Years ago, few people had even heard of autistic spectrum disorder; even fewer would claim to have any kind of understanding of the condition, but today it seems almost everyone knows someone who is affected. In fact, many of us resort to making armchair diagnoses of our favorite fictional characters – even when there is no "official" diagnosis.
Notably, three popular television's characters are suspected of having Asperger's syndrome, which is on the "higher functioning" end of the autism spectrum disorder: Dr. Sheldon Cooper, from The Big Bang Theory, Dr. Temperence Brennen fromBones and Dr, Gregory House from House.
Creators of The Big Bang Theory have noted the responsibility that lies in making a "diagnosis" within a sitcom. If you don't get it right, you can really offend people. Hart Hanson, the creator of Bones based the charcter of Temperence Brennan partly on a friend with Asperger's, but has shied away from coming out and declaring her an "aspie" because he thought it would hurt the show's chances of becoming popular. He believes a cable network would have been more perceptive to dealing with the issue.
But lately, with Bones being an established hit, Hanson is considering a storyline where Brennen explores the possibility of having Asperger's, but he remains cautious. He notes, "We’d have to get it absolutely right," Hanson says. "If you don’t get it right, you’re damaging people."
One show that is tackling the portrayal of Asperger's is NBC's Parenthood. The show features, in part, the diagnosis and treatment of nine-year old Max Braverman. The focus on Max, however, is limited. The show follows four adult siblings and their experiences as parents. There's six different child cousins on the show; Max is just one of them. The issues with Max are also not so much based on him either, but more on how his family deals with the various communication challeges that come from having a child with Asperger's.
Movies, however, have not been as kind in dealing with Asperger's and autism. A few notable characters are Raymond from Rainman, Arnie from What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and Forrest Gump. These characters are presented as being mentally challenged as well as autistic, and that sort of portrayal can lead to a lot of misunderstanding. As noted in the television examples, which include all doctors, autistic people are not "slow," they are often vital contibutors to the world around them, and only rely on those close to get them through the bumpy social patches. In those movies, the characters that are closest to their autistic friends or family members are actually quite manipulative.
One of the first movies depicting autism was actually an Elvis Presley movie, Change of Habit (1969). In this movie Elvis manages to "cure" a young girl of her autism. Elvis may have been the King of Rock and Roll, but curing a condition that no one else has been able to was a little beyond his realm.
Two movies stand out as showing autism in a realistic and positive light: Mozart and the Whale (2005), about a relationship between two savants with Asperger's based on the real life couple Jerry and Mary Newport and the Emmy superstar of 2009, Temple Grandin. The movie emphasized repeatedly that while Temple was different, she was not "less." Perhaps the reason why both of these movies were done as well as they were was because they were about real people, not characters comprised of a writer's imagination. The real Temple Gradin revolutionized the cattle industry with her designs, and simultaneously helped raise understanding of how to treat autism effectively.
There have also been several books that deal with autism or Asperger's. Two examples are The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon and Cammie McGovern's Eye Contact. Both stories involve mystery, which is appropriate because despite everything we think we know, autism is still quite a mystery.
Celebrities have also tried to lessen the mystery of autism, particularly those with autistic children. Possibly the first to come to mind is Jenny McCarthy, who has been an outspoken advocate for her son Evan. Other celebrities involved in the cause are football player Doug Flutie, who heads the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation inspired by his autistic son Doug, jazz musicians Wynton and Brandford Marsailles who have an autistic brother, Sylvester Stallone, who has an autistic son, and singer Phoebe Snow, whose daughter is autistic.
Clearly, the media has a lot to say about autism, and for the most part awareness is a good thing. With all the movies, television, and books featuring the condition, it can be tempting to declare ourselves more knowledgeable than we are. It's important not to rely on fictional accounts to give us the true picture of autism. For those that need that information, it's best to consult someone who really knows.
http://www.autism.com/fam_autism_in_movies.asp
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/aspergers-diary/201003/telling-the-story-autism-in-the-media
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2010/02/how_tv_shows_try_or_choose_not.html
Gretchen Lee Bourquin - After writing mostly fiction and poetry most of my life, my scope began to expand in 2005 to Commentary and Blog type pieces. Before I ...
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