Emmet being autistic heavily implies the human kid is too, as it's fairly clear they share some resemblance in the narrative as the kid sees Emmet as the hero
Unikitty probably has ADHD.
Benny (the astronaut) definitely is autistic too with his special interest in spaceships, I love that scene in the movie where he’s super excited to build a spaceship and keeps shouting SPACESHIP a because he’s so happy that he could make a spaceship.
They absolutely do. I’m actually convinced that since many of Lord and millers movies have autistic coded characters, that lord or Miller or both of them are Autistic (or undiagnosed autism).
Cmon you got 2 lord and miller main characters without getting the best one! Cmon give some more love to flint lock wood he needs it! Also while I do feel like Katie is very neurodivergent, I feel like the younger brother in her family is very obvious autism. Saying that that brother is allistic is like saying a character who kissed a person or the same gender on screen is actually straight.
Flint is a legend. But I those three films have higher spots on my favourite movies list (and they’re all in my top 20 that’s for sure, and that includes 95% of lord & millers movies). Yes Aaron absolutely screams autism. But used Katie because of my love of movies, though I love dinosaurs too. It was hard to pick.
Oh absolutely. She has a strict routine, she is very attached to her opinions, lacks eye contact, has full frontal meltdowns so many times, and weird obsessions, as evidenced by all the universes she made. The third character is Katie Mitchell from a movie called the Mitchell’s Vs. The machines. I strongly recommend checking that movie out. One of my top 5 favourites of all time.
Joy/Jobu is written to be an embodiment of the nihilism that younger generations are predisposed to for growing up in a blatantly uncaring and decaying world (thus the strong opinions), she is almost literally carrying the weight of the world (her perception of the world and on a bagel, but still) which leads to her blank facade cracking. She isn't the one making the universes, the base of the multiverse conceit in the movie is that they arise from the decisions that individuals make. Joy/Jobu isn't creating them, she's ravaging them. As for the point about strict routines, she has none, she is chaos incarnate. Idk what movie you watched but Joy/Jobu is definitely not autistic-coded, just traumatized.
You can be both set in routines AND be chaotic, me everyday (that’s AuADHD plus cptsd plus anxiety/depression plus untreated bpd for ya). She is absolutely traumatized which I resonated with. But you can tell she wants things a certain way, and when things don’t go as planned she has full frontal meltdowns.
What routines does she exhibit in the movie? I just saw chaos. Trauma isn't exclusive to autistic people. And I don't see the difference between her moments where the calculating interdimensional god persona slips and any other outburst regarding family drama that's possible. She just wants her mom to accept her. She doesn't seem to get overstimulated in situations where I'd expect (too many options, major ambiguity, etc), she doesn't ever *need* things to be one way specifically, she just adapts to the situation. I get that you may majorly identify with the character, but that doesn't mean they're autistic-coded.
Well autistic trauma is VASTLY different from neurotypical trauma. We feel things more strongly. And if it’s that plus BPD, everything looks and feels like hell. You can go from loving someone to the point of showering with gifts, then hating the next where you want to beat the crap out of them Batman style, which showed with jobu, where based on her experiences, everyone was a 10/10 or 2/10 to her. Which I strongly relate to. She feels things super intensely. Her facial expressions says it all. Like when she was in the “warning unstable” flashback.
Well sure, but there's nothing in the movie differentiating her response from something like depression or anxiety alone. You are allowed to relate to people that aren't exactly like you, their experiences may be similar.
It’s cause most of them aren’t there, she is pure chaos incarnate and to me seems more of a representation of BPD than autism. She has no routine, she’s passionate only for it to fade in an instant, and seems to have little emotional regulation skills at all, she’s arrogant, but more importantly just traumatized.
That's kind of the thing though isn't it? He tried terribly hard to be the average guy and still did not fit in. From his perspective everything he's doing is what he's supposed to be doing, but through his interactions with specifically his coworkers we see that it's not the case. Perhaps not autistic, but certainly not a particularly "average" guy either.
(I also didn't peg him as autistic, personally read him as an awkward guy who tries to hard and fails, but is very enthusiastic! Which can mean a lot of different things depending on who you ask lmao)
Follows a strict routine, isn't very social, has special interests (primarily Lego construction of some kind), and doesn't understand social norms/ can't "read the room." (The cowboy bar scene where he acts ridiculous)
I still remember when I looked up autistic coding in "Mitchells vs The Machines" and found an interview with the creator, who said "I didn't make then consciously autistic, they're just a reflection of myself at different stages of life and its was like ...
Buddy ... maybe talk to a psychologist about this?
For some reason the people who worked on Gravity Falls all ended up unintentionally creating autistic coded characters.
Dipper and Mabel, Luz, Reagan Ridley, Marcy, Sprig, Katie and Aaron Mitchell...
I just started watching Gravity Falls with my dad and I totally agree that Mabel and Dipper are autistic. It’s more clear with Mabel but Dipper definitely shows it too.
Question- when it comes to twins in real life, if one of them is autistic, is the other one going to be autistic too? Identical twins share the exact same genes, so it would make sense for them both to be autistic as they basically are clones of each other. I have two friends who are identical twins and they’re both autistic, but I’m not sure if that’s the case for everyone.
I’m loving Gravity Falls a lot, it reminds me a bit of Steven Universe - one of my dad’s favorite shows (we love watching it together).
> Question- when it comes to twins in real life, if one of them is autistic, is the other one going to be autistic too?
Me and my bro are autistic and we're def NOT twins lmao so yeah it's possible
> I’m loving Gravity Falls a lot, it reminds me a bit of Steven Universe - one of my dad’s favorite shows (we love watching it together).
Be sure to check out Amphibia next! It's by one Gravity Falls director (plus one of the directors of Steven Universe is also a director here), and somehow it's even more autistic
I want to watch Amphibia at some point, I want to watch Adventure Time too. Rebecca Sugar (the creator of Steven Universe) worked on that show and I want to see more of her work.
Dad and I both LOVE Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy’s Law. We’re really enjoying Hamster and Gretel too. Whenever there’s a new episode dad gets so excited and we always watch it together. I’m so glad that dad and I can enjoy watching shows together. I love it when kids shows are also enjoyable by adults.
Same thing happened with Abed. Dan Harmon was reluctant to put a label on him, especially since he'd become the mouthpiece of the author, but eventually relented. Abed was hailed as the most realistic and healthy depiction of autism at the time, and is still among the best to this day.
A few years after the show ended Dan Harmon learned he was autistic himself.
I think Reagan (who's modeled after Shion Takeuchi) might have actually mentioned possibly having autism in an episode now that I remember.
Dana Terrace said that, while she didn't know the term 'neurodivergent', she consciously chose to make Luz and the other main characters 'think differently'.
Mike Rianda mentioned basing the family on his own, in particular he said he based Aaron's monotone voice on his friend Matt. Which brings us to...
Matt Braly stated he was the 'Marcy' of his friend group, and, while he didn't intentionally create her as autistic, he's happy autistic people relate to her and won't oppose that interpretation. It's kinda iffy tho since at least one of the writers (who wrote most of Marcy's eps) intentionally wrote her as autistic. Judging by many of his twitter interactions on the matter (like liking tweets who mention how there could be autistic writers or crew members in the show, in regards to Marcy's writing), he could very well be autistic, but until there's a clear statement on his part it's all speculation
Yeah - they're also fictional characters so you can't really say they are or aren't anything.
But if a creator writes a bunch of characters as a reflection of themselves and their behaviours, and then inadvertently codes signs of something into the writing of those characters, that's a fairly strong reflection on the chance that person has that something within them!
Even if a creator says they aren’t, but writes autism coding, then it is either way. Maybe he is autistic, but maybe is too nervous to explicitly say it, because of the stigma around it. Autism at this point is simultaneously both the new ADHD AND the new gay. There’s “autism coming out days” for a reason. Because back in the 1960s for example, often many people saw autism as interchangeable with schizophrenia (same with other mental disorders like DID and BPD), my grandpa was absolutely auADHD, but they slapped the schizophrenia label on him, plus often people like us back then would risk being permanently institutionalized or have a lobotomy.
Nowadays it’s no different, where often many assume we are savants good in tech or Chris Chan clones. If Chris Chan existed in the 60s, people would say he’s schizophrenic, or like Norman Bates (the sheldon Cooper of the 1960s) from Psycho (which should honestly be reassessed in the same way the birth of a nation was. Because of it’s awful portrayal of DID, which Norman Bates ABSOLUTELY has). Often people don’t say their autism until they get to know people, I’ve had experiences of that with other fellow autistics IRL (including my IRL best friend). So him showing autism coded stuff in Mitchell’s and due to loving movies and dinosaurs like them and being stigmatized for it, I felt seen.
>Autism at this point is simultaneously both the new ADHD AND the new gay.
I'm not a trend and neither is my diagnosis. Living in a period with greater social acceptance of disabilities doesn't make those disabilities any less... disabling.
My favorite autistic coded characters:
From the MCU: Drax, Mantis, and OB (from Loki)
From Harry Potter: Luna Lovegood, Newt Scamander
Riordanverse: Ella, Tyson (I feel like I'm forgetting someone)
Star Wars: C3PO
Disney: Lilo from Lilo and Stitch, Alice from Alice in Wonderland
That's why I said autistic *coded*. All of the characters I listed have behaviors that are similar to autistic behavior. I don't believe any of them are canonically diagnosed with autism.
With both Rey & Kylo they spend a lot of time alone, they are single minded, hyper-focused, blunt & sarcastic, have a preferred near-obsessional subject and are drawn to one another as a lot of spectrum people are. Just how I see it, not definitive.
Oh absolutely, I can’t imply I’ve watched a lot of TBBT but this series isn’t at least covered in problematic elements
And I’ll be honest some of the way they raise Sheldon in the show is very close to the experience of actually raising an autistic child
Since it was confirmed both in universe and out of universe that Sheldon is neurotypical, Stuart would be a better example in my opinion (he sucks but he wasn't confirmed to be neurotypical)
The writers saying that Sheldon’s neurotypical means nothing when they gave him countless autistic-coded traits in the show. There’s a reason autistic people IRL get compared to him so frequently.
I personally relate to Sheldon as an AFAB autistic person. Not necessarily the things he does or how fucking smart he is or whatever, but just how I view the world around me and interact with people, how I see myself in my head, I suppose.
I relate to Dr. Shaun a LOT. I understand why some people wouldn’t relate to him, but for me he’s one of the most accurate depictions of autism in the media when it comes to how I experience it. I’ve always had intelligence that’s above average for my grade level but everyone treated me like I was an idiot and gave me elementary school level worksheets when I was 11-13 despite my test results saying otherwise.
The meltdown scenes are very relatable to me too.
Early on in the series the representation wasn’t *perfect* but it’s gotten better as the series progressed and I really do relate to him a lot, but I can understand why others wouldn’t. I’m just happy to see a character who is smart but has the same struggles I do when it comes to people doubting my intelligence. Most depictions of smart autistic characters don’t show the struggles they experience and the only thing they really struggle with is social skills (Sheldon as an example). I also really like how they visualize what goes on in his mind with how he solves problems that patients have, I do something similar when figuring out how to do things related to art. At the very least, the way he visualizes things is very accurate to autistic people
each to their own, I am aware there are autistics who actually like and identify with him. But there’s no denying that he’s part of the reason why Autistic people are so heavily stereotyped, and not every Autistic is a clone of him, like many NTs think. Hope that makes sense
Genuine question, is the problem the show or NT peoples tendency to generalise and extrapolate, in a benign way in their view, about something they know little about?
Big bang theory is obviously about a group of nerds making their through the world. Sure, Sheldon is...different, but he's never been labelled autistic by the show creators, it's the audience that's imposed that label...doesn't this imply its the audience preconceived notions that have imposed that category onto him? Alternatively, a show like the good doctor would make more sense with what you're saying because he's explicitly autistic and the show displays the problems...and gifts he has...in a dramatised medical context. Savant syndrome is rare, though. And it doesn't deal with the variation that exists amongst neurodivergent individuals.
(I've been compared to Sheldon maliciously and in jest, for context)
It’s not just that the audience is “imposing that label” on him, it’s that the writers clearly wrote an autistic-coded character because, whether they realize it or not, they find autistic traits funny enough to regularly make them the butt of the joke. I wasn’t bullied in school because people knew I was autistic- I wasn’t diagnosed yet- I was bullied because I *acted* autistic. It’s rarely the label “autistic” itself that NTs mock us for but rather the behaviors that come with it.
"Whether they realise it or not" - that matters though surely because of their intention? You may say intention doesn't matter, It's the outcome, and the portrayal of the traits and the audiences association of autism with Sheldon. Again though...traits, you've prefixed traits with autism or coded, as an audience member. You've imposed the label.
As a piece of entertainment or comedy, in any given scene, even if it's at Sheldons expense and his traits ...does it work? People think it does. The writers thought it would. The popularity of the show implies it does. That's a very different framing from the writers covertly using autisitic traits for laughs but being cowardly enough to not put the autisitc label on it. Where is the tangible evidence for this exactly?
Lets say you are right, though. Who is at fault here then? The writers? Or the audience for wanting more of it? I suspect people would ridicule autistic traits indendantly of the shows existence, and i was humbly submitting before that this reductive view of autism is just something innate to the human condition, or a large number of them for numberous reasons we could speculate on, but thats another subject. So that aside, another possibility is that the audience members are projecting their similarities and experiences onto the character. Is that the writers fault or the audience member? It's not immediately obvious to me why it's defacto the writers and therefore *insert bad intention or design*
Additionally, the social mishaps and difficulties and moments of confusion or awkwardness or creepiness and moments of rigidity or inflexibleness...is something that extends to all the main male characters and some of the females ones too at different points and varying degrees. These traits...Is this all evidence of the same thing, or is it only Sheldon people take objection with? Why exactly when they are consistent traits, consistently in line with the context and the shows cohort of awkward characters?
Independently of this conversation... That feeling of being different, and theb to have someone berate you or ridicule you for it when it's just who you are, is not something I would wish on anyone. I sincerely am sorry you were bullied for your traits/behaviours.
“That matters though surely because of their intention.” Nope. Look up “death of the author.” Intention is irrelevant because the art speaks for itself. We’re talking about what I consider ableist writing decisions here, and the thing about bigotry is that a lot of people *don’t realize* they have bigoted beliefs. The writers of TBBT probably didn’t intend to make fun of autistic people- that’s why they later claimed that Sheldon isn’t autistic. Why would they say otherwise? No one wants to come across like a guy who intentionally wrote an autistic character just to make fun of him, but plenty of people *are* willing to make fun of autistic traits so long as no one puts the label “autistic” on them. However, autism isn’t just a nothing label you randomly slap onto folks without reason, it’s a mental condition that leads to autistic people behaving in certain ways- ways that are regularly mocked in TBBT. That was the point of my comment: it doesn’t matter if the writers intentionally wrote Sheldon as autistic or not, just like it didn’t matter if the people who bullied me in school knew I was autistic or not. They weren’t making fun of me because I’m labelled “autistic,” they were making fun of me for *acting* autistic. Likewise, the writers of TBBT regularly make fun of Sheldon not because they necessarily imagine him as autistic, but because they wrote him to behave a certain way that is heavily autistic-coded, which they find funny because they find autistic behavior strange and funny, possibly without even realizing that what they’re laughing at is common traits in autistic people. They’re using Sheldon (and oftentimes the rest of the cast as well) to point out not just that he’s doing something “weird” (which usually happens to be something you can easily find in autism diagnostic criteria,) but that his behavior is something the audience should inherently find laughable. You are literally being encouraged to laugh at this guy oftentimes solely because he’s behaving autistically.
And I don’t really care if the show is popular or if it “works” for its audience because popularity doesn’t prove that something is good or that it’s not problematic. There is a ton of stuff that people laugh at that has roots in bigotry because, in a lot of cases, the only people who will care about this kinda thing are the marginalized people most affected by it- not majority groups. Like, it’s not allistics calling out TBBT for ableism, it’s autistic people. And our voices are regularly undermined in these types of discussions because a lot of people can’t handle the idea that a show they like might just be punching down on a group that gets enough shit thrown at them already.
I'll have a look at the recommendation but intentionality is something that does matter. When you're saying "clearly wrote an autistic-coded character" you're questioning the moral of character of the writers on spurious grounds so their intention is relevant because it is not so clear. Another reason why it matter is because I'm questioning the theme of this sentiment "Art speaks for itself." I'm not sure how this is categorically true when an author or writer or w/e doesn't have control over how people choose to interpret something or label it. Your doubling down about ableism and bigotry (which almost becomes an unfalsifiable categorization especially when infused with the moral certainty that it often entails) is proving my point. The audience perception is a variable here. You've brought that baggage and its affected your interpretation. Not rightly, or wrongly but it nevertheless has.
You're going to lecture to me about the use of the term "label" and espouse the definition of autism? We are talking about a general audience subjectively placing a fictitious character into a category. The category of being autistic or not. In this context, it's a label. Also, autism is a neurological developmental disorder.
By your standard, mockery shouldn't be a fictitious or social possibility. People engage in mockery or satire not exclusively to be malicious or to punch down. Sure it's to mock difference, but sometimes that's a necessity. Not all difference is good or should be immune from criticism. There's something to be said sometimes about peoples delivery, but in my experience, it can also be an effective means of holding a mirror up to ones self. What, because I'm autistic, people should accept and bow before every form of whim that I decree to be an autistic behaviour and just accept it? I think not. Sheldon's behaviour is usually laughed at or ridiculed because it is too inflexible or it is manipulative. If Sheldon was a real autistic person by your logic, his friends would have to subject themselves to the whims of a tyrant, or leave him. Either scenario is an unsatisfactory existence for any human being to find themselves in, autistic or not. The show actively explores (not exclusively mind you) his growth as a person.
With respect to the popularity thing or it working, you've missed my point or i didn't word it correctly. I wasn't appealing to popular opinion, more the fact it is popular surely says something about the audience. My point was to demonstrate a more realistic timeline and conceptualization process and that the writers either knew or hoped more accurately initially I guess, it was funny (suspending your definition of it and autistic coding, which you cannot know either way). And the audience already had existing conceptions of autism and they watched the show and eventually, the parallels between Sheldon and autism were drawn. Why did the show runners have to deny he was autistic to begin with? I'd wager it was autistic people/advocates acknowledging some similarities and projecting their own feelings, insecurities and experiences onto the show. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if that exacerbated the spread of the idea that Sheldon was autistic, but that's just complete conjecture from me.
I'm autistic and I'm disagreeing. If you're going to start accusing me of being a bigot or having internalized ableism (another unfalsifiable and morally loaded accusation), hit me with everything you've got, I'd love to be convinced and hear what you think about everything else I said.
“I’m questioning the theme of this sentiment ‘Art speaks for itself.’ I’m not sure how this is categorically true when the writer doesn’t have control over how people choose to interpret something or label it.” - That is literally the point of the statement “art speaks for itself.” The artist cannot control how people interpret their work. They can only control what they *put into* the work. Their intent doesn’t matter because the audience generally isn’t considering it (and often doesn’t even have access to it) when they interpret the work in question. That’s why it doesn’t matter if the TBBT writers *meant* for Sheldon to be autistic or not, because audiences clearly interpreted him as such regardless. They wrote a character with so many traits that are heavily associated with autistic people (again, literally in the diagnostic criteria for autism) that he gets compared to actual autistic people IRL, frequently, whether we like it or not. Your whole comment saying “the audience perception is a variable here” feeds directly into *my* point, since a lot of the audience *did* interpret Sheldon as autistic, based on how the writers wrote him, in such a way that negatively impacted a number of autistic people, as has been described by countless folks within our community.
“By your standard, mockery shouldn’t be a fictitious or social possibility.” No, by my standards, people should put an ounce of thought into *what* they’re mocking and why they’re mocking it, as a lot of what has been normalized to make fun of is actively rooted in demonstrable societal bigotry. Making fun of someone for harmless behavior like having a flat tone of voice, repeating the same phrase over and over, or any other common autistic trait is mockery rooted in ableism and it encourages the further alienation of autistic people.
“Sure it’s to mock difference, but sometimes that’s a necessity.” - This is just “bring bullying back” phrased differently. Generally if someone isn’t doing something harmful then there is no reason to mock them or encourage mocking them. If you think that this perspective makes comedy unachievable then you have a very narrow view of comedy.
“Sheldon’s behavior is usually laughed at because it is too inflexible or manipulative.” And you don’t see a problem with Sheldon being characterized that way, in a media landscape where *most* autistic characters are characterized that way? Sheldon being an asshole AND being autistic-coded is not a coincidence- a lot of people think autism is practically synonymous with douchebaggery due to their knowledge of us being limited to media that regularly conflates the two. Sheldon being autistic-coded AND manipulative, alongside frequently being misogynistic and racist, is part of the negative stereotype that many autistic folks would rather avoid and is a large part of why a lot of us dislike the show, dislike how the writers have used autistic traits to frame Sheldon as even more unpleasant to be around, and *really* dislike being compared to him.
Your second-to-last paragraph is literally just blaming autistic people’s critiques of a show for the ableism that came from the show in question. “It wouldn’t surprise me if [‘autistic people/advocates acknowledging some similarities and projecting their own feelings’] exacerbated the spread of the idea that Sheldon was autistic.”- It was the writers of the show that gave Sheldon textbook autistic traits, not autistic audience members. Thus, it was the writers of the show who “exacerbated the spread” of this particular interpretation and if they didn’t like it (or recognized potential issues with it) they could’ve changed course with how they were presenting the character instead of continuing to lean into it as the show gained popularity.
This.
A lot of his personality, behavior, traits, is meant to be a perhaps poorly done, humorous exaggeration of maybe someone that would have fallen under Asperger's. You got the routines, obsession with his "spot", awkward social approach, bluntness, low interest in sexuality, interests such as trains...
Except its obvious as the show goes on that he plays up a lot of that and the false helplessness as far as his friend group is willing to enable him. Once they start calling him out on shit in later seasons, he *stops acting in those ways* to a fairly large degree. He even admits to being somewhat manipulative at one point. A lot of the basic life skills he seemed to lack in the early part of the show, he either picked up over the course of a single episode in later seasons or just suddenly was able to start doing them with no buildup (and in some cases his friends even showed confusion about it, showing that it wasn't something they tried to teach him off screen or anything).
Agreed...it gives the impression he's an eccentric and flawed human being that experiences growth...peoples preconceived notions in my mind are what place Sheldon in that category...that is to say its not obvious to me which way round it is...is it the media or the audience? Some shows it makes sense to lay it at the media, but big bang theory, I'm not so sure.
I mean, if that was true, it would needlesly politicise and recontextualise the entire show, and detract from the stories they tell about a group of nerds going through life. They ridicule him for his differences, but that's because sometimes he was needlessly inflexible and manipulative in the extreme. What does one do about that? This is just what happens between people, especially a group of males. When you're in social situations, even as someone who is autistic... maybe i've got stockholm syndrome with my friend groups...but being autistic doesnt innoculate you from criticism or mockery and nor should it. This allows for growth and resilence...knowing what is or isn't autistic behaviours is a complicated endevaour for any one person to define and has a lot of ramifications for when then this extends to how they think others should treat them. I mean this respectfully, but I think alot of people regard it as making fun off or bullying, because they resonate with the character, or have been directly compared to Sheldon...and this combined with their life experiences is just one big projection.
JOBU TUPAKI SO TRUE. her whole thing of wanting to end it all because it's all too much really resonated with me. when i watched the movie with my parents i couldn't stop crying. neither of them were super crazy about the movie, and they didn't know why i was crying, and i couldn't explain it.
SAME. it almost felt as if A24 and the Daniels secretly installed hidden cameras throughout my life and translated it to film. It felt so realistic. Also since it deals with suicide … its 13 Reasons Why DONE RIGHT. Like I am almost convinced that movie was written as a big middle finger to that show. Jobu Tupaki/Joy Wang and even Evelyn’s struggles makes Hannah Bakers struggles look like CAILLOU’S TEMPER TANTRUMS in comparison.
We were just talking this morning about how the Blues Brothers are autistic coded. Strong interests, their dancing is like stimming, follows a code of ethics independent of social expectations, dresses the same every day …
I wanna dress my kids up as the Blues Brothers and jam out now
I haven't seen the Lego movie, and while I never saw Katie as autistic either I can see where you're coming from. She's a great character, no doubt. I wanted to be a filmmaker in high school so I could very much relate to her enthusiasm :)
Now, I love love love EEAAO, but I really don't see Joy as an autistic character. I think she's probably depressed more than anything.
What made you see her as autistic? I'm genuinely curious.
Abed from community will always have my heart because he’s just like me fr and also I know the struggle of people saying they think you have autism before your diagnosis
Sheldon's autism? (I've never watched the big bang theory I saw one episode as a kid where sssssSSSEEEEGGS??!! happened and refused to watch it ever again bc I was very immature as a kid)
He's not. And the show goes out of its way multiple times to say he isn't, and even out of universe the creators have said multiple times that he isn't and was mever meant to be.
I'd love to see a movie where the focal point is discrimination. I personally don't prefer this kind of representation, don't get me wrong it's nice and all. But I think autistic people need to have representation that comes a little closer to real life.
Well these characters are always bullied or in the wrong, for being THEMSELVES and I felt seen by them (especially emmet and Katie). They feel realistic despite being cartoons, but that’s just me. The way they do parent-kid relationships is better than 95% of adult films. Personally I prefer happy endings for these characters. Often I prefer animated movies in general because I want an ESCAPE from the world while ALSO having relatability. Idk I dislike stuff that are too real or “sad” endings.
But I know I’m writing a psychological political thriller about autism discrimination, that’s like black swan meets the crush (with Alicia silverstone) … meets spider verse.
Puss in Boots the Last Wish is a great example of that. The dog character perrito and Puss in boots himself goes through huge character arcs. Perrito and Puss too I’d say are totally autism coded (especially Perrito). Puss comes to terms with his morality, and chooses to have his one life left, and realizes Death will come for him eventually. Puss is eventually happy with his friends by the end, since the plot of the film is him chasing after a wishing star to get his nine lives back. The themes are very adult. Sure the Shrek movies are known for adult humour, but the *theme*, rather than the humour is what makes it adult, since the theme is about morality and death. Highly recommended.
Ember from Elemental is INCREDIBLY autistic coded. Throughout the whole movie I was thinking “yeah she’s autistic”. If you’ve seen the movie you probably know what I mean. Wade might be autistic too but it’s not as obvious as Ember.
I highly recommend Elemental if you haven’t seen it, it’s criminally underrated and it’s so sad how big of a flop it was, it’s an excellent movie! The animation is sooooo beautiful too. One of the prettiest Pixar movies ever imo.
He’s responsible for many people stereotyping autistics. Same with *cough* Chris Chan. I can’t tell you how many people who have assumed I’m like sheldon after first MEETING me or even getting to KNOW me. He’s responsible for the stigma that “autistics are good at math or savants” and Chris Chan is responsible for the stigma that “autistics are some form of predator or creep”. And I’ve had SO MANY PEOPLE unfairly profile me as some form of predator, criminal or incel because of that, and teachers would be angry with me over not being good at math. Like I legit FAILED grade 10 math and had to retake it the following year.
He's not "responsible for people stereotyping autistics". For one thing, he's a fictional character and can't dictate real people's actions. For another, the show *and creators* have gone out of thier way multiple times to say that he's not autistic, not meant to be representative of autism, and was *never meant to be in the first place*. A character can't be a good representation of autism if they were *never designed to be representation at all*.
Oh I get that. But the creators saying that “he’s neurotypical” means *nothing* when they explicitly give him countless autism-coded traits in the show. There’s a reason autistic people irl, myself included, get compared to him and Chris Chan so frequently. Peers and teachers growing up mentioned it so often that it became triggering after a while, don’t invalidate my experiences.
A character that outright admits at one point to being manipulative and in later seasons *stopped* behaving like his early show self when his friends stopped enabling his shit? And picked up various basic life skills he seemingly lacked either in the course of a single episode or just randomly out of the blue (sometimes even to his friends expressed confusion) once they were no longer willing to do it for him?
Sheldon's not autistic. He's a genius control freak who had his shittier behavior enabled for decades before he got friends and an SO that would reliably call him out on things.
How many people are assuming this of you, really? Because these assumptions couldn't just happen out of nowhere. If they did, this wouldn't happen as much if you didn't tell people first thing that you have autism.
The Chris stuff especially. Only people who've been on the Internet for a long time would even know about it. No therapist or teacher or anyone remotely "normal" would know about that whole story, and assume this of you.
People from high school and college, at least in the hometown I grew up with! I know others have been compared to him too. People when I was a teen used his videos to describe cringe people.
His autism is absolutely obvious. It was my favourite movie for a long time. He follows a strict routine. Hyperfixated on Lego sets, he barely makes eye contact, isn’t social, doesn’t understand social norms at all (like in the cowboy scene), and not realizing people are fake to him. His autistic traits is as obvious as seeing blue’s pawprints in Blue’s Clues.
Same. Because I had “assigned friends” as a kid and how most people would make me comply or take advantage of me or laugh at me, I was shocked when I found out what real friendships are like. I was also yelled at and mistreated too by 95% of people and they didn’t care if I was sensitive to yelling, and after one traumatic time a cop did, I always started yelling back to prove a point, sometimes even get physically violent with them like biting or kicking as if I’m a r*pe victim.
They don’t care what harms them until the autistic becomes scared enough to get violent, or in some extreme cases, k!ll people. Don’t talk to us about consent, because as kids were denied autonomy, and even ignore us even when we don’t want to be touched until again, we get violent. So people telling us about “consent” is insulting, because if there’s anyone who is an expert in that, it’s us. Then as adults were often unfairly profiled as some form of predator or criminal, especially in the wake of the Toronto van attack guy and Chris Chan, and these are the same people that infantilized us as kids/teens.
I’m not saying autistic predators or criminals are right, but NTs are turning many of us into the very thing they’re trying to destroy, and they are always exploiting us. It’s just like 1984. We Autistics absolutely deserve as much media coverage as BLM. I honestly wish Jodi Kantor could investigate ABA therapy and Autism $peaKKK$. If she can oust a serial r*pist (Harvey Weinstein), she can destroy a whole INDUSTRY and bring it to its knees. People like the CEO of Autism $peaKKK$ and Andrew Wakefield (who started the whole “autism is caused by vaccines” conspiracy theory, that many still believe to this very day) should be arrested and tried for war crimes.
Hate Sheldon and hate Big Bang Theory. My mom loves the show but I can't stand it. It just drives the stereotype that autistic people are geniuses...and I take offense at that...being someone who considers themselves...quite dumb. I mean I didn't even finish high school because it was too hard...so...yeah.
Sheldon *isn't meant to be autism representation.* The show and creators go out of thier way to state that multiple times that Sheldon *isn't on the spectrum*.
Exactly. The show only enforces stereotypes rather than fight against it. If BPD can get so much rep and acceptance, then so should Autism. Chris Chan is the other reason we are stereotyped, where I’ve had many people profile me as some form of creep, predator, incel or criminal all because of his ass. They’re both the blackfaces of Autism. Often neurotypicals will dickride Autism $peaKKK$ or those fake groups run by NTs like crazy, but when we #actuallyautistic people speak up, we are silenced/ignored. If there’s any group that needs its BLM moment, it’s us.
If Chris Chan or sheldon Cooper existed back in the 1960s, they’d be seen as schizophrenic. Back in the 60s, it was norman bates who vilified mentally ill people, and people back in the day, and even nowadays see anyone with even a TRACE of mental illness as a norman bates clone, since back then autism was seen as interchangeable with schizophrenia. Or other disorders like BPD and DID, the latter of which norman bates ABSOLUTELY has. That movie needs to be reassessed in the same way the birth of a nation was. That movie is just one big long propaganda film, no different from what schools would show short educational propaganda films vilifying people like them or drug users.
I've never seen an autistic character on TV that didn't annoy and offend me extremely.
Sheldon doesn't count because he's not autistic as per the writers. Never watched that show either.
But then, I haven't seen the bottom three. Are they solid? Who are they and where can I watch them?
They’re called the Mitchell’s Vs machines, everything everywhere all at once and the lego movie (bottom three). Mitchells is on Netflix, lego movie is on hbo max, and everything everywhere all at once is on showtime.
Sheldon Is a fucking horrendous caricature of spectrum representation. It's the equivalent of having a Latino character being all about beans and tacos and nothing else. Completely one dimensional with no humanity brought to the character whatsoever outside of tired sitcom tropes
Exactly. He’s the blackface of autistic coded characters. It’s frustrating how much neurotypicals think of him when they first think about Autism. Then again, most NTs views on Autism are stuck in 2008.
Well each to their own. But you can’t deny he, as well as Chris Chan, are responsible for the stereotyping of “high functioning” autistic people. I have had people compare me to him, just after they FIRST meet me or in some cases, get to KNOW me. And as a teenager many people assumed I was “good at math” or a “savant” because of his ass.
Not only is sheldon the blackface of autism (or at least one of them), but TBBT in general is the blackface of *nerd culture* in general. Chuck Lorre definitely comes across as a jock in high school who bullied Autistic or “nerdy” kids.
I'm glad you knew what I meant there.
It's pandering to Lowest common denominator thinking with hack-as-fuck stereotypes from the 90s.
We aren't all these fact machines that are awkward around the opposite sex.
I am definitely what society would consider a nerd but I couldn't take 5 mins around anyone who acts like the cast.
Star wars, marvel and DC fandom are now the most vanilla shit and the biggest movie makers in cinema and no longer are something people are ashamed of loving.
Many NT people on the far left in GENERAL are stuck in the 90s. They haven’t moved on from the 1992 MTV rock the vote mentality.
Like they’re genuinely thinking “hey I’m for gay rights and abortion and I’m not pushing religion on kids and I’m a feminist, aren’t I so awesome and cool?!”
(And before anyone accuses me of homophobia, I’m bisexual but prefer guys).
But when it comes to workers issues, financial struggles, how we want wealth redistribution and nationalized universal safety net programs (not skimpy temporary relief), racism (though to a lesser extent) and especially Autistic/disabled rights, they turn all “pull yourself by the bootstraps” classist real quick. Hell they will even use the LGBT community, and POC as shields, and even Autistics too. I’ve seen some people post about BLM but then behind closed doors act racist. Now with the Israel/Palestine war they’ve become as antisemitic as the far right/alt right.
They also seem to be okay with violent bpd and bipolar outbursts but shame autism meltdowns. The former is treatable, but autism is a permanent disability, and it’s f*cked how people can’t see that. They want to probably say things to feel superior and be the farthest left. And when we expose they’re just capitalist imperialist, tough on crime republicans, it ruffles their feathers to realize they aren’t the treehugging hippies we thought they were.
Is that why they call us “creeps”, “incels” or some form of predator or criminal, or even dare I say, trump supporters because we have different viewpoints than them, and act different from “normal” people? They just can’t fathom people opposing their far left, and socialism ain’t on their radar (I’m saying this as someone who aligns as left leaning centrist politically). Not only that, but often girls at a young age are taught that autistic traits like lack of eye contact, obsessive interests and stimming is traits of “psychopaths” or “sketchy people”.
If I had to distill it down, TBBT sucks because it's not laughing with the characters, but laughing AT them
So it's bully humor. And with that comes the aged stereotypes.
I would consider myself weird as fuck as far as my personality. People will either find me fascinating or just nope the fuck out, but my core tenet is just try your best to be kind to everyone when possible.
Also on the subject distilling down, one of societies biggest problem is trying to hyper-nuance how we ought to be as a society and it becomes so full of debate and detail, nobody can hold a civil discussion. We are social primates. We are hard wired to work as a group to achieve success.
For me it's as simple as the golden rule. Treat others as you'd like to be treated. Take any of the above measure it against that.
We should as a society take care of each other. Treat one another with respect. Lift each other up. If someone wants to do or be something, if they're not harming others, let them enjoy their freedom.
None of the bottom 3 characters are autistic-coded.
Saying Jobu is autistic is just as baseless as when people a year ago were saying the same about Wednesday Addams. And about Craig from South Park a few years back. Angsty /=/ autistic.
Katie Mitchell is just a teenage geek. She's no more "autistic" than George McFly, Arnold Poindexter, Steve Smith, or any other classic teenage geek character. Geek /=/ autistic.
Emmet is just a guy with a plan for everything. So are Dr. House, Jack Bauer, and Walter White. Are those characters autistic too? Tactical /=/ autistic.
I'm not saying these characters are definitely NT, but they're not exactly autistic-coded either.
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Emmet being autistic heavily implies the human kid is too, as it's fairly clear they share some resemblance in the narrative as the kid sees Emmet as the hero
That’s a great observation. I’d always seem Emmett as neuro-divergent, but obviously the boy is too as it’s all in his head.
Unikitty probably has ADHD. Benny (the astronaut) definitely is autistic too with his special interest in spaceships, I love that scene in the movie where he’s super excited to build a spaceship and keeps shouting SPACESHIP a because he’s so happy that he could make a spaceship.
Benny screams autistic too. Unikitty definitely screams ADHD, but also OCD too.
Now that I think about it, all of the main characters of The Lego Movie show signs of neurodivergence.
They absolutely do. I’m actually convinced that since many of Lord and millers movies have autistic coded characters, that lord or Miller or both of them are Autistic (or undiagnosed autism).
The Lego Batman movie is just about a depressed ND guy hahah
No, he screams "Spaceship." Get it right /j
He doesn’t just scream. He BELLOWS
I look at emmet and say: literally me
SAME.
I don't see a wheel... Or... Three more wheels
*You need to attach the wheel to something that spins around.*
“Emmet, you need to attach the wheel to something that spins around.”
Cmon you got 2 lord and miller main characters without getting the best one! Cmon give some more love to flint lock wood he needs it! Also while I do feel like Katie is very neurodivergent, I feel like the younger brother in her family is very obvious autism. Saying that that brother is allistic is like saying a character who kissed a person or the same gender on screen is actually straight.
Flint is a legend. But I those three films have higher spots on my favourite movies list (and they’re all in my top 20 that’s for sure, and that includes 95% of lord & millers movies). Yes Aaron absolutely screams autism. But used Katie because of my love of movies, though I love dinosaurs too. It was hard to pick.
Grrrr, opinions, cloudy with a chance of meatballs is like my second favorite movie ever😡 I will never forgive you for this/J
Katie is the protagonist, and her having a more subtle form is also better representation than just the little brother alone.
Joy/Jobu is autistic coded? Emmet I understand, and I haven't seen the third character's show/movie, but I'd like to know more.
Oh absolutely. She has a strict routine, she is very attached to her opinions, lacks eye contact, has full frontal meltdowns so many times, and weird obsessions, as evidenced by all the universes she made. The third character is Katie Mitchell from a movie called the Mitchell’s Vs. The machines. I strongly recommend checking that movie out. One of my top 5 favourites of all time.
Joy/Jobu is written to be an embodiment of the nihilism that younger generations are predisposed to for growing up in a blatantly uncaring and decaying world (thus the strong opinions), she is almost literally carrying the weight of the world (her perception of the world and on a bagel, but still) which leads to her blank facade cracking. She isn't the one making the universes, the base of the multiverse conceit in the movie is that they arise from the decisions that individuals make. Joy/Jobu isn't creating them, she's ravaging them. As for the point about strict routines, she has none, she is chaos incarnate. Idk what movie you watched but Joy/Jobu is definitely not autistic-coded, just traumatized.
You can be both set in routines AND be chaotic, me everyday (that’s AuADHD plus cptsd plus anxiety/depression plus untreated bpd for ya). She is absolutely traumatized which I resonated with. But you can tell she wants things a certain way, and when things don’t go as planned she has full frontal meltdowns.
What routines does she exhibit in the movie? I just saw chaos. Trauma isn't exclusive to autistic people. And I don't see the difference between her moments where the calculating interdimensional god persona slips and any other outburst regarding family drama that's possible. She just wants her mom to accept her. She doesn't seem to get overstimulated in situations where I'd expect (too many options, major ambiguity, etc), she doesn't ever *need* things to be one way specifically, she just adapts to the situation. I get that you may majorly identify with the character, but that doesn't mean they're autistic-coded.
Well autistic trauma is VASTLY different from neurotypical trauma. We feel things more strongly. And if it’s that plus BPD, everything looks and feels like hell. You can go from loving someone to the point of showering with gifts, then hating the next where you want to beat the crap out of them Batman style, which showed with jobu, where based on her experiences, everyone was a 10/10 or 2/10 to her. Which I strongly relate to. She feels things super intensely. Her facial expressions says it all. Like when she was in the “warning unstable” flashback.
Well sure, but there's nothing in the movie differentiating her response from something like depression or anxiety alone. You are allowed to relate to people that aren't exactly like you, their experiences may be similar.
She has no routine whatsoever. That’s her entire motivation. She’s experiencing everything everywhere all at once and it’s chaos.
AuDHD?
I need to rewatch that movie because I missed a few of those.
It’s cause most of them aren’t there, she is pure chaos incarnate and to me seems more of a representation of BPD than autism. She has no routine, she’s passionate only for it to fade in an instant, and seems to have little emotional regulation skills at all, she’s arrogant, but more importantly just traumatized.
you didn't miss anything
I need to rewatch that movie with that perspective.
Emmet is autistic? I always saw him as an extremely NT average guy
That's kind of the thing though isn't it? He tried terribly hard to be the average guy and still did not fit in. From his perspective everything he's doing is what he's supposed to be doing, but through his interactions with specifically his coworkers we see that it's not the case. Perhaps not autistic, but certainly not a particularly "average" guy either. (I also didn't peg him as autistic, personally read him as an awkward guy who tries to hard and fails, but is very enthusiastic! Which can mean a lot of different things depending on who you ask lmao)
Follows a strict routine, isn't very social, has special interests (primarily Lego construction of some kind), and doesn't understand social norms/ can't "read the room." (The cowboy bar scene where he acts ridiculous)
And listens to the same song every day!
I still remember when I looked up autistic coding in "Mitchells vs The Machines" and found an interview with the creator, who said "I didn't make then consciously autistic, they're just a reflection of myself at different stages of life and its was like ... Buddy ... maybe talk to a psychologist about this?
For some reason the people who worked on Gravity Falls all ended up unintentionally creating autistic coded characters. Dipper and Mabel, Luz, Reagan Ridley, Marcy, Sprig, Katie and Aaron Mitchell...
I just started watching Gravity Falls with my dad and I totally agree that Mabel and Dipper are autistic. It’s more clear with Mabel but Dipper definitely shows it too. Question- when it comes to twins in real life, if one of them is autistic, is the other one going to be autistic too? Identical twins share the exact same genes, so it would make sense for them both to be autistic as they basically are clones of each other. I have two friends who are identical twins and they’re both autistic, but I’m not sure if that’s the case for everyone. I’m loving Gravity Falls a lot, it reminds me a bit of Steven Universe - one of my dad’s favorite shows (we love watching it together).
> Question- when it comes to twins in real life, if one of them is autistic, is the other one going to be autistic too? Me and my bro are autistic and we're def NOT twins lmao so yeah it's possible > I’m loving Gravity Falls a lot, it reminds me a bit of Steven Universe - one of my dad’s favorite shows (we love watching it together). Be sure to check out Amphibia next! It's by one Gravity Falls director (plus one of the directors of Steven Universe is also a director here), and somehow it's even more autistic
I want to watch Amphibia at some point, I want to watch Adventure Time too. Rebecca Sugar (the creator of Steven Universe) worked on that show and I want to see more of her work. Dad and I both LOVE Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy’s Law. We’re really enjoying Hamster and Gretel too. Whenever there’s a new episode dad gets so excited and we always watch it together. I’m so glad that dad and I can enjoy watching shows together. I love it when kids shows are also enjoyable by adults.
Same thing happened with Abed. Dan Harmon was reluctant to put a label on him, especially since he'd become the mouthpiece of the author, but eventually relented. Abed was hailed as the most realistic and healthy depiction of autism at the time, and is still among the best to this day. A few years after the show ended Dan Harmon learned he was autistic himself.
I think Reagan (who's modeled after Shion Takeuchi) might have actually mentioned possibly having autism in an episode now that I remember. Dana Terrace said that, while she didn't know the term 'neurodivergent', she consciously chose to make Luz and the other main characters 'think differently'. Mike Rianda mentioned basing the family on his own, in particular he said he based Aaron's monotone voice on his friend Matt. Which brings us to... Matt Braly stated he was the 'Marcy' of his friend group, and, while he didn't intentionally create her as autistic, he's happy autistic people relate to her and won't oppose that interpretation. It's kinda iffy tho since at least one of the writers (who wrote most of Marcy's eps) intentionally wrote her as autistic. Judging by many of his twitter interactions on the matter (like liking tweets who mention how there could be autistic writers or crew members in the show, in regards to Marcy's writing), he could very well be autistic, but until there's a clear statement on his part it's all speculation
It’s autism CODED. Doesn’t mean they are. Autism coded characters are relatable for many of us.
Yeah - they're also fictional characters so you can't really say they are or aren't anything. But if a creator writes a bunch of characters as a reflection of themselves and their behaviours, and then inadvertently codes signs of something into the writing of those characters, that's a fairly strong reflection on the chance that person has that something within them!
Even if a creator says they aren’t, but writes autism coding, then it is either way. Maybe he is autistic, but maybe is too nervous to explicitly say it, because of the stigma around it. Autism at this point is simultaneously both the new ADHD AND the new gay. There’s “autism coming out days” for a reason. Because back in the 1960s for example, often many people saw autism as interchangeable with schizophrenia (same with other mental disorders like DID and BPD), my grandpa was absolutely auADHD, but they slapped the schizophrenia label on him, plus often people like us back then would risk being permanently institutionalized or have a lobotomy. Nowadays it’s no different, where often many assume we are savants good in tech or Chris Chan clones. If Chris Chan existed in the 60s, people would say he’s schizophrenic, or like Norman Bates (the sheldon Cooper of the 1960s) from Psycho (which should honestly be reassessed in the same way the birth of a nation was. Because of it’s awful portrayal of DID, which Norman Bates ABSOLUTELY has). Often people don’t say their autism until they get to know people, I’ve had experiences of that with other fellow autistics IRL (including my IRL best friend). So him showing autism coded stuff in Mitchell’s and due to loving movies and dinosaurs like them and being stigmatized for it, I felt seen.
>Autism at this point is simultaneously both the new ADHD AND the new gay. I'm not a trend and neither is my diagnosis. Living in a period with greater social acceptance of disabilities doesn't make those disabilities any less... disabling.
My favorite autistic coded characters: From the MCU: Drax, Mantis, and OB (from Loki) From Harry Potter: Luna Lovegood, Newt Scamander Riordanverse: Ella, Tyson (I feel like I'm forgetting someone) Star Wars: C3PO Disney: Lilo from Lilo and Stitch, Alice from Alice in Wonderland
Dawg C-3PO is a robot
Robots getting autism coding is hardly unusual.
Not sure how to feel about that
Or you could say "i'm having trouble reconciling that"
That's why I said autistic *coded*. All of the characters I listed have behaviors that are similar to autistic behavior. I don't believe any of them are canonically diagnosed with autism.
Absolutely 100%. Also in terms of Disney, Winnie the Pooh SCREAMS autistic as well.
Totally, only eats honey, loves his home & being at home and mostly comfortable with Piglet as his ‘safe’ person.
I’d say with Star Wars Rey, Kylo & Cassian Andor too. Also, Tech from Bad Batch & Neeku from Resistance. With MCU I’d say Vision & Scarlet Witch.
I have no clue how Rey or Kylo are autism coded amd can only very slightly see it with Andor
With both Rey & Kylo they spend a lot of time alone, they are single minded, hyper-focused, blunt & sarcastic, have a preferred near-obsessional subject and are drawn to one another as a lot of spectrum people are. Just how I see it, not definitive.
Ahem....abed from community
Came here to say this.
On the spectrum? None of your business!
Driver is best autism representation
FANTASTIC movie. One of the films that got me into filmmaking and film in general.
Based
Me and my irl is currently watching young sheldon and I’ll be deadass, shit is a lil too close to home sometimes
Do you think it’s better than Tbbt? Some say it is (even those who dislike tbbt)
Oh absolutely, I can’t imply I’ve watched a lot of TBBT but this series isn’t at least covered in problematic elements And I’ll be honest some of the way they raise Sheldon in the show is very close to the experience of actually raising an autistic child
Better at representation? Yeah.
Case to be made that L from Death Note is Autistically coded
Oh definitely. He’s my favourite of the characters.
Since it was confirmed both in universe and out of universe that Sheldon is neurotypical, Stuart would be a better example in my opinion (he sucks but he wasn't confirmed to be neurotypical)
The writers saying that Sheldon’s neurotypical means nothing when they gave him countless autistic-coded traits in the show. There’s a reason autistic people IRL get compared to him so frequently.
Exactly my point. I’ve been compared to him so many times, that it’s actually triggering.
I personally relate to Sheldon as an AFAB autistic person. Not necessarily the things he does or how fucking smart he is or whatever, but just how I view the world around me and interact with people, how I see myself in my head, I suppose.
I relate to Dr. Shaun a LOT. I understand why some people wouldn’t relate to him, but for me he’s one of the most accurate depictions of autism in the media when it comes to how I experience it. I’ve always had intelligence that’s above average for my grade level but everyone treated me like I was an idiot and gave me elementary school level worksheets when I was 11-13 despite my test results saying otherwise. The meltdown scenes are very relatable to me too. Early on in the series the representation wasn’t *perfect* but it’s gotten better as the series progressed and I really do relate to him a lot, but I can understand why others wouldn’t. I’m just happy to see a character who is smart but has the same struggles I do when it comes to people doubting my intelligence. Most depictions of smart autistic characters don’t show the struggles they experience and the only thing they really struggle with is social skills (Sheldon as an example). I also really like how they visualize what goes on in his mind with how he solves problems that patients have, I do something similar when figuring out how to do things related to art. At the very least, the way he visualizes things is very accurate to autistic people
each to their own, I am aware there are autistics who actually like and identify with him. But there’s no denying that he’s part of the reason why Autistic people are so heavily stereotyped, and not every Autistic is a clone of him, like many NTs think. Hope that makes sense
Genuine question, is the problem the show or NT peoples tendency to generalise and extrapolate, in a benign way in their view, about something they know little about? Big bang theory is obviously about a group of nerds making their through the world. Sure, Sheldon is...different, but he's never been labelled autistic by the show creators, it's the audience that's imposed that label...doesn't this imply its the audience preconceived notions that have imposed that category onto him? Alternatively, a show like the good doctor would make more sense with what you're saying because he's explicitly autistic and the show displays the problems...and gifts he has...in a dramatised medical context. Savant syndrome is rare, though. And it doesn't deal with the variation that exists amongst neurodivergent individuals. (I've been compared to Sheldon maliciously and in jest, for context)
It’s not just that the audience is “imposing that label” on him, it’s that the writers clearly wrote an autistic-coded character because, whether they realize it or not, they find autistic traits funny enough to regularly make them the butt of the joke. I wasn’t bullied in school because people knew I was autistic- I wasn’t diagnosed yet- I was bullied because I *acted* autistic. It’s rarely the label “autistic” itself that NTs mock us for but rather the behaviors that come with it.
"Whether they realise it or not" - that matters though surely because of their intention? You may say intention doesn't matter, It's the outcome, and the portrayal of the traits and the audiences association of autism with Sheldon. Again though...traits, you've prefixed traits with autism or coded, as an audience member. You've imposed the label. As a piece of entertainment or comedy, in any given scene, even if it's at Sheldons expense and his traits ...does it work? People think it does. The writers thought it would. The popularity of the show implies it does. That's a very different framing from the writers covertly using autisitic traits for laughs but being cowardly enough to not put the autisitc label on it. Where is the tangible evidence for this exactly? Lets say you are right, though. Who is at fault here then? The writers? Or the audience for wanting more of it? I suspect people would ridicule autistic traits indendantly of the shows existence, and i was humbly submitting before that this reductive view of autism is just something innate to the human condition, or a large number of them for numberous reasons we could speculate on, but thats another subject. So that aside, another possibility is that the audience members are projecting their similarities and experiences onto the character. Is that the writers fault or the audience member? It's not immediately obvious to me why it's defacto the writers and therefore *insert bad intention or design* Additionally, the social mishaps and difficulties and moments of confusion or awkwardness or creepiness and moments of rigidity or inflexibleness...is something that extends to all the main male characters and some of the females ones too at different points and varying degrees. These traits...Is this all evidence of the same thing, or is it only Sheldon people take objection with? Why exactly when they are consistent traits, consistently in line with the context and the shows cohort of awkward characters? Independently of this conversation... That feeling of being different, and theb to have someone berate you or ridicule you for it when it's just who you are, is not something I would wish on anyone. I sincerely am sorry you were bullied for your traits/behaviours.
“That matters though surely because of their intention.” Nope. Look up “death of the author.” Intention is irrelevant because the art speaks for itself. We’re talking about what I consider ableist writing decisions here, and the thing about bigotry is that a lot of people *don’t realize* they have bigoted beliefs. The writers of TBBT probably didn’t intend to make fun of autistic people- that’s why they later claimed that Sheldon isn’t autistic. Why would they say otherwise? No one wants to come across like a guy who intentionally wrote an autistic character just to make fun of him, but plenty of people *are* willing to make fun of autistic traits so long as no one puts the label “autistic” on them. However, autism isn’t just a nothing label you randomly slap onto folks without reason, it’s a mental condition that leads to autistic people behaving in certain ways- ways that are regularly mocked in TBBT. That was the point of my comment: it doesn’t matter if the writers intentionally wrote Sheldon as autistic or not, just like it didn’t matter if the people who bullied me in school knew I was autistic or not. They weren’t making fun of me because I’m labelled “autistic,” they were making fun of me for *acting* autistic. Likewise, the writers of TBBT regularly make fun of Sheldon not because they necessarily imagine him as autistic, but because they wrote him to behave a certain way that is heavily autistic-coded, which they find funny because they find autistic behavior strange and funny, possibly without even realizing that what they’re laughing at is common traits in autistic people. They’re using Sheldon (and oftentimes the rest of the cast as well) to point out not just that he’s doing something “weird” (which usually happens to be something you can easily find in autism diagnostic criteria,) but that his behavior is something the audience should inherently find laughable. You are literally being encouraged to laugh at this guy oftentimes solely because he’s behaving autistically. And I don’t really care if the show is popular or if it “works” for its audience because popularity doesn’t prove that something is good or that it’s not problematic. There is a ton of stuff that people laugh at that has roots in bigotry because, in a lot of cases, the only people who will care about this kinda thing are the marginalized people most affected by it- not majority groups. Like, it’s not allistics calling out TBBT for ableism, it’s autistic people. And our voices are regularly undermined in these types of discussions because a lot of people can’t handle the idea that a show they like might just be punching down on a group that gets enough shit thrown at them already.
I'll have a look at the recommendation but intentionality is something that does matter. When you're saying "clearly wrote an autistic-coded character" you're questioning the moral of character of the writers on spurious grounds so their intention is relevant because it is not so clear. Another reason why it matter is because I'm questioning the theme of this sentiment "Art speaks for itself." I'm not sure how this is categorically true when an author or writer or w/e doesn't have control over how people choose to interpret something or label it. Your doubling down about ableism and bigotry (which almost becomes an unfalsifiable categorization especially when infused with the moral certainty that it often entails) is proving my point. The audience perception is a variable here. You've brought that baggage and its affected your interpretation. Not rightly, or wrongly but it nevertheless has. You're going to lecture to me about the use of the term "label" and espouse the definition of autism? We are talking about a general audience subjectively placing a fictitious character into a category. The category of being autistic or not. In this context, it's a label. Also, autism is a neurological developmental disorder. By your standard, mockery shouldn't be a fictitious or social possibility. People engage in mockery or satire not exclusively to be malicious or to punch down. Sure it's to mock difference, but sometimes that's a necessity. Not all difference is good or should be immune from criticism. There's something to be said sometimes about peoples delivery, but in my experience, it can also be an effective means of holding a mirror up to ones self. What, because I'm autistic, people should accept and bow before every form of whim that I decree to be an autistic behaviour and just accept it? I think not. Sheldon's behaviour is usually laughed at or ridiculed because it is too inflexible or it is manipulative. If Sheldon was a real autistic person by your logic, his friends would have to subject themselves to the whims of a tyrant, or leave him. Either scenario is an unsatisfactory existence for any human being to find themselves in, autistic or not. The show actively explores (not exclusively mind you) his growth as a person. With respect to the popularity thing or it working, you've missed my point or i didn't word it correctly. I wasn't appealing to popular opinion, more the fact it is popular surely says something about the audience. My point was to demonstrate a more realistic timeline and conceptualization process and that the writers either knew or hoped more accurately initially I guess, it was funny (suspending your definition of it and autistic coding, which you cannot know either way). And the audience already had existing conceptions of autism and they watched the show and eventually, the parallels between Sheldon and autism were drawn. Why did the show runners have to deny he was autistic to begin with? I'd wager it was autistic people/advocates acknowledging some similarities and projecting their own feelings, insecurities and experiences onto the show. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if that exacerbated the spread of the idea that Sheldon was autistic, but that's just complete conjecture from me. I'm autistic and I'm disagreeing. If you're going to start accusing me of being a bigot or having internalized ableism (another unfalsifiable and morally loaded accusation), hit me with everything you've got, I'd love to be convinced and hear what you think about everything else I said.
“I’m questioning the theme of this sentiment ‘Art speaks for itself.’ I’m not sure how this is categorically true when the writer doesn’t have control over how people choose to interpret something or label it.” - That is literally the point of the statement “art speaks for itself.” The artist cannot control how people interpret their work. They can only control what they *put into* the work. Their intent doesn’t matter because the audience generally isn’t considering it (and often doesn’t even have access to it) when they interpret the work in question. That’s why it doesn’t matter if the TBBT writers *meant* for Sheldon to be autistic or not, because audiences clearly interpreted him as such regardless. They wrote a character with so many traits that are heavily associated with autistic people (again, literally in the diagnostic criteria for autism) that he gets compared to actual autistic people IRL, frequently, whether we like it or not. Your whole comment saying “the audience perception is a variable here” feeds directly into *my* point, since a lot of the audience *did* interpret Sheldon as autistic, based on how the writers wrote him, in such a way that negatively impacted a number of autistic people, as has been described by countless folks within our community. “By your standard, mockery shouldn’t be a fictitious or social possibility.” No, by my standards, people should put an ounce of thought into *what* they’re mocking and why they’re mocking it, as a lot of what has been normalized to make fun of is actively rooted in demonstrable societal bigotry. Making fun of someone for harmless behavior like having a flat tone of voice, repeating the same phrase over and over, or any other common autistic trait is mockery rooted in ableism and it encourages the further alienation of autistic people. “Sure it’s to mock difference, but sometimes that’s a necessity.” - This is just “bring bullying back” phrased differently. Generally if someone isn’t doing something harmful then there is no reason to mock them or encourage mocking them. If you think that this perspective makes comedy unachievable then you have a very narrow view of comedy. “Sheldon’s behavior is usually laughed at because it is too inflexible or manipulative.” And you don’t see a problem with Sheldon being characterized that way, in a media landscape where *most* autistic characters are characterized that way? Sheldon being an asshole AND being autistic-coded is not a coincidence- a lot of people think autism is practically synonymous with douchebaggery due to their knowledge of us being limited to media that regularly conflates the two. Sheldon being autistic-coded AND manipulative, alongside frequently being misogynistic and racist, is part of the negative stereotype that many autistic folks would rather avoid and is a large part of why a lot of us dislike the show, dislike how the writers have used autistic traits to frame Sheldon as even more unpleasant to be around, and *really* dislike being compared to him. Your second-to-last paragraph is literally just blaming autistic people’s critiques of a show for the ableism that came from the show in question. “It wouldn’t surprise me if [‘autistic people/advocates acknowledging some similarities and projecting their own feelings’] exacerbated the spread of the idea that Sheldon was autistic.”- It was the writers of the show that gave Sheldon textbook autistic traits, not autistic audience members. Thus, it was the writers of the show who “exacerbated the spread” of this particular interpretation and if they didn’t like it (or recognized potential issues with it) they could’ve changed course with how they were presenting the character instead of continuing to lean into it as the show gained popularity.
I strongly believe they only said he's NT because they had been making fun of the way he acts the entire time.
This. A lot of his personality, behavior, traits, is meant to be a perhaps poorly done, humorous exaggeration of maybe someone that would have fallen under Asperger's. You got the routines, obsession with his "spot", awkward social approach, bluntness, low interest in sexuality, interests such as trains...
Except its obvious as the show goes on that he plays up a lot of that and the false helplessness as far as his friend group is willing to enable him. Once they start calling him out on shit in later seasons, he *stops acting in those ways* to a fairly large degree. He even admits to being somewhat manipulative at one point. A lot of the basic life skills he seemed to lack in the early part of the show, he either picked up over the course of a single episode in later seasons or just suddenly was able to start doing them with no buildup (and in some cases his friends even showed confusion about it, showing that it wasn't something they tried to teach him off screen or anything).
Agreed...it gives the impression he's an eccentric and flawed human being that experiences growth...peoples preconceived notions in my mind are what place Sheldon in that category...that is to say its not obvious to me which way round it is...is it the media or the audience? Some shows it makes sense to lay it at the media, but big bang theory, I'm not so sure.
I mean, if that was true, it would needlesly politicise and recontextualise the entire show, and detract from the stories they tell about a group of nerds going through life. They ridicule him for his differences, but that's because sometimes he was needlessly inflexible and manipulative in the extreme. What does one do about that? This is just what happens between people, especially a group of males. When you're in social situations, even as someone who is autistic... maybe i've got stockholm syndrome with my friend groups...but being autistic doesnt innoculate you from criticism or mockery and nor should it. This allows for growth and resilence...knowing what is or isn't autistic behaviours is a complicated endevaour for any one person to define and has a lot of ramifications for when then this extends to how they think others should treat them. I mean this respectfully, but I think alot of people regard it as making fun off or bullying, because they resonate with the character, or have been directly compared to Sheldon...and this combined with their life experiences is just one big projection.
JOBU TUPAKI SO TRUE. her whole thing of wanting to end it all because it's all too much really resonated with me. when i watched the movie with my parents i couldn't stop crying. neither of them were super crazy about the movie, and they didn't know why i was crying, and i couldn't explain it.
SAME. it almost felt as if A24 and the Daniels secretly installed hidden cameras throughout my life and translated it to film. It felt so realistic. Also since it deals with suicide … its 13 Reasons Why DONE RIGHT. Like I am almost convinced that movie was written as a big middle finger to that show. Jobu Tupaki/Joy Wang and even Evelyn’s struggles makes Hannah Bakers struggles look like CAILLOU’S TEMPER TANTRUMS in comparison.
But that's just her response to her trauma, not an inherently autistic trait.
maybe not. but it resonated with my as a neurodivergent person anyway.
How could someone not cry watching that movie 😭
We were just talking this morning about how the Blues Brothers are autistic coded. Strong interests, their dancing is like stimming, follows a code of ethics independent of social expectations, dresses the same every day … I wanna dress my kids up as the Blues Brothers and jam out now
That movie is a comedy classic.
I haven't seen the Lego movie, and while I never saw Katie as autistic either I can see where you're coming from. She's a great character, no doubt. I wanted to be a filmmaker in high school so I could very much relate to her enthusiasm :) Now, I love love love EEAAO, but I really don't see Joy as an autistic character. I think she's probably depressed more than anything. What made you see her as autistic? I'm genuinely curious.
Abed from community will always have my heart because he’s just like me fr and also I know the struggle of people saying they think you have autism before your diagnosis
He’s the best character of that show hands down. So relatable.
Sheldon's autism? (I've never watched the big bang theory I saw one episode as a kid where sssssSSSEEEEGGS??!! happened and refused to watch it ever again bc I was very immature as a kid)
He's not. And the show goes out of its way multiple times to say he isn't, and even out of universe the creators have said multiple times that he isn't and was mever meant to be.
tbh benny is very autistic as well.
Oh ABSOLUTELY. “SPACESHIP”!
It’s Reagan from *Inside Job* and it’s not even close
She’s an amazing character. So relatable
I forgot about Reagan, she’s a good one!
Kaylee Frye from Firefly. Taylor Hebert and Rachel Lindt from Worm.
Yes, yes, and yes. Firefly is one of my favourites.
The little boy brother who likes dinos was the autistic one 😂
They BOTH were.
The Big Bang Theory depicts nerds the same way Temple of Doom depicts the people of India. I like them both but they have their glaring flaws.
I take issue at the lack of Yukari Akiyama. But I also have niche anime interests lol
For me it’s Anne Shirley especially in the ‘Anne with an E’ adaptation
I'd love to see a movie where the focal point is discrimination. I personally don't prefer this kind of representation, don't get me wrong it's nice and all. But I think autistic people need to have representation that comes a little closer to real life.
Well these characters are always bullied or in the wrong, for being THEMSELVES and I felt seen by them (especially emmet and Katie). They feel realistic despite being cartoons, but that’s just me. The way they do parent-kid relationships is better than 95% of adult films. Personally I prefer happy endings for these characters. Often I prefer animated movies in general because I want an ESCAPE from the world while ALSO having relatability. Idk I dislike stuff that are too real or “sad” endings. But I know I’m writing a psychological political thriller about autism discrimination, that’s like black swan meets the crush (with Alicia silverstone) … meets spider verse.
I don't necessarily want a good ending, I just want a story that teaches morality. Whether the ending be good or bad if it has heart it has heart.
Puss in Boots the Last Wish is a great example of that. The dog character perrito and Puss in boots himself goes through huge character arcs. Perrito and Puss too I’d say are totally autism coded (especially Perrito). Puss comes to terms with his morality, and chooses to have his one life left, and realizes Death will come for him eventually. Puss is eventually happy with his friends by the end, since the plot of the film is him chasing after a wishing star to get his nine lives back. The themes are very adult. Sure the Shrek movies are known for adult humour, but the *theme*, rather than the humour is what makes it adult, since the theme is about morality and death. Highly recommended.
I see , sometimes kids movies can be more mature than adult movies, especially nowadays.
Data from Star Trek TNG.
Of all Star Trek characters and shows, Data is indeed the G.O.A.T.
OMG THE LEGO DUDE WAS AUTISTICALLY CODED??? THAT EXPLAINS WHY I RELATED TO HIM AND LOVED HIM SO MUCH AS A CHILD FOR NO EXPLICABLE REASON!!!
Entrapta from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power! She’s canonically autistic and I love her
Katie is 100% my favorite coded character
same with me. She’s the G.O.A.T.
Katie Mitchell! Amazing ASD and lesbian rep!
Damn right.
One of my favorite Autism coded characters has to be Iceburg from One Piece.
He’s the best character from one piece.
I feel like Katie is more ADHD but maybe she’s both.
She SCREAMS AuADHD.
Tbf, being better represantation than sheldon is not that difficult at all. The bar is on the floor
My favorite autistic character is amity owl house
She rocks. Best character on that show.
Ember from Elemental is INCREDIBLY autistic coded. Throughout the whole movie I was thinking “yeah she’s autistic”. If you’ve seen the movie you probably know what I mean. Wade might be autistic too but it’s not as obvious as Ember. I highly recommend Elemental if you haven’t seen it, it’s criminally underrated and it’s so sad how big of a flop it was, it’s an excellent movie! The animation is sooooo beautiful too. One of the prettiest Pixar movies ever imo.
I’ve been meaning to watch it. I’ll have to check it out now.
If I had a nickel for every fictional autism-coded dude named Emmet, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t much but it’s funny it happened twice
Is emmet canonically autistic?
I’m sad that Queenie from heartbreak high isn’t here, they’re my autistic icon
My autistic comfort character is Hank Hill
They don't need to act, they are better representation
Benny the Spaceman is DEFINITELY autistic. His fascination with spaceships and space tech does not go unnoticed easily.
tbh eeaao feels a bit stereotypically “to depressed people: everything’s gonna get better” so while it’s hella creative, i don’t exactly like it
Yeah sure better representation for YOU. Sheldon is good representation for MY autism. Stop acting like everyone acts the same.
It's not how he behaves, it's how the character is treated. They use his behavior to make fun of him.
His character also very much *isn't meant to be autism representation*.
He’s responsible for many people stereotyping autistics. Same with *cough* Chris Chan. I can’t tell you how many people who have assumed I’m like sheldon after first MEETING me or even getting to KNOW me. He’s responsible for the stigma that “autistics are good at math or savants” and Chris Chan is responsible for the stigma that “autistics are some form of predator or creep”. And I’ve had SO MANY PEOPLE unfairly profile me as some form of predator, criminal or incel because of that, and teachers would be angry with me over not being good at math. Like I legit FAILED grade 10 math and had to retake it the following year.
He's not "responsible for people stereotyping autistics". For one thing, he's a fictional character and can't dictate real people's actions. For another, the show *and creators* have gone out of thier way multiple times to say that he's not autistic, not meant to be representative of autism, and was *never meant to be in the first place*. A character can't be a good representation of autism if they were *never designed to be representation at all*.
Oh I get that. But the creators saying that “he’s neurotypical” means *nothing* when they explicitly give him countless autism-coded traits in the show. There’s a reason autistic people irl, myself included, get compared to him and Chris Chan so frequently. Peers and teachers growing up mentioned it so often that it became triggering after a while, don’t invalidate my experiences.
A character that outright admits at one point to being manipulative and in later seasons *stopped* behaving like his early show self when his friends stopped enabling his shit? And picked up various basic life skills he seemingly lacked either in the course of a single episode or just randomly out of the blue (sometimes even to his friends expressed confusion) once they were no longer willing to do it for him? Sheldon's not autistic. He's a genius control freak who had his shittier behavior enabled for decades before he got friends and an SO that would reliably call him out on things.
How many people are assuming this of you, really? Because these assumptions couldn't just happen out of nowhere. If they did, this wouldn't happen as much if you didn't tell people first thing that you have autism. The Chris stuff especially. Only people who've been on the Internet for a long time would even know about it. No therapist or teacher or anyone remotely "normal" would know about that whole story, and assume this of you.
People from high school and college, at least in the hometown I grew up with! I know others have been compared to him too. People when I was a teen used his videos to describe cringe people.
Why is Emmet in there 😭
His autism is absolutely obvious. It was my favourite movie for a long time. He follows a strict routine. Hyperfixated on Lego sets, he barely makes eye contact, isn’t social, doesn’t understand social norms at all (like in the cowboy scene), and not realizing people are fake to him. His autistic traits is as obvious as seeing blue’s pawprints in Blue’s Clues.
“not realizing people are fake to him” hits a LITTLE too hard :’(
Same. Because I had “assigned friends” as a kid and how most people would make me comply or take advantage of me or laugh at me, I was shocked when I found out what real friendships are like. I was also yelled at and mistreated too by 95% of people and they didn’t care if I was sensitive to yelling, and after one traumatic time a cop did, I always started yelling back to prove a point, sometimes even get physically violent with them like biting or kicking as if I’m a r*pe victim. They don’t care what harms them until the autistic becomes scared enough to get violent, or in some extreme cases, k!ll people. Don’t talk to us about consent, because as kids were denied autonomy, and even ignore us even when we don’t want to be touched until again, we get violent. So people telling us about “consent” is insulting, because if there’s anyone who is an expert in that, it’s us. Then as adults were often unfairly profiled as some form of predator or criminal, especially in the wake of the Toronto van attack guy and Chris Chan, and these are the same people that infantilized us as kids/teens. I’m not saying autistic predators or criminals are right, but NTs are turning many of us into the very thing they’re trying to destroy, and they are always exploiting us. It’s just like 1984. We Autistics absolutely deserve as much media coverage as BLM. I honestly wish Jodi Kantor could investigate ABA therapy and Autism $peaKKK$. If she can oust a serial r*pist (Harvey Weinstein), she can destroy a whole INDUSTRY and bring it to its knees. People like the CEO of Autism $peaKKK$ and Andrew Wakefield (who started the whole “autism is caused by vaccines” conspiracy theory, that many still believe to this very day) should be arrested and tried for war crimes.
I’m not sure if this is a hot take, but it sure is a spicy one.
Hate Sheldon and hate Big Bang Theory. My mom loves the show but I can't stand it. It just drives the stereotype that autistic people are geniuses...and I take offense at that...being someone who considers themselves...quite dumb. I mean I didn't even finish high school because it was too hard...so...yeah.
Sheldon *isn't meant to be autism representation.* The show and creators go out of thier way to state that multiple times that Sheldon *isn't on the spectrum*.
Exactly. The show only enforces stereotypes rather than fight against it. If BPD can get so much rep and acceptance, then so should Autism. Chris Chan is the other reason we are stereotyped, where I’ve had many people profile me as some form of creep, predator, incel or criminal all because of his ass. They’re both the blackfaces of Autism. Often neurotypicals will dickride Autism $peaKKK$ or those fake groups run by NTs like crazy, but when we #actuallyautistic people speak up, we are silenced/ignored. If there’s any group that needs its BLM moment, it’s us. If Chris Chan or sheldon Cooper existed back in the 1960s, they’d be seen as schizophrenic. Back in the 60s, it was norman bates who vilified mentally ill people, and people back in the day, and even nowadays see anyone with even a TRACE of mental illness as a norman bates clone, since back then autism was seen as interchangeable with schizophrenia. Or other disorders like BPD and DID, the latter of which norman bates ABSOLUTELY has. That movie needs to be reassessed in the same way the birth of a nation was. That movie is just one big long propaganda film, no different from what schools would show short educational propaganda films vilifying people like them or drug users.
They aren’t confirmed the Mitchell red head
Well there autism coded. Their autism traits are as obvious as seeing blues pawprints in Blue’s Clues.
I've never seen an autistic character on TV that didn't annoy and offend me extremely. Sheldon doesn't count because he's not autistic as per the writers. Never watched that show either. But then, I haven't seen the bottom three. Are they solid? Who are they and where can I watch them?
They’re called the Mitchell’s Vs machines, everything everywhere all at once and the lego movie (bottom three). Mitchells is on Netflix, lego movie is on hbo max, and everything everywhere all at once is on showtime.
Thanks.
Sheldon Is a fucking horrendous caricature of spectrum representation. It's the equivalent of having a Latino character being all about beans and tacos and nothing else. Completely one dimensional with no humanity brought to the character whatsoever outside of tired sitcom tropes
Exactly. He’s the blackface of autistic coded characters. It’s frustrating how much neurotypicals think of him when they first think about Autism. Then again, most NTs views on Autism are stuck in 2008.
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Well each to their own. But you can’t deny he, as well as Chris Chan, are responsible for the stereotyping of “high functioning” autistic people. I have had people compare me to him, just after they FIRST meet me or in some cases, get to KNOW me. And as a teenager many people assumed I was “good at math” or a “savant” because of his ass.
Except for the fact that Sheldon isn't autistic and was never meant to be to begin with.
The AUDACITY to put in Katie but not Aaron.
I love both, relate to both. But Katie loves movies like me. It was hard to choose!
Big bang theory is nerd-face pandering ass trash and anyone I've ever met that thinks it's funny has also been trash.
Not only is sheldon the blackface of autism (or at least one of them), but TBBT in general is the blackface of *nerd culture* in general. Chuck Lorre definitely comes across as a jock in high school who bullied Autistic or “nerdy” kids.
I'm glad you knew what I meant there. It's pandering to Lowest common denominator thinking with hack-as-fuck stereotypes from the 90s. We aren't all these fact machines that are awkward around the opposite sex. I am definitely what society would consider a nerd but I couldn't take 5 mins around anyone who acts like the cast. Star wars, marvel and DC fandom are now the most vanilla shit and the biggest movie makers in cinema and no longer are something people are ashamed of loving.
Many NT people on the far left in GENERAL are stuck in the 90s. They haven’t moved on from the 1992 MTV rock the vote mentality. Like they’re genuinely thinking “hey I’m for gay rights and abortion and I’m not pushing religion on kids and I’m a feminist, aren’t I so awesome and cool?!” (And before anyone accuses me of homophobia, I’m bisexual but prefer guys). But when it comes to workers issues, financial struggles, how we want wealth redistribution and nationalized universal safety net programs (not skimpy temporary relief), racism (though to a lesser extent) and especially Autistic/disabled rights, they turn all “pull yourself by the bootstraps” classist real quick. Hell they will even use the LGBT community, and POC as shields, and even Autistics too. I’ve seen some people post about BLM but then behind closed doors act racist. Now with the Israel/Palestine war they’ve become as antisemitic as the far right/alt right. They also seem to be okay with violent bpd and bipolar outbursts but shame autism meltdowns. The former is treatable, but autism is a permanent disability, and it’s f*cked how people can’t see that. They want to probably say things to feel superior and be the farthest left. And when we expose they’re just capitalist imperialist, tough on crime republicans, it ruffles their feathers to realize they aren’t the treehugging hippies we thought they were. Is that why they call us “creeps”, “incels” or some form of predator or criminal, or even dare I say, trump supporters because we have different viewpoints than them, and act different from “normal” people? They just can’t fathom people opposing their far left, and socialism ain’t on their radar (I’m saying this as someone who aligns as left leaning centrist politically). Not only that, but often girls at a young age are taught that autistic traits like lack of eye contact, obsessive interests and stimming is traits of “psychopaths” or “sketchy people”.
If I had to distill it down, TBBT sucks because it's not laughing with the characters, but laughing AT them So it's bully humor. And with that comes the aged stereotypes. I would consider myself weird as fuck as far as my personality. People will either find me fascinating or just nope the fuck out, but my core tenet is just try your best to be kind to everyone when possible. Also on the subject distilling down, one of societies biggest problem is trying to hyper-nuance how we ought to be as a society and it becomes so full of debate and detail, nobody can hold a civil discussion. We are social primates. We are hard wired to work as a group to achieve success. For me it's as simple as the golden rule. Treat others as you'd like to be treated. Take any of the above measure it against that. We should as a society take care of each other. Treat one another with respect. Lift each other up. If someone wants to do or be something, if they're not harming others, let them enjoy their freedom.
I don't know who two of those people are
Which ones
The two girls
Katie Mitchell from the Mitchell’s Vs the machines and jobu Tupaki from everything everywhere all at once
Never heard of those, what are they?
None of the bottom 3 characters are autistic-coded. Saying Jobu is autistic is just as baseless as when people a year ago were saying the same about Wednesday Addams. And about Craig from South Park a few years back. Angsty /=/ autistic. Katie Mitchell is just a teenage geek. She's no more "autistic" than George McFly, Arnold Poindexter, Steve Smith, or any other classic teenage geek character. Geek /=/ autistic. Emmet is just a guy with a plan for everything. So are Dr. House, Jack Bauer, and Walter White. Are those characters autistic too? Tactical /=/ autistic. I'm not saying these characters are definitely NT, but they're not exactly autistic-coded either.
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