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Are series and movies representation of autism realistic?

Hollywood autism is, generally speaking, catastrophically inaccurate. 2018's 'The Predator' takes it to the nadir. In that film, not only is it implied that autistic people are automatically savants, it also specifically states that 'autism is the next stage in human evolution', which is just plain dumb.
 
Since ASD covers such a broad spectrum, I couldn't definitively say, "There's no one in the real world who matches that portrayal." Perhaps the writers could even be justified in cherry-picking attributes. e.g., for The Good Doctor, they may say, "This guy is a medical genius." Okay, that's easily believable within the autism spectrum. No eye contact? Okay, I'll allow it. No understanding of social complexities? Well, maybe. My thinking is that, if you can work out the complex rules of medical stuff, you might also be able to work out at least some rules of social interactions (I mean, I have, even though everything social I do reduces to a logic matrix or flowchart in my head). Eventually, their particular dramatic collection of convenient and heartstring-tugging symptoms and behaviors may strain credibility.

But my knee-jerk answer is, no, movie and TV portrayal of [absolutely everything] is inaccurate.

Of course, everyone knows that car physics works differently in Hollywood than in the rest of the universe.

I have always bristled at how Hollywood hackers can write complex programs in minutes, or sometimes seconds, and never write any bugs. I once asked a lawyer if Hollywood got legal stuff just as wrong - I wish I could convey the amount of eyerolling and complaining I got. Yep, Hollywood gets legal stuff wrong, too.

Trust them to get autism right? No, my money's on the other side.

These are pretty much my thoughts. I definitely relate to the "autistic" (or assumed autistic- I haven't seen EVERY episode of The Big Bang Theory but I don't think it's ever stated outright that Sheldon is autistic, everyone just assumes.) characters on many of these shows. Parts of them anyway.

I definitely agree that, although they're stereotypes, there are probably people out there with those traits. In fact with the way people relate to/judge the media, they could probably have an autistic person playing themselves and someone would have a problem with it because it's not their autism. I think as far as media is concerned, it's a no-win situation. There are always going to be people unhappy with the representation, no matter how positive or negative or realistic or exaggerated it is. Add the fact that the media always sensationalizes/exaggerates everything, and anything is going to look ridiculous to a lot of people.

I'd even go as far as to say there probably is more realistic representation of autism in the media - but it doesn't stand out (because it doesn't necessarily stand out in real life either) and people just think they're "a little quirky"...because people are expecting to see stereotypes.

No, but I wouldn't really expect them to. Even as a person on the autism spectrum myself, I'm always learning something new about it.

Have any of you seen Atypical on Netflix? It's cute

I love Atypical...I related so much to a lot of Sam's thoughts/behavior that I was laughing my butt off at most of it. Lots of "holy crap I've been there!" moments in that show...I don't take it to the extreme he does, but it's definitely recognizable. I binge watched both seasons in one weekend and was disappointed when it ended.
 
My favorite depiction of autism is Kunagisa Tomo from Zaregoto. In universe she's stated to be a savant but however, autism itself is never mentioned and is only heavily implied by certain behaviors such as an special interest in hacking. She also breaks some stereotypes by while being a reclusive shut-in, very social and cheerful in conversation.
 
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Please Stand By with Dakota Fanning. Has anyone seen it? Dakota plays an autistic young woman, and she does an outstanding job.
 

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