved. We’re invited to believe that these scientists are blundering through life, oblivious to their dysfunction. The reality is that people like this are much more likely to be isolated and clinically depressed at the very least.
We don’t have to imagine a TV show where some other marginalised group is mocked because that material is filed in the historical archive, under the ‘unacceptably cruel and bigoted’ category.
She just like me fr
House is not canonically autistic as far as I know. Of course, in TV writing, autism tends to be sloppily coded as “being an asshole” instead, and he definitely is that in spades. He does seem to slightly play into it in one random episode, and his boss says something along the lines of “you don’t even have Asperger’s!” The only unambiguous autist on House that I remember is the kid from that same episode, who is nonverbal and melts down over the slightest thing. As far as representation goes, that’s fairly narrow and not all that positive.
I watched The Good Doctor for about two and a half seasons. Eventually it started grinding my gears because it keeps being the exact same conflict over and over. (Ironic given I watched House, I know. Multiple times. Still.)
While whatshisface might be understandably “stuck”, all those highly trained medical professionals and romantic interests around him should probably eventually have gotten a clue about that whole autism thing. As representation goes this guy is also relatively out there, and plays up a lot of stereotypes that don’t seem entirely positive.
I do think the pandering/romanticization is kinda obvious in this, though: it plays up Super-Autist ideas, and makes sure there’s no shortage of pretty girls around - who tend seem rather more into autistic guys than I daresay seems likely in real life, for some reason.
BBT I found mildly clever for like 5 whole seconds at the very start of episode 1. I don’t know why I watched a few seasons further.
I dislike Sheldon’s character. He is the archetype of the lazily written Hollywood “autist/smart guy/douchebag” pigeonhole, heavily playing into truckloads of strictly negative stereotypes about autists, smart people, geeks etc. and any combination. You know he’s smart because he has the whiteboard with Physics on it, and because he’s an asshole - one of very few ways TV writing tries to show intelligence at all.
Now I might seem butthurt - that would be because I started out with actual expectations of a “smart, geek-friendly” comedy show. Eventually I got more a bait&switch “cringe comedy” feeling (a genre I hate) with a superficially “geeky” paintjob.
Seems a bit pandery to me, mostly along the lines of antiintellectualism and “anti geek sentiment”.
Your right House isn’t, but I had just watched the episode with the Autistic boy. I’m not sure if Dr Park was or just a bit weird?
I think the “no shortage of pretty girls attracted to the main character despite their red flags” is just a TV trope thing. House had it with Cameron, Cuddy etc, BBT was full of it.
I think BBT did the best they could at the time. If it had been a smart, geek friendly comedy it may not have been popular and might have been cancelled early. But all your critcisms are certainly valid.
Its a shame, doesnt sound like you feel particularly well represented by media.
