Depictions of autism in media very rarely focus on anything other than what’s perceived as the upsides.
Like all other forms of entertainment and marketing, it’s not realistic, it’s designed to present something appealing to a mass audience.I’d say Tina Belcher is a fairly good depiction, and people love her character.
Yeah I commented that the best depictions I’ve seen of all these identities are usually kids cartoons, Bob’s Burgers is pretty family friendly and decent for the most part. The Marshmallow character is another. There’s an episode that kink shames Pesto for his adult baby diaper fetish though, or rather using the fact that Pesto is ashamed of it himself. Marshmallow has no shame about what they are. Overall it’s positive even with the few issues.
I think there are similar stuffs with mental illness : in a media they serve to further the character’s progression. In reality those are often more disability aither because they are disabilities at their core or because they make you not fit with the crowds who react awfully to that.
In a book or a movie, the struggle a character face, even if well depicted, serve his progression. They also are often a Chekov’s gun, furthering the plot. While in reality it’s just a thing you have to deal with on a daily basis. It’s true with autism but also with so much other stuff. Think depression, depicted a lot, much better than autism, and most depressed character end up cured at the end of the story thanks to their accomplishment. Except it doesn’t work like that, you can very damn well save lives and remain depressed. Showing that would be realistic but wouldn’t make sense story wise and the narration would feel incomplete.
Well, there’s always Rainman.
Well thats if you only look at the most popular media in the most immediate present day. Stop looking through a microscope! Its exciting to see so many awesome autistic characters with awesome upsides.
Downsides are presented as personality traits which are your own fault. Humans love to think that if something bad happens to you, then you either had it coming or you are going to come out victorious in the end. It makes them comfortable. Them - cowards, that is, and most humans are cowards, it’s not something new.
I think it’s also in the current day spirit of unquestioning inclusion. Producers can’t make a more nuanced or even unlikeable neurodivergent character because there would definitely be backlash for harping on a marginalized group. Even if the character is written with the best of intentions in mind
Flash news people like fiction not as a representation of reality but as a stylized, idealized versión of it, that’s why you see beautiful people, not fat, ugly or old. So it’s autistic quirky and not every day autistic.
I’m aware it’s an impopular opinion but that doesn’t make it less true. And you can gauge it by how popular it is.
that’s why you see beautiful people, not fat, ugly or old
I frankly don’t usually agree with Hollywood ideas of “beautiful”. Which is also the reason I’m watching mainstream movies (and I’m not a cinema enthusiast, so mainstream is all I watch) less and less - those ideas are becoming even more narrow and specific over time. I’m feeling as if some subculture’s or even some little group’s idea of “cool” is being shoved down my throat, in appearances and writing and cinematographic language even.
In my personal opinion people I know are in average more beautiful than Hollywood faces active now.
pretty soon people on the spectrum are going to realize what the rest of us know: we’re all cunts. bastards. shitbags and utter ass pimples of humanity. we’re all shite and the ones that get loved are the rare fraction of the 1% of humanity, and they’re rarely worth it either.
Personally I’d rather avoid people entirely.
Sorry to break it to you, bud. You’re likely on the spectrum. 👊
thanks! I finally feel a feeling of belonging and recognition.
Yeah over the years I’ve watched Autism go from millennials’ joke of the century to genZs’ new fad… and yeah it’s making me lose even more respect in people.
People used to tell me that I reminded them of Sheldon from tbbt as though that was a compliment.
I get that often on my tours. I hate it every time and it’s increasingly difficult to hide it.
Wait you think Wednesday is supposed to be neuro fucking divergent? The Addams family are macabre. They enjoy inflicting pain on themselves and others. They’re obviously creepy and quirky. They’re bizarre. They’re morbid. They’re antiheroes, maybe. They could even be argued to be sociopathic, sadistic, cruel, or just mean. But that’s their entire shtick, you absolute massive twat. They’re an antithesis of a typically-portrayed family, the one with the white picket fence and the golden lab. What they are not, nor has anyone involved with their creation ever claimed they were, is neurodivergent.
But sure, just randomly make something unrelated to you completely about you, cause that screams neurodivergent, not narcissism.
Technically psychopathy is a form of neurodivergentcy
You’ve just described a lot of autistic people though. And specifically in this era where characters are given an extra dash of “autistic-coded writing” yeah thats the popular consensus is that Wednesday represents an autistic character.
Honestly kinda hate it when the Addams family are portrayed as actual criminals. Kinda makes me root for the stepford wives who keep protesting their existence, which defeats the point.
Tbf, personality disorders (ASPD) as you suggested would technically fall under ND, just not the type OP necessarily meant in the meme (assuming here of course)
Wednesday from The Adam’s Family and Eddie Munster are nuerodivergent?
Yeah. People have a tendency of labelling anyone that is depicted in TV shows as socially awkward as autistic. That’s why so many people on twitter who simp for Dahmer on twitter refer to his supposed autism despite the fact that he was subjected to multiple psychological evaluations and never was accessed as autism.
I never once got that impression. Seems like a stretch to me
Also outside of cosplaying who is “obsessing over” them?
“Why does everyone love that imaginary character so much,when they could have loved me instead? I do deserve it more, after all!”
My favourite character is Abed from Community. Wondering what other autistic people think of him?
I like Abed. In general he’s just a cool guy, but I think the portrayal despite on the surface seeming stereotypical actually has lots of depth. I especially like how he’s seen as “socially inept” but then knows more about the characters than they know about themselves.
Rewatching Community for like the 5th time, and I love Abed- especially how the show makes it clear he’s not always the easiest to deal with, and not just some freakishly-smart supergenius who’s always two steps ahead of everyone. He seems smart because he can read patterns in peoples’ behavior, but he’s otherwise just as human and imperfect as any of the others.
He’s shown to have a lot of insecurity about the gang sticking around, and expects them to eventually give up and abandon him because everyone gets sick of putting up with his quirks eventually. They never do, of course, but it’s something I relate to a lot. It sucks to deal with, but it’s nice to have a character to relate that to.
My favorite!
AuDHD here, and I think he’s fantastic.
When did they say he was autistic? Lol he’s just a nerd. If that’s autistic then my whole family is autistic, which it isn’t.
Very good chance your family is autistic especially if you have it which I am guessing you do given which community you are in. It’s genetic. It’s also very common for older generations to go undiagnosed.
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That’s okay. They prefer nondivergent characters more than their real counterparts as well. We really just should all develop catch phrases like Hidily Ho, Neighborino! or Your pitiful rebellion is no match for the power of the dark side.
It is nice to see autistic characters develop in a fantasy setting. I think it is not so much about the character as it is about its circumstances.
does this mean I should stop wanting to fuck edgeworth? /j
People hated Wednesday? What?
No, they obsess over the character, which means liking it more than is healthy, I think.
Where did anyone say in the post that people hated Wednesday?
In general, I like all people more as a concept than in person.
I mean to be fair a lot of characters like that get popular because a lot of autistic people identify with them and there are a lot of autistic people in fandom spaces.
