Right before atypical came out on netflix, I thought I’d watch it and write a blog post about it. A hot commodity in the autism blogosphere and cyberspace, I knew it was bound to generate some controversy. Those who have read my blog for the past nine years know I seem to thrive on controversy, or at least jump into the forefront of it, either intentionally or unintentionally. However, I got sidetracked by the shock of watching the first few moments of the opening first scene of the first episode, noting Sam the protagonist doing a behavior called “twiddling” a form of self-stimulation similar to the identically named activity I do that I’ve written about from time to time. His therapist next asked him if he wanted to donate his brain of science, mirroring the NPR show “morning edition” which I appeared on, discussing my donating my own brain to science, in which I discussed my twiddling in words close to identical to what Sam said. It seems improbable that this is a coincidence, but I suppose there’s a middling to fair chance Robia Rashid listened to my NPR interview while doing research for her show.
Now that I’m over my initial shock, I’ve decided to do what I’d originally planned to do and give my $.02 worth take. I suspected that the irascible ND’s would take umbrage to this show, and I was not disappointed. This show is bound to generate some controversy in the next few days.
There are some things to like about the show. As I wrote in my previous post, celibacy is a problem for many autistic people that gets very little play in the media or in literature and other entertainment mediums. I’m glad that the show takes up this theme, but there’s a downside, but more about that later. Amy Okuda, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Brigette Lundy-Paine are attractive actresses who add some eye candy. (At my age, 55-year-old Jason Leigh is attractive, though possibly not to younger viewers). The show has a certain intensity and conflicts between the various characters that adds some intrigue. Also, each episode has an old Sidney Sheldon style “cliffhanger” ending that may compel at least some viewers to watch more. The end of the eighth and final season episode is particularly intriguing in this regard, but I won’t spoil it for anyone. It appears Rashid planned to make more episodes and hook her viewers further. Lundy-Paine’s character is fleshed out and provides some intrigue to the show. The episodes do show some (though not much) of the angst of living with autism.
However, the pros stop there and are inundated by the plethora of cons. I was prepared to possibly refute some of the hostile remarks about the show the ND hatemongers would inevitably make. However, I found myself nodding in agreement with their take on Sam Gardner as a sort of cardboard one-dimensional character who represents a conglomerate of autistic symptoms, rather than a believable autistic person. He wears headphones to eliminate sensory noise, despite being mildly autistic enough to work part-time, go to a mainstream school and get A’s. This is much more common in lower-functioning kids such as Judith Ursitti’s son than in someone with mild autism. It shows him on a job not having any problems with co-workers or job performance, particularly intriguing when he’s working in a store and it involves customer interaction. He also has a ‘typical’ friend who is Pakistani and probably an alter-ego of Rashid herself. He develops a crush on his therapist, a 26-year-old clinical psychologist. Someone that young already having a ph.d., finishing their internship, and being an adjunct professor seems over-the-top.
The protagonist’s mother appears to be intentionally presented as one of the most unlikable characters you could imagine. She is overprotective of her son, invades her children’s privacy and commits adultery and then blames her boyfriend for having an affair with a married woman. Why the show’s creators would not want to make the mother a sympathetic character seems baffling. Other episodes seem way over the top, including his nearly hooking up with a girl he scares off initially, being insensitive to other girls and people and then being easily forgiven. One of the most over-the-top things was a sensory dance where the entire school accommodates the protagonist by having a silent dance without a band where the students can listen to music on optional head phones while they dance.
While the show is billed as the protagonist having women problems, there seems to be a bait and switch tactic where he is actually successful with at least one girl who seems to have some behavioral quirks which might place her on the spectrum, but this is not mentioned explicitly.
There is no one telling him he should find an autistic girlfriend which happens to us so typically. Perhaps I should excuse Robia Rashid’s ignorance about the problems that celibacy presents for many autistic males, but it seems a writer should be more aware of a subject they choose to tackle.
In essence, there is not much compelling about “atypical” and as is typical (ironic use of the word) as it presents a very warped and optimistic view of autism that does not ring true or jibe with real life, seemingly par for the course of Hollywood depictions.
I was not sure I would watch all eight episodes but I ended up doing so, compelled mostly by the controversy and apparent borrowing from my life in the first scene. This show seems to be getting so much press and traction, I suspect it may be one of Netflix’s golden eggs and there will probably be more episodes but I don’t think I will be watching them and I don’t recommend to my readers that they do so either.
Saturday, August 12, 2017
Friday, August 11, 2017
Did Netflix Show "Atypical" borrow from my life?
Netflix and the media have been hyping the newly streamed series "Atypical" for several weeks now. This show just started airing today on netflix and has already been mired in some controversy and it's highly probable that it will generate more. The show has a number of pros and cons which may be beyond the scope of this particular post though I may write about them in a subsequent post.
The underlying and unprecedented theme of the show is an 18-year-old boy on the autism spectrum who is a senior in high school who has trouble in relationships but wants to find a girlfriend but has trouble doing so. Celibacy is a major and mostly unpublicized problem for many males (and possibly females as well) on the spectrum. This is an issue scarcely mentioned in the media. Much of the exposure of males on the spectrum goes to John Elder Robison, Ari Ne'eman, and Michael John Carley and Steve Shore who combined have seven marriages between them. This was a compelling enough hook to entice me to watch at least some of the show. (at this point, I've watched the first four of eight episodes and I may or may not watch more of them).
I was incredibly piqued when I watched the opening of the first episode where Sam, the autistic protagonist, is doing a self-stimulatory behavior he calls "twiddling" where he holds a pencil in his left hand and flexes a rubber band in his left and right hands and describes doing this at a certain frequency. The camera next pans to his therapist, an attractive Asian woman. She asks him if he's interested in donating his brain to science.
I've called the self-stimulatory behavior that I do twiddling where I shake some shoelaces while holding a pencil in my left hand while I engage in Walter Mitty (for those who remember the old Thurber short-story and/or possible movie with Danny Kaye) type fantasies for about fifty-five years now, going back to about 1961 or 1962
About four and a half years ago, I was also on an NPR show which talked about a shortage in autism brain tissue and how I donated my brain (regretfully to autism speaks) to science. I also mentioned my twiddling and described it in that interview.
Bruno Bettelheim in his 1967 book The Empty Fortress also used the term "twiddling" to describe certain self-stims (i don't think the term stim had been invented yet), but he did not use the word "frequency" or describe any of his charges at the orthogenic school using a pencil (though it's been many years since I've read the book so my memory may be a bit sketchy). Though I used the word "twiddling" as a small child before Bettelheim's book was published, I realize it's unlikely he got the term from yours truly. It would seem highly improbable that the creators or writers of "Atypical" have ever read The Empty Fortress.
I'm wondering if it's a coincidence or if they borrowed from my life. I guess I will never know for certain but it does not seem that probable it is a coincidence though I suppose it is not impossible.
A number of persons, particularly ND's,including Ari Ne'eman, have complained about allistic (non-autistic) persons writing storylines about autism. But somehow I don't think they're going to go out of their way to help publicize "The Mu Rhythm Bluff" or any of the short stories I have on my website, inspired by my experiences as an autistic person.
Before Netflix released the show, I was contemplating watching it and writing some reviews of it. I may do this in a future blog post, but I'm not sure. However, I'll look forward to the ensuing controversy that I'm sure this show will generate in the autism blogosphere and cyberspace.
However, no one will probably care or note that they may have taken some stuff from my life as one of the composites of the autistic protagonist.
The underlying and unprecedented theme of the show is an 18-year-old boy on the autism spectrum who is a senior in high school who has trouble in relationships but wants to find a girlfriend but has trouble doing so. Celibacy is a major and mostly unpublicized problem for many males (and possibly females as well) on the spectrum. This is an issue scarcely mentioned in the media. Much of the exposure of males on the spectrum goes to John Elder Robison, Ari Ne'eman, and Michael John Carley and Steve Shore who combined have seven marriages between them. This was a compelling enough hook to entice me to watch at least some of the show. (at this point, I've watched the first four of eight episodes and I may or may not watch more of them).
I was incredibly piqued when I watched the opening of the first episode where Sam, the autistic protagonist, is doing a self-stimulatory behavior he calls "twiddling" where he holds a pencil in his left hand and flexes a rubber band in his left and right hands and describes doing this at a certain frequency. The camera next pans to his therapist, an attractive Asian woman. She asks him if he's interested in donating his brain to science.
I've called the self-stimulatory behavior that I do twiddling where I shake some shoelaces while holding a pencil in my left hand while I engage in Walter Mitty (for those who remember the old Thurber short-story and/or possible movie with Danny Kaye) type fantasies for about fifty-five years now, going back to about 1961 or 1962
About four and a half years ago, I was also on an NPR show which talked about a shortage in autism brain tissue and how I donated my brain (regretfully to autism speaks) to science. I also mentioned my twiddling and described it in that interview.
Bruno Bettelheim in his 1967 book The Empty Fortress also used the term "twiddling" to describe certain self-stims (i don't think the term stim had been invented yet), but he did not use the word "frequency" or describe any of his charges at the orthogenic school using a pencil (though it's been many years since I've read the book so my memory may be a bit sketchy). Though I used the word "twiddling" as a small child before Bettelheim's book was published, I realize it's unlikely he got the term from yours truly. It would seem highly improbable that the creators or writers of "Atypical" have ever read The Empty Fortress.
I'm wondering if it's a coincidence or if they borrowed from my life. I guess I will never know for certain but it does not seem that probable it is a coincidence though I suppose it is not impossible.
A number of persons, particularly ND's,including Ari Ne'eman, have complained about allistic (non-autistic) persons writing storylines about autism. But somehow I don't think they're going to go out of their way to help publicize "The Mu Rhythm Bluff" or any of the short stories I have on my website, inspired by my experiences as an autistic person.
Before Netflix released the show, I was contemplating watching it and writing some reviews of it. I may do this in a future blog post, but I'm not sure. However, I'll look forward to the ensuing controversy that I'm sure this show will generate in the autism blogosphere and cyberspace.
However, no one will probably care or note that they may have taken some stuff from my life as one of the composites of the autistic protagonist.
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