People are distorting 'emotions'

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At the weekend I went to an annual 'friendly' football match,after which 2 groups of rival supporters went from hurling abuse to hurling bottles and stones at each other !
Caught in the middle along with other bemused bystanders,as I dodged the flying missiles my logical AS mind looked at the grotesque faces
of the protagonists,contorted by mockery and
hatred,and wondered what is the world coming
to ?
There are other less obvious signs that emotions
are being distorted by people who can't seem to handle them.On TV I watch the game show Deal
Or No Deal and it's cringeworthy when the random opening of boxes can send the entire cast and audience into either paroxysms of
joy or depths of despair.It all seems out of proportion.

Maybe ASDs are partly evolution's way of
counterbalancing these distorted extremes of
emotion...

You know what? I like that idea.

My parents watch Deal or No Deal religiously (and I'll point out here that the UK version is completely different from the US version, I'll let someone else explain why) and it's just like *cringe* how involved everybody gets with it... there was that blonde lassie that time a year or two ago that was sobbing every time she opened a box. I wonder if she was aware how much of an idiot she looked?

The football thing does my head in a bit too... the football score defines the rest of the weekend half the time - just why, exactly? Okay, it's good to watch for a while but I don't understand how involved people get...my sister never emerged from under her flag for the rest of the weekend after her team lost the cup in the final once. *shrugs* whatever, as long as I'm not involved I can leave them to it.

Deal or no deal is so dumb. 9 times out of 10 the contestants think they can "influence" the box with the power of their mind or something. If a bad number comes up the person who opened the box will apologise like it was their fault.

They think that there are "lucky" numbers for them or that because someone has had the big money box a couple of times before they are more likely to have it this time too.

The only skill in the game is deciding whether to take the deal offered, keeping in mind the actual odds of you getting a better deal, not your belief in some superstitious crap.

Edit: Bearing in mind the post above I should point out that I am in the UK and have never seen the US version. Perhaps it's better but I don't know since Aethra left it for someone else to explain the difference and no-one has yet.

Are you suggesting those of us with ASDs don't distort emotions? According to my wife, that's all I EVER do!

Cool theory. It's possible I guess. Though my emotions can be super irrational at times.

Game shows love to over-exaggerate things to make things entertaining for viewers. It artificially ups the drama factor which draws in people who get caught up in it all, including the contestants who are on edge to start with. That and I often think that they deliberatly gather some of the most eccentric people who look good on camera just to make things 'exciting'.

Kinda like how 'Reality TV' is nothing like reality. A show of John and Jane Doe relaxing for the evening and watching some TV or reading a book would not have much of an audience, but it would be closer to reality for many...

Not suggesting those with ASDs don't have problems with emotions,more that what's
considered 'normal' behaviour seems to be encompassing more extreme and inappropriate examples.Our problem can sometimes be the opposite that we don't feel or show enough
emotions,so the ideal is probably somewhere in between !

I've been noticing a whole lot of NTs overemoting where it's unnecessary recently. However, Aspies are just as capable of responding with more emotion than would logically seem necessary, but in different situations. Meltdowns, anyone?

I think Aspies and NTs just have very different priorities in life and very different ideas of what is meaningful enough to get upset over.

If you ever see the trailers of soaps (EastEnders, Coronation Street, etc) with the sound off, it's like a lesson in how to overact. People don't often behave like that IRL, not for minor things anyway. I mean, the emotion expressed is way over the top for the event. "You forgot to put the recycling bin out?!?" Ten minutes of face-distorting, nostril-flaring rage...'hamming it up' my hubby calls it, lol.

You'd never see Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard (Brief Encounter) or Bogie and Bacall expressing emotion in that way. Probably that's the difference between soap stars and real actors.
It's subtle, not all 'in your face'.

Are the contestants and audience on Deal or No Deal told to exaggerate? I always thought they were acting, or maybe slighly drunk? Perhaps they give them a few drinks before the show to revv them up a bit.