So, I'm a fan of the show, but boy was I surprised to see a very hack representation of an autistic man near the end of season 3. The character's name is "Zach" and he does things like walking into a room and loudly pointing and counting people then walking away -- Rainman style -- and hanging out outside a room for hours because "that's where I last saw her," presumably a reference to theory of mind issues.
The guy is a tech genius with no emotional intelligence...though technically no one uses the "a" word. Of course, the show did say that a main character was mistaken for autistic because he liked wearing some goofy glasses -- and he said he pretended they said "artistic." So yeah, not great.
It's been really bothering me...not sure why. I just feel insulted, like someone has taken a bunch of stereotypes and mixed them in a blender and produced something that NTs might find funny, but the punchline is just the same old thing -- that autistic people are weird. I think the punchline should be something that autistic people would find genuinely funny about their own experience. Instead, it's "look at the freak" humor -- and he's a nice, sensitive freak, which supposedly makes that OK.
The show does that a lot, but usually it's from the freak's own point of view -- something the show prides itself on -- so I was really taken aback when the writers pulled this. But maybe I was just overlooking similar issues on the show that didn't affect my own group; see, for example: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/unbreakable-kimmy-schmidt-race_us_57111ba6e4b06f35cb6f7223.
The character is only in two episodes, and only in the show for about five minutes total. So maybe someone can get some better writing for him in season 4? Because apparently he'll be a more frequent character (if the season ending is any indication).
I really hope they get this right. I'm not sure if I can watch any more of that.
_________________
Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder 19 June 2015.
27 May 2017, 3:10 pm
