MONK. OCD .

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I wrote this some time ago and had no response, and I am reposting it in order to ascertain if it was out of order or hypersensitive. can't believe someone here was not too offended to comment.....................

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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 3:50 am Post subject: Aspergers, OCD charactor actors in entertainment. Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post.

I have taken issue with the MONK character on USA Network.
In fact, I have taken such offense at this MONK character I wrote the following to USA Network.

Now you may or may not agree with me but this hurts me in the 'justice department'.
So much so I feel like braining this moron every time I see him, and I am not usually taken to violence as a means to correct a perceived wrong.

Your comments please.........

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Get this to Tony Shalhoub.

Shalhoub ! Your not funny...your pathetic . Who the blazes told you it is ok to mimic people with OCD ?
Would you play someone with Bells or Downs like this? Your damn right you wouldn't because people would see you as the insensitive moron you are.

I suffer from mild OCD and Aspergers. Have done for all my life....I know what it's like,.... and you Sir, are nothing like it. Playing the fool and 'comicing up' our condition, making money off our afflictions ?

Who ever told you this was ok? Just because this condition is not visible to others by looking at us ...you think it ok to play us as idiots ?

Don't tell me this 'exposure' helps , that's phyco babble.
I for one am glad this stupid series is ending...unfortunately this means it goes into 'reruns' and yet more people watching this crap will think this is typical behavior from those of us suffering with this from day to day.

It was difficult enough to get society to take Aspergers seriously as a neurological rewire that causes us to think and interact differently.

My granddaughter has Aspergers too and she has been subject to tutor torment because she was 'different' until the doctors told the school she needed considerate care and not persecution, and i hope she now has the education to meet her needs unlike my school years. Others I know have different forms of OCD and Aspergers. This is not something the entertainment industry should be making light of.

But hey, if they can make a buck...why not?

Get a life Shalhoub...one of your own and not mine !

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Joined: Oct 13, 2007
Posts: 60
Location: Here 'n there.

PostPosted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 5:19 am Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post.

Yeah, yeah..I know what your all thinking. What about Rain Man ? Well...what about Rain Man ? That is such a simplistic comparison.
Rain Man was one of those movies that was insightful and fairly accurate in it's portrayal of a character.

This MONK character is a bumbling idiot in comparison. I find it distasteful to use people with afflictions that most of society is uncomfortable with or treats as simpletons......or worse, perceives as selfish introverts.
It has taken a long time to get the medical crowd to see this as a condition that cannot be 'fixed'.

OCD is also a condition that does not need fixing. At least not by showing someone with it who is being 'accommodated' by others.
My friends are few in number and understand AS. These morons do not...Am I coming across as angry ?...you bet I am !

I am writing this in case someone thinks I am out of line. Well let me tell you...I have lived with AS for 66 years and I am sick and tired of people thinking they have carte blanch to portray others as people who are good for a cheap laugh and also do damn all to help the situation.

This is probably why I am not sleeping tonight....wasn't the coffee after all.

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I never thought that Monk was an accurate portrayal of OCD but rather a stereotypical version of it. I often feels like they gathered up whatever quirk they could and apply it to this character and some of those characteristics are more Asperger's than OCD. Way to confuse your audience there.

The guy Rain Man was modeled after wasn't even autistic.

Actually, he has "agenesis of the corpus callosum," but that doesn't mean that he's not autistic. The DSM criteria are in terms of behavior only, and having an identifiable condition doesn't nullify that. I made that mistake, too, when I heard that he had a gross brain abnormality.

Everything I see flat out says that he was not autistic, and that he had another condition, maybe they are making the same mistake.

Like what?

Wikipedia

I have OCD and HFA myself but I dont remotely act like monk.
I am not really offended by the portayal of monk as person who suffers OCD for some reason it does not bother me.
In my teenage years, I did do some really weird stuff as a result of my OCD...but now it is mostly controlled

If monk was portrayed as a murderer who obsesed about his victims and then killed them when he had intrusive thoughts to do so....that would piss me off.

But monk uses his exagerated condition to solve crimes, which he always did. It could be worse as far as hollywood goes.
Remember the numerous times they used the tripple personality person who commited horrible crimes while the other personalies knew nothing about it??

For a while I had problems with split personalities, but I was able to overcome it. Split personalities is caused by severe trauma....to heal the disorder, you have to heal the trauma.

Jojo

I really liked seeing the Monk program, I really like him and relate to him strongly. Im like a sexier version of him lol.

I used to be obsessed with Monk. Looking back it seems like a really tame/PG rated show compared to stuff I like nowadays

As someone said above, at least he was made the protagonist, but I do see your point that the OCD was made one of the comedic aspects of the show, and OCD is anything but funny. It's not something that should be shut away in the dark either though. That show helped lots of people understand and accept their own OCD "quirks".

If it's any consolation, the cast of the show haven't had much work since cancellation (besides Tony with Cars 2 that is).