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hoardingpuffin · 1 year

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Autistic Person rates Autistic Characters in Media

In this post, I will be rating some autistic characters in media (specifically TV and movies) based on how well represented I feel by them as an autistic person. Keep in mind that this is thus a subjective list since autism is very individual and no two autistic people will have the same experience or opinions. I would also like to add that I am what would be considered a Low Support Needs autistic person, seen that I can generally live without too much assistance or accommodations, which means that my experience is going to not be relatable to autistic people with higher support needs than mine. On that note, also please keep in mind that “low functioning” and “high functioning” are harmful labels and that they are not the same as “low support needs” and “high support needs”. Also, obviously, since this is subjective, I am not saying that nobody else on the spectrum can’t like or relate to any of these characters; this is my own opinion, not a purely objective rating. Finally, whilst I will be rating these characters on a scale of 1 (worst) to 6 (best), I will not be ranking them in this post.

This list includes characters that are explicitly named to be autistic or that are widely accepted to be autistic, for example because the creators or actors confirmed it in retrospect or because the canon very strongly implies it and the creators have not spoken out in denial of it. Also I can obviously only rate the media I have actually seen so if your favourites aren't on this list, this is why.

CONTENT WARNINGS THAT APPLY: mentions of antisemitism (briefly), mentions of Autism Speaks, mentions of ableism, mentions of an autistic male character acting creepily towards women.

I will be signalling Pros/positive points with a + sign and Cons/negative points with a – sign.

Dr. Isidore Latham (Ato Essandoh) – Chicago Med (2/6)

- “curing autism” theme in the episodes centric on his personal experiences

- usage of the outdated and antisemitic term “Aspergers” over “Autism” (this is especially harmful considering Dr. Latham is Jewish)

+ Black autistic representation (which is rare seen that most autistic characters tend to be White) and Jewish autistic representation

+ whilst Dr. Latham is shown to not be the most social man and to be very direct, he isn’t outright rude or unprofessional

- as far as I could find out online, the actor is allistic (it is always better to cast a disabled actor for a disabled role)

Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) – The Good Doctor (0/6)

- the show collaborates with Autism Speaks, who are known to be a hate group not actually looking to help or listen to autistic people

- allistic actor

- extremely stereotypical in its portrayal (extremely antisocial, no friends, always literal, no social awareness – even though autistic people struggle with allistic tone patterns, usually they would be able to pick up at least somewhat what other people consider rude behaviour and would try to avoid it, something Shaun never seems to do)

- transphobia from the one autistic character, implying directly that autistic people are unable to understand the concept of a transgender identity (when in truth, studies show that many people on the spectrum also often identify as not on the gender binary or as transgender)

- Autistic Savant trope (portraying autistic people as geniuses when in fact, less than 5% of all autistic people are a Savant and even if we are very interested in a topic such as medicine, we still need to learn and study just as allistic people)

Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi) – The Community (4/6)

+ writer of the series is on the spectrum

+ PoC autistic representation

+ whilst not clearly being labelled as autistic, the character is recognizable as an autistic person without hitting all the stereotypical tropes such as being antisocial, never joking, always being literal or being a “genius” without ever studying etc. - allistic actor

- whilst generally not labelling a character as autistic is not a bad thing, it makes it harder for autistic people to definitely say “this character is autistic”, meaning that allistics can ignore the coding if they wish to cling to their own, often stereotyped idea of what autism “looks like”

Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor) – Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (3/6)

- allistic actor

- stereotypical, but not as badly as other portrayals

+ avoids the trope of autistic people not having emotions, instead showing Alfred’s struggle expressing and understanding tone and emotions

+ generally good portrayal of a special interest being made part of the life via the job (salmon and fly fishing)

Music Gamble (Maddie Ziegler) – Music (0/6)

- creator Sia has openly shown ableist behaviour, putting down autistic people, not listening to autistic voices and criticism etc.

- allistic actress

- collaboration with Autism Speaks

- extremely stereotypical portrayal and infantalization of autistic nonverbal people

- harmful techniques such as restraining being shown on screen

- graphic meltdown scenes being shown

Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist) – Atypical (1/6)

- allistic actor

- in-universe infantilization of autistic people (via Mother Elsa)

- having the autistic character act dangerously, for example locking someone in the closet because they annoy him or borderline predatorily pursuing his therapist, sheds a harmful light on autistic people

- as far as is known, no autistic people were included in the production or writing process

- many instances show autistic-related habits or traits, for example wearing noise cancelling headphones, but frame it in a way that the audience is supposed to find it funny or laugh at the protagonist

- instead of making Sam sympathetic, he is largely just shown to make everyone around him uncomfortable

+ the ongoing portrayal of Sam’s special interest is generally well-done

- an ongoing theme is Sam’s girlfriend Paige restricting his info-dumping and by extension his special interest (something autistic people get active joy from) to three “dumps” a day so he can act “more normal” – this might teach allistic viewers that this is something they can do to their autistic friends

Sara Eriksson (Frida Argento) – Young Royals (5/6)

- usage of “Aspergers” both in the show and by the actress

+ actually autistic actress

+ autistic traits like mirroring, struggling with social context or tone and directness/bluntness as well as a special interest (horses) are shown whilst tropes like Sara being entirely unempathetic, rude and antisocial being avoided

Isadora Smackle (Ceci Balagot) and Farkle Minkus (Corey Fogelmanis) – Girl meets World (2/6)

- usage of “Aspergers”

- the original title of the episode centric on autism was “Girl Meets Normal”, implying autism is something abnormal, which is a potentially very harmful rhetoric

- autism is shown as something bad, with Farkle’s friends actively trying to fight over him being not autistic, insisting he is “normal”, generally treating autism as something they don’t want their friend to be associated with – a very harmful take in a show for kids and young teens

+ Smackle is a major, long-term autistic character rather than a One Episode throwaway character, even though she is generally quite stereotypical (but given that this show generally has every character act over the top and often fitting in specific categories this is not as bad, it just makes her fit in the framework of the show; she is not the only one who is largely stereotypically portrayed)

+ actor Ceci Balagot is themselves autistic (according to their twitter that is)

Renee (Madison Bandy) – Loop (6/6)

+ PoC nonverbal autistic character portrayed by a nonverbal autistic voice actress

+ in production, an active effort was made to make the actress feel comfortable, so that her experience working on the film would be accommodating and positive rather than unnessicarily stressful

+ generally very well-done portrayal of both sensory seeking and sensory overstimulated behaviour and the experience as an autistic person

Matilda (Kayla Cromer), Nicholas (Josh Thomas) and Drea (Lillian Carrier) – Everything is gonna be okay (6/6)

+ autistic actors playing autistic characters and autistic writer

+ very realistic portrayal of autism and how it differs in different people, as well as how it can affect interpersonal relationships (also having the sister mention that she thought she understood autism as a whole but later realized she only understood her sister's autism specifically because it is so individual)

+ realistic portrayal of sensory overload, stimming, communication between different autistic people etc.

+ queer autistic people – gay and asexual autistic main characters

+ autistic people joking, showing emotions, humour without the autistic people being the butt of the joke

+ empathetic portrayal of an adult realizing they might be on the spectrum and the denial and questioning that comes with that

+ portrayals of autistic special interests and autistic joy

Quinni (Chloé Hayden) – Heartbreak High (5.5/6)

+ autistic actress playing an autistic character

+ autistic queer representation

+ themes of ableism are included but dealt with sensitively and without making the ableism seem harmless

+ realistic portrayal of stimming, struggle with abrupt change of plans, overstimulation, meltdowns, autistic joy, info dumping etc.

+ autistic character having genuine friendships and friends who support her and know her sensory needs etc.

- because it is set in high school, this is a very specific group being represented so it is possible that the largest part of the autistic community won’t see themselves completely accurately portrayed, but chances are they can relate to Quinni nonetheless at least in aspects.

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do-angels-dream-of-starry-seas · 7 months

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Because I'm curious :)

#sia #music movie #poll #autism #actually autistic

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maziecrazycloud · 2 months

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This Stygian Song 👹🐉 🗡️

For my video editing class we had to take a movie and reshape the meaning of it through a trailer format. I decided to take “The Song Remains the Same” and make it into a Dark Fantasy/Psychedelic Horror! It was very fun trying to create narrative out if this footage. See if you can spot it! Also there are no Bonzo cameos bc he had no fantasy imagery in the film🥲. I PROMISE however, if this was a real movie, he would be a main character! Now i want to draw art of this world!! Ahhh!

Enjoy!🎸

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ofdinosanddais1 · 11 months

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Sia's Music movie: *shows a deadly restraint as a way to help autistic people who need compression*

Service dogs, weighted blankets, weighted stuffed animals, etc.: "Am I a joke to you?"

#autism #autmisia #actually autistic #autistic #music movie #sia #ableism #dangerous restraints #prone restraint is dangerous

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binkbonkers · 4 months

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zoe kravitz's high fidelty was before it's time making rob a girl was such an amazing choice and the perfect girl loser for me to say is literally me

#she's so me #added bonus of casting zoe kravitz #high fidelity #high fidelity 2020 #high fidelity show #movie #tv #hulu #girl loser #zoe kravitz #music #music movie

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looseygoosey66 · 11 months

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How did I not notice before today that even in fake band pics, Stoney is wearing his flower jacket? (And they spelled RKCNDY wrong)

#fashion misfit #stone gossard #jeff ament #matt dillon #cliff poncier #ed ved #citizen dick #touch me i'm dick #Singles #music movie #cameron crowe #pearl jam #seattle #mother love bone #green river #a compliment for us is a compliment for you #while we're young

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orange-ghost · 11 months

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Long post? I've been thinking a lot about Sia's "Music" lately. No, I'm not trying to insult her. I'm talking about the film. Her diagnosis has been all over my timelines, and most people are condemning her for the film's content nonetheless.

I think all the other big Autism accounts have criticized her well enough that I don't need to add on. As they should. They've all said what I wanted to say & I personally won't be forgiving her so easily. But the "Music" fiasco... actually reminds me of how PAPERBOY (my webcomic) was born, in a way?

Matthew & his classmates have lived in my head since 2015. And I remember that when I started PB, I actually didn't know I was Autistic yet, either. At the time, all I knew was that I was a kid in Special Ed, that disability was an unspeakable topic, and that a lot of the people involved in it treated me badly.

Kids' brains are like sponges-- they soak up whatever's around them. And I was raised drowning inside of an awful program. One that didn't show nor teach us respect, acceptance, or anything like that.

I resented, looked down at "certain" kids with the more noticeable disabilities, for "making SPED kids look bad! You're the reason we ALL get seen as less than!" And the thought that I could ever really count as a disabled kid was my worst nightmare. Because in my head, being disabled would mean that all this abuse was justified. And that I was truly & utterly inferior.

And I'd wring out all that nasty thought-process water. It would spill onto the pages of notebooks that became PAPERBOY's first drafts. And oh, believe me, it stained.

But, unlike Sia, I was a kid then. She's grown. She also put that shitty story up for all to see, while mine was restricted to notebooks. And it was only a year or two after I learned about being diagnosed as a baby that the ND movement(s) started blowing up online. So I looked into it, and like... it opened my 14-year-old mind up a lot.

So you know what I started doing? CHANGING THE STORY. Writing a better one. One that was much less hateful. And I changed the core message from "fuck disability, and fuck Special Ed too!" to "being different is not something we should feel punished and pain for. We are a community. And we deserve better."

Autism is neutral & one if the most human things I can think of. It's not to be demonized or glorified. It's not a tragedy, and it's not always some amazing miracle, either. We are people, not props. We deserve to be spoken & storytold about realistically. And we should be embraced at the end of the day. You need to be willing to learn how to listen & respect life's Autistics as they are.

Sia can't undo the real life harm she & her ableism inflicted. I can't, either. But... she CAN choose to change, grow up & out of it, and maybe lead her audience with her. Hopefully, with her new diagnosis, all that time offline, and a crap ton of self-reflection, she can. I mean, I managed, and I'm nowhere near as life-experienced, smart, OR skilled as she is!

Truth be told, I kinda hope she makes another Autism movie? With a big writing team of experienced, Autistic storytellers who know what they're doing. Cast Autistic actors. And instead of writing about somebody that she clearly doesn't see as an equal, she can actually level with them & write them a better story, too. "Music" was dedicated to somebody, right? I think that Somebody deserved a story where they're not just seen, but they're heard. And spotlighted! (Music certainly wasn't.) So... why not try again?

Or hey, maybe not even that, maybe she can try writing from her own experiences as an Autistic woman this time. Growing up undiagnosed, what that was like for her, dealing with a taught self-hatred in a mask that seems to have controlled her life.

I don't know. I like to live my life focusing more on what we CAN do about something instead of doubling down or getting stuck on what we can't. And I think others should, too.

Doubt she's reading this, but like... you've gotta make this right, Sia. Do better. Figure something else out. That's all.

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julianlytle · 5 months

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Check out my review of the Tierra Whack film Cypher on Hulu and produced by Andscape.

#movies #film #movie review #reviews #criticism #film reviews #cinema #hip hop #rap #tierra whack #documentary #mockumentary #music film #music movie #black music #music

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andybush · 2 years

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Click here and Watch the Full HD Movie

#movies #elvis film #elvis movie #elvis the king #baz luhrmann elvis #new movie #top movies list #music movie #musikal

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susiephone · 4 months

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*puts hands on hollywood exec's shoulders, staring unblinking into their eyes* listen to me. you will never get people who hate musicals to like musicals by making your musical less of a musical. if you hide the fact that your film is a musical in the advertising, you're going to get a lot of low ratings from people who hate musicals and went into your movie not expecting a musical and got one anyway. people who hate musicals will hate them no matter how realistic and diegetic and lowkey you try to make it. they will hate musicals even if you completely excise anything complicated, over the top, silly, or even slightly challenging. they will hate musicals even if you cut half the songs. they will hate musicals even if you cast that a-lister who can't sing worth a damn. stop trying to market to people who hate musicals. they're a lost cause. your audience should be people who love musicals. this half-assed middle ground pisses off both camps. just embrace the fact that your movie is a musical. lean into it. don't try and trick musical haters into coming to your film when you could be marketing to the theater kids. better cringe than a coward.

#musicals #musical theatre #broadway #there are SOME good movie musicals but god they're few and far between #theatre

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movierx · 9 hours

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