Portrayal of autistic people in films/TV

I think they should be allowed to say the character is autistic as long as they make it clear that they are not representing everyone with autism ,the spectrum is huge and very nuanced .

Its usually said to try and excuse the behaviour way and encourage the OP to just put up with it or approach sensitively rather than just to say it to be nasty. I find people tiptoe around me a lot more since we've been told to walk on eggshells around everyone for fear of offending, I find it much more exhausting.

I loathe the Sheldon character on BBT.

He ruins every scene he's in.
Jim Parsons is a great actor, btw, and seems like lovely fellow. I can enjoy him in many other parts.

The writers said & it makes total sense they didn't want Sheldon to have a diagnosis because they didn't want their writing to be impeded by people's expectations of what an auttistic people are like, or to be criticised as a 'bad role' model when he acted like a git (which was often).

Some People I know IRL who had ASD would give you the shirt off their back and worried a lot about relationships and not upsetting other people. My aunt declared & uncle didn't argue, that uncle had ASD... he was charming & sporty & very sociable ... and sometimes accused of being very selfish. So I feel like ND people can basically be like anything.

I'm intrigued by the Jacov character in The Archers who is definitely in some odd neurological space. yet I don't think Kate has ever noticed. Perhaps a sign of her own narcissism !!

How would they own it? It's way too much of a minefield. You probably know, hence the quote marks, that we aren't even supposed to say 'high functioning'. Certainly aren't meant to say Aspergers. Definitions are hard enough with real people, and it tends to come down to the individual to define themselves as that way no one can tell them they're wrong. To create a fictional character and give them a clear diagnosis that would then mean they represented you/thousands of others, is a recipe for disaster because they wouldn't do that accurately and would be open to a world of criticism for getting things wrong. Even things that are okay to say today can be cringe within a year. Seems to me BBT did the right thing not pinning it down - Sheldon is Sheldon, some people relate to him, others don't, but as long as they're specific to him, they can't 'get it wrong'. Just as you can't get it wrong defining your own experience. But as soon as a character is set up to represent a demographic, then the issues will arise. Hence the best portrayals tend to be specific to a real life person or authored and portrayed by someone dramatising their own experience, nothing broader.

Bones I did not give any second thought as she is SO obviously autistic to me.

Maybe that's the issue.

I hate it in media as "all the people with (any) autism act the same"

I've seen it raised before, where someone has said about a character in one of those uk soap medical drama, holby? Casualty? He was a nephew ( i think) of someone high up and came in as a porter (don't really remember all the details) and the actor playing had autism. The main question on the thread (afair) was why are all depictions of autism the same.

The response was "well the actor has autism so of course it was right."

I don’t think anyone has mentioned the American sitcom tv series, “Parenthood”? It explicitly features a teenage boy and adult man with autism. im no expert but it struck me as quite responsible and nuanced.

I think that's less about the TV stereotypes and ironically it's more because there is greater awareness now, so it's almost mandatory before condemning anyone to check if they are ND in some way before writing them off as simply unpleasant. The conversation happens over and over - person is a problem, are they ND?, who knows but they're arseholes regardless. The ND question didn't used to be asked and hence people got condemned when they were ND and misunderstood. On balance, I'd say it's better that the question is in people's minds now, so there's help for the kids in school or accommodations for the people at work, or understanding for the person in your family who needs it. That some people take it too far and apply it to someone inappropriately is just gonna happen while we're in this phase and preferable to the total lack of awareness there was.

I’ve watched all of Bones and did not once think that we were supposed to assume that Bones was neurodiverse…

Yes they appear as regular actors but do appear ND, high functioning and good at masking doesn’t mean that traits aren’t visible or that masking is 100% successful. I think it’s fairly easy to spot characters that are ‘high functioning’ ASD but it would be nice if the producers actually owned this and said that they are. It would be useful for people like me to have representation in films that is known.

We probably need more writers with experience with living with autism, or that are autistic.

I do suffer with chronic depression and I must say I feel the same about the representation of mental health on TV - but I think it’s getting better - but not everyone gets it right. Mental health conditions have always been portrayed as extreme - but it would be interesting to have shows that arnt horror or thrillers that explore mental health through that lens. It would be good to have characters that “live with” the condition, not that are defined by the condition. I wonder if the same idea could apply to more representation of neurodiversity.

I’ve noticed the same portrayal of difference - and these days I find characters “wear their trait” for example if they are a particular race or have a disability, that becomes their whole personality as opposed to them behind a character first and then their race/ability being part of them - I hope that makes sense.

In order to see this world we will need more of the neurotypical/able bodied people giving those that look and act different to them a chance.

…someone can be a rigid, unreasonable, sulky, arseholes .. without ASD.

Maybe Sheldon is good at science, and also a bit of a tosser.

Writers seem overly-keen to hide shit behaviour on ASD.

Yes Frozen. If you properly listen to the lyrics of some of the songs like Let it go and Show yourself, and the storyline in both films it’s quite obvious.

Exactly what I was going to say if the Tv shows high functioning then they would just appear as regular actors?

Why does it matter to you how any NT view autism on screen, its makes no odds its just TV or film for entertainment im pretty sure most adults can understand the difference between TV and real life and won’t be judging you based on rainman.

Rainman was an accurate portrayal of someone who had spent their whole life institutionalised.

Many of his behaviours came from that history and experience.

Who knows what he would have been like in a different environment with support.

The BBT never talks about autism or confirms that Sheldon is meant to have it- lots of people assuming based on their own stereotypes and biases which is kind of ironic isnt it? TV shows and films are full of exaggerated and unrealistic stereotypes, I think its actually more regressive when shows mention it or use it as a storyline for the sake of it rather than just have people existing as individuals.

My kids also love Orla from Derry Girls, who isn't confirmed autistic, but is certainly written as if she is.

I really liked Extraordinary Attorney Woo, and so did both my autistic children.

There is an autistic man recently come into Emmerdale as a cafe owner.

But I think some of them, like Belle, were written without the diagnosis in mind. The writers were great observers of a certain coherent type without maybe diagnosing that's as autism at the time.

In 1991 did female screenwriters know much about female autism? Mm. But they could coherently type a hyperlexic distractible girl with an autistic scatterbrained inventor father, kind but clueless, happily refusing the CLEARLY most eligible bachelor in town, preferring a recluse rude other guy that she had a big difference with with a lot of books.

I have Asperger’s but you probably wouldn’t know. In my everyday life I am sociable and confident. It tends to be my view points and the way I think about things that people start to realise maybe I’m slightly different. But unless you know me well, you’d not have a clue. I’d go as far as to say you would be shocked to find out I have an Asperger’s diagnosis.

People without much awareness of it probably feel they need to tick some boxes for a character to qualify. This ends up making it more of a caricature of an autistic person than a realistic portrayal.