I once read something that really stuck with me. "Autism is cute until someone grows up." Because that is so true. There are even people that think autism is something you grow out off because it is mostly known as a child thing.
@@PlanetZaia I wish people saw me more like a child and less like an adult tbh. I wish there where more options for autistic people with regular IQ but childlike personality, almost inpossible.
I came for ranpo in the thumbnail. As a neurodivergent myself, bsd is one of my all time favorite series for many reasons, and one of the main reasons is how neurodivergent coded so many of the characters are, and not just in a stereotypical way. Besides Ranpo, Poe and Kunikida also have a lot of autistic traits, and yet they have very different behaviors and personalities than Ranpo.
>be me >white "boy" >very early 20s >F*cking love trains >pursue STEM education >socially inept & Bullied for it >accused of speaking weirdly >Be diagnosed with ADHD >told i should look into whether i have ASD at the end of my appointment >mfw i am literally a walking stereotype.
ah yes one of the classic special interests, trains (no hate i'm autistic with a special interest in one very particular game called cookie run kingdom)
About the mysoginy, I totally agree. People don't want to admit that also women can be autistic because women have to be always socially acceptable for men, so autistic women are more pressured to mask than autistic men because...you know.... "Boys will be boys"
lol so true, apparently I managed to hide my autism for 17 years from everyone, including myself, despite being tested for it early on in my childhood (as far as my parents said so)
Is this real? 😂 I've never met anyone who complained about autism coding in media Let alone autistic women Wasn't there a Korean show about an autistic Lawyer, I think my guy friends enjoyed that show a lot
People deny the existence of autistic women all the time, for a long time autism was even considered a "boy's disorder" and even major "experts" theorised it was caused by an extreme "male brain."
Right, I agree! Women are expected to be the responsible ones, to take care of and raise not only their children but their husbands as well! So if an autistic-coded man in media acts forgetful, gets caught up in a special interest, or accidentally says something somewhat offensive/insensitive, it's seen as amusing and/or endearing. Male geniuses are given a free pass in media to act "quirky" because they're geniuses, and their intelligence excuses their lack of impulse control or social skills. Meanwhile, autistic-coded women in media are seen as "childish", "annoying", and "airheads". If a female character often forgets things or gets caught up in a special interest, she's seen as "irresponsible" and/or a ditz, because how dare a woman act in the same manner as a man and need any kind of help or assistance? It's a woman's job to care for her husband, to keep track of his schedule and basically act as his unpaid secretary! It's a woman's job to plan all his meals, remind him to do things, mend his clothes, clean and take care of the house, the dishes, the laundry! It's a woman's job to act as her husband's emotional support animal and comfort him when he's angry or upset! It's a woman's job to basically become her husband's mother and replace his real mother as his caretaker! When autistic-coded women are accepted in media, it's because they're fetishized as "cute", pure-hearted virgin ingenues in need of a man's guidance and protection. Just so long as they don't cause trouble for others or need any actual assistance, so long as they don't show any kind of assertiveness or personality outside of this fetishized image, they are okay.
Lilo and stitch was my favorite movie growing up. I used to watch it on loop everyday. It explains a lot being that I’m autistic I related to her in some ways. I relate much more to autistic coded characters then characters that were explicitly written as autistic.
Oh same! I relate to her since as a kid, I never could make friends at all and had interest in horror lmaoo but I was never diagnosed with autism nor I am right now. Thought there symptoms I have had at the time, but at the time I was not told what I had until my therapist told me recently it was anxiety
The stuff about female charcters and gender makes a lot more sense once you remember a lot of a AFAB individuals grow up undiagnosed since research of autism on female bodies has been very misguided and lead to gender bias and stereotypes- the symptoms show similar, but if boy is quiet, he's weird. if a girl is quiet, she's well-behaved.
Hope you're watching BSD S4, since they made a great adaptation out of this light novel. You can truly feel Ranpo's anguish (almost a meltdown), it can feel heart wrenching, even. ASD aside, Ranpo can also be a Savant. His perception and intuition are brilliant, while his sense of direction is absolutely awful. His peculiar social skills are also related to both, I think. I'm glad he found the father figure he needed to organize his mind better and to become even more amazing!
I think they're going to pull an Alico from The Pit. Also orphaned at a young age and was raised to assist an armed humanitarian organization as it's eyes and ears after the leader noticed his syndrome (he also snipes) Never seen the show but Alico was my nickname in 12th grade
Not just characters, real life people too, unfortunately. I can't tell you how absolutely frustrating and infuriating it is to be seen as "naive" when in reality I'm just optimistic and like to give people the benefit of the doubt. There's a difference between being ignorant and unaware of the bad things in the world, and knowing about those bad things but choosing to be kind and loving and try to see the best in people anyway. I'm an idealist, not an idiot. Too many people forget that the two aren't synonyms, and if you cross me you will soon see I'm not so innocent and defenseless.
I feel like you hit some key details here, mainly being the frustration that autistic people have at the more "straightforward" depictions of "weird nerdy guy," and that coded characters (be it autistic, queer, etc.) can be some of the best depictions of these characters, even if not perfect. Because believe it or not, being autistic isn't a "main story element" in most peoples lives like media portrays, its usually a bunch of little things, Comfy clothes, conversations being a little weird, so on. A coded character works so well because of this. If media goes out of it's way to tell you a character is autistic, then it's probably important somehow to the story, and if it's somehow important to the story, it's probably not a realistic characterization. Also, having writers who have experience or education with or are themselves autistic, queer, etc. is extremely important to having accurate, positive representations rather than the old and pretty harmful "body of a 24 year old mind of a 7 year old" trope that gets applied to so many
I THINK THE SAME!!! Kunikida is definitely the much calmer٫ more put together side of Autism. The fact that he literally writes everything down and is so neat about it screams Autism. I don't even think I have to explain Dazai. His special interest is clear٫ and he's just whacky.
My favorite Autistic coded never officially stated Autistic charector is L from death note, (and to a lesser extent near as well) because L is very strongly autistic coded. To the extent if you read l one day you could probably put him in having moderate support needs (needing assistance with ADLs, such as dressing,and you might assume washing given wateri apparently invented a human washing machine for him with built in drying featur, which honestly reads as support parent who doesn’t want to help with washing multiple times a day like L wants. L also shows a lot of stims and sensory issues, hyper focus on solving cases, cause his favorite things are puzzles that challenge him Unfortunately L does have the sterotyoical savant like intelligence and skills, I mean he is meant to be the worlds hreatest detective, who solves crimes from his bedroom never showing his face, and does it because they are puzzle for him to and this is fun for him, which is very major autism stereotype but not played off as one, or welll it doesn’t give that same Sheldon cooper energy f you know what I mean ButI even with being awkward, doesn’t fall into the burden, and his awkward int generally a joke, though I have seen it make some reviewers uncomfortable, other charectors react l confused that he is L when they meet him, they remark he looks a bit off in one scene when he show up to give a speech not dressed up like people in a crowd would, but he is in the show actually given respect and actually a whole person (as much as charectors in death note are whole rounded people at least) I love that he’s barefoot most of the time and won’t wear socks and barely puts on shoe if he has to wear them, he loves sweets, he wears the same clothes,because sensory preferences, I love that he is alsways subtlety stimming ot stacking coffee creamers for example while thinking, and I love how his awkwardness exists in the space but isn’t standing out it just flows naturally,
I feel like y’all just putting autism label on any autistic character in fiction stories like bro i like doing stuff that i like like in L case don’t mean i have autism dawg and i have been checked for it i don’t quirky characters don’t mean that they’re meant to be autistic
@@rizzwan-42069 Autism-coded characters and Autistic characters are two different things, autism-coded characters are viewed as such because autistic people can find comfort in relating to characters in such a way, and autistic characters are confirmed. autism-coded characters aren't instantly autistic, they just share traits. You yourself have stated that you are not autistic, so this is not your place to speak.
I’m autistic and I often get frustrated when people say: “sheldon isn’t the right representation of autism” when nobody ever said he was. The _creators_ even said “we don’t diagnose our characters”
@@T3RM1N4llyOffl1n3 he’s not a jerk he’s just slightly deranged. But I see your point. He has a superiority complex, but he’s not mean to people on purpose.
@@T3RM1N4llyOffl1n3 I hate when people argue with things that don’t exist “sheldon is bad representation, 😰” like bro nobody said he is autistic and the creators said they don’t diagnose characters
Sure, he's not autistic, but just happens to have all the stereotypical traits of someone with autism in Hollywood movies and TV shows. Sounds to me like someone wanting to have their cake and eat it too.
I'm not autistic (at the very least I've never been diagnosed with autism anyway) but I can relate a lot to autistic-coded characters like Ranpo, Twilight Sparkle, and Elsa. In that one episode, when Ranpo freaked out because he couldn't understand others, I was shocked yet happy because "omg, someone else gets it!" I thought. It surprised me how this character was able to express and sum up what I've been feeling my whole life sorta, that I'm different, that I can't understand other people. Not in the sense of I don't get other people's emotions (actually I'm very empathetic if I say so myself, and I've always been rather sensitive) but in the sense that I never really understood what my peers were interested in growing up and, like Ranpo, it felt like there was some secret they were all privy to that I was not. It still feels that way sometimes, and it's very frustrating and disheartening. I get the feeling that people look at me strangely, they think I'm strange, and I'm not quite sure why. What is it I'm doing wrong? What is it about me, about my actions or what I'm saying, that makes people look at me like that? Is it all in my head? Sometimes it feels like people kind of treat me like a child, even though I'm an adult woman. I've been called "cute" on a couple different occasions and I guess it's flattering but it also sometimes somewhat feels like I'm being talked down to sort of. I've never once been called "sexy" or "hot" which is frustrating, because I don't want to be just "cute". Idk, maybe it's because of my shyness and tendency to keep to myself. Maybe it's because I don't really seem to know all the things I ought to know by now, things other people take for granted. Maybe it's because of my "naivety", because I try to be nice to everyone and give everybody the benefit of the doubt. Or maybe it's because of my sincerity, because I generally see the good in other people or at least try to, and I get attached to people easily and I'm a little too honest at times, idk. Anyway, sorry for rambling on about this, but thank you for making this video it was very interesting and I think you make some excellent points about autistic people and autism-coding in media! I know this was made a year ago but I hope you got a good grade on this assignment because you deserve it!
I love this is a project I stumbled upon! As someone who found out at 31 that I’m autistic, autistic coded characters always made more sense to me before I knew what coding was. You did great ☺️
Something that is so funny to me is that every time I feel like a fictional character is literally me, they always end up being autistic-coded. But the character I relate to the most is Ranpo, even snacks and sweets being his safe foods applies to me. I JUST LOVE HIM SO MUCH! (and I enjoyed your video as well)
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Honestly same here. I'm suspecting to be somewhat autistic (tho I'm unsure as a friend of mine is autistic and I know others, so I don't want to compare myself to them) but characters like Newt and Luna, Lilo and Elsa always made me comfortable? Like I don't know why that is, maybe because I've been made fun of so Luna instantly felt like comfort (and Hermione to some extent too, tho I wouldn't call her autistic?)
What I like about Entrapta is after she talks to the princesses they stop using the leash on her, because they finally understand what she’s been doing. And that she does have people who like her because of her obsession with tech, like Hordak, he loves her no matter how much she likes tech. He appreciates her for who she is and Scorpia does as well. They never get mad at her like the others do and let her be herself.
Good video! Your take on Elsa as an Autistic-coded character is really poignant. The scene where she freaks out in the castle and accidentally hurts Anna is definitely her having a particularly harrowing meltdown. I've had those kinds of meltdowns before, and they are _the worst_ because now someone who was trying to help you is also hurt and confused and it's not just you. For the thing about Ranpo, I think that his sweet snacks could be a bit of a stim. Other than just sensory issues making food difficult, having snacks to munch on or a pleasant and familiar taste in the background can definitely help with self-regulating. I know I personally prefer to have a lollypop or some gum or some hard candy in my mouth while I draw or write to help regulate things! Though that could also be because I also have ADHD in addition to Autism and the sugar gives my brain the extra stimulation it constantly craves, but eh. There's definitely overlap between the two things on that specific front. If there wasn't, they probably wouldn't be comorbid lol I do disagree with some of your points about Entrapta, but tbh that's both okay and expected since us Autistic folks sure aren't a hivemind like some allistic people sure do like to pretend we are! Specifically, I think she's an amazing example of representation of a high-empathy Autistic person. She may not get social cues, but she isn't entirely oblivious to how others are feeling. She empathizes with Hordak's struggles with his physical disability, and even goes as far to help him out with some new assistive devices and making needed changes to his already existing ones. In the episode where she's on a leash (which isn't the best in and of itself, I agree there), it's revealed in the latter half of the episode that why she kept running off into dangerous areas was because they had bits of tech that would be helpful in solving a problem that another character was having. Mermista even tells the others off for being so hard on Entrapta in that episode because she _is_ trying to help, she's just doing it in her own way and wasn't able to communicate it. Hell, she even empathizes with actual literal robots, which is a mood if I've ever seen one. I especially like how they actually acknowledge that she is able to tell when people are irritated with her or find her annoying and bothersome in the "Destiny" two parter. She tries to keep on a happy face because masking and also The War™, but when Beast Island starts dredging up everyone's insecurities and draining their wills to persevere Entrapta practically melts into a puddle of depressed loneliness. When she was talking about how she feels useless and like everyone would be better off not dealing with her and her Entrapta-ness, my brain lit up and went "That's me! That's how I feel all the time when I'm not distracted or entirely in my element!" And Bow doesn't reenforce _ANY_ of her self-hating thoughts when she dumps them on the ground in front of him. He makes sure she knows that she actually is appreciated, even if some of the Princesses are mean to her sometimes or don't really "get" her. That she _is_ necessary, and he _does_ want to be her friend because she's _her,_ and that they came to Beast Island specifically to find her and bring her home. I never got the impression that she was being framed as a "burden". Just as a character who sometimes causes conflict, just like some of the other characters do. This isn't to say she was always handled perfectly or that there's no flaws in how she's presented or anything, but between her being high-empathy, and a functioning adult, _and_ actually being allowed to get a love interest she really did feel like decent rep over-all to me despite the writing stumbles. Edit: got the episode wrong
I also really appreciate that you made video essays. I’ve always loved video essays, and I’ve never made one, so it’s really cool to see those that you made, especially ones that are so personal for you. Your work comes off as very coherent and passionate. I also just love the little grids at the beginning, and the way you work with example clips, text, and other graphics.
Im questioning if im autistic right now. I've dealt with a lot of things like taking things literally too much or taking things as a joke too much and vise versa, and not understanding social cues well, and even hiding from loud spaces. When i was younger no one thought much of it, but as of now im 15 almost 16 and my family finds it odd that im not like "typical teens" and I rather hide in my room and draw instead of party or have a sleepover. Videos like these kinda help/ comfort me and i really appreciate this
Yesss! Same. Its like I feel like an imposter both in the neurotypical world for being different and the neurodivergent world for not having a diagnosis. But videos like this make me feel so much more valid 😁
Growing up as a baby boomer, there were all these shows like Leave It to Beaver, Father Knows Best, My Three Sons, which showed you "how you were supposed to be." Luckily there were so many children on my block that I knew really early that these shows were repressive propaganda that had very little to do with reality. There were certainly norms to conform to at school, but at least I grew up in an area with different races and a lot of foreigners. And a big enough school that you could disappear if you wanted to. My parents, like most parents back then, were completely uninvolved in my life. We were basically just expected to stay out of the way, and not cause any trouble. When my kindergarten teacher tried to tell my parents that I was autistic, they just ignored her. I was doing alright in school, so as far as they were concerned there was no problem. I just had to manage as best I could. And to tell truth, my parents had so many problems of their own, I'm glad they stayed out of it, because if they had gotten involved they probably would have made my situation much worse.
5:31 While I agree that putting Entrapta on a lead WAS very demeaning, the characters were in a literal life or death situation where getting caught could mean their demise - having said that, they should’ve talked to Entrapta beforehand about how important focusing on the task at hand was & be honest with her about how getting distracted could get them killed. One thing I DID like them doing in this scene & later eps was how Entrapta later takes steps to correct this behaviour in similarly risky situations - something many autistic coded characters are portrayed as incapable of doing, which is absolute bollocks 🤦♀️ this condition may cause someone to make mistakes more often but they’re not incapable of taking responsibility & making steps to gradually improve over time.
I don't know why this video was pushed to me considering this is a literal school project, but I enjoyed your points, and this was put together very well.
This is a great video!!! We actually made a show about growing up autistic and the lead character is the exact opposite of Sheldon. It's called What's the Rule
My personal favorite autistic coded character is Caleb Widowgast from campaign 2 of Critical Role. He is shown to stim by flapping his hands, spinning, and counting objects. He has special interests in magic, books, and cats (and not just "smart books" like other autistic coded characters, he canonically loves other books like trashy romance novels too! Its literally just books and reading them itself). He has a familiar named Frumpkin who often acts more like a service animal. He often misses jokes and other social cues and tends to take things more literally. But the best part of course is that he's a fully fleshed out character outside of all these things. His personality isn't just Autism Trait™ (or any of his other traits that tend to get made into character personalities like him having ptsd or being polyamorous and bisexual (we stan a king)). He is still a person and isn't soley defined by these things, and it makes me really happy to see a character that really speaks to me as an autistic person even though hes only autistic coded. Idk, just wanted to talk about him : )
I'm going to be studying ADHD and Autism this school year and this video is going to help me so much! Thank you for making videos that let people know more about things like this
The absolute best example of an autistic coded character from a TV show that I can think of is the bank teller played by Burgess Merideth on the Twilight Zone episode Time Enough at Last. No discussion of autistic coding in the media is complete without talking about that. He was a character who was thought up in the 1960's, before most people even heard of it. I'm sure that the writers didn't even know what autism was. They just thought of him as an obsessive nerd, and they wanted to make a statement about obsession. This needs to be part of a larger discussion about how high functioning autistic people (the thing formerly known as Asperger's Syndrome,) fit into society and how neurotypical society viewed and perceived them before the 1990's when anyone really knew what it was. I want to see someone make a documentary about this.
It's so funny, as someone who's autistic but self diagnosed herself with bpd zuko always struck out as autibpd. He has a very traumatic childhood where his younger sister gets all the attention away, he lashes out at his uncle and due to trauma bonding Ozai was his favorite person. But as time went on and Zuko realized who he is without his favorite persons approval he learned to have his own identity other then being a puppet. Maybe im just projecting idk.
Cute is my favorite blanket complement so I try to pick specific parts of people to complement. It's easier to say "your hair is pretty" than fight my desire to call them a cute person
Thank you for the video, now I know that almost all my favourite characters have autistic traits. And I love it. I'm very "high functioning", but it's hard for me to recognise ASD traits. Thanks to ASD coded characters, not only do I learn how ASD can look, but also that unmasking these traits is ok, and I find these amazing characters which I relate to. Here is my take on characters which are created to be autistic. I used to like Sheldon, but the moment I realised I'm autistic, I started to find the show problematic. However, he is a great representation of ASD asshole, and sadly I know some like him. I also watched 2 episodes of Good Doctor and then cried for several hours so I'm not doing that again. I highly recommend Woo Young Woo, because she is a character which made my family more open to talk about autism (used to be taboo). I really like Accountant, and he is my favourite character, but I understand why the film is problematic. Rain Man is really good, but my sibling told me after the film that: "He is not like you, because it looks like there is something genuinly wrong with him, while you just look stupid." And called my diagnosis BS. When I read manga I often find "autism" to be used as a slur, or someone use it as a warning ("He will become autistic if he stays in his room all day" ). If I ever find a partner and would wish to explain ASD to them, I probably wouldn't do it through a film or comic.
Great vid! And I think you're right. Autistic coding characters give off a more rich story telling vs representation. Because when you start to intentionally make autistic characters, it becomes rigid and we're still seeing women with autism as a newish thing. For sure, there are autistic-coding men/boys in anime and seen as heroic. Whereas, autistic-coding women/girls in anime are heavily infantized and are just 'weird kawaii.' I hated this so much. Kino from "Kino's Journey" was the closest I saw as autistic coding but not infantized due to the fact that she dresses like man (like my pfp) Sigh.
I once asked my mom if there was a time she and my dad thought I was autistic, she told me yes but from a scale of one to ten she said 1 and I felt confused later my friend asked me if I had ADHD cause she always saw me fidgeting whenever I sat down and their are time I see that maybe I do have one of those but I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder so I’m confused most of the time whenever I catch myself fidgeting or getting overwhelmed with my surroundings. I wanna get tested but I’m scared that it’s all in my head and it’s not real (autism runs in my family, and I did research on mental health and neurological disorders cause I want to work on a field that helps people with neurological problems)
I personally think that Dazai from BSD could be autistic too, specially if we take into consideration that his character was inspired by Oba Yōzo from "No Longer Human". Oba had noticed since early childhood that he was different from the other people. For example, he didn't feel hunger, or didn't know which present he should've asked from his father. He feared humans because he couldn't understand them. Therefore, he tried to do social masking by playing the image of a funny clown in school. This has a lot in common with the anime Dazai. For him, good and evil don't mean much, probably because he is autistic and doesn't feel these social laws like neurotypical people do. And I also think he might have high empathy, since he understands other people's feelings very well and manipulates them based on that.
Tbh idk if i agree with coding being better-while yes majority of creators are NT coding just gives NT fans a free pass to deny a character is autistic just cause its not stated outright Like im a monster high fan and ghoulia yelps in gen1 is very clearly autistic & nonverbal- her bio states she struggles with expressing herself , hates changes and needs a routine shes even shown to have a special interest in tech-she also doesnt talk she just moans and groans which nonverbal fans have said is how they communicate too Yet bcus shes not outright stated as autistic and mattel said she “speaks in zombie” nt fans refuse to accept shes autistic coded even defending mattel removing all of these traits from her in gen3
One thing that makes the Sheldon character worse is that in real life and in the show, he is explicitly stated to be not autistic. Part of his lore is that his parents had him tested (multiple times if I remember correctly) and the results were inconclusive. On top of that, the creators straight up said he is not, which is convenient. They get to shove a bunch of autistic stereotypes into a character and make him the focal point of most of their comic relief and spectacle, then say he’s not actually autistic, which means they and their audience get to laugh at autistic people without technically laughing at them. It’s a flimsy way to give themselves plausible deniability while having fun with ableism. “No, the joke isn’t that he’s autistic. It’s that he ACTS autistic”.
Something I hate about the Rosmen Russian translation of the Harry Potter books: Luna was renamed into Polumna, which sounds similar to the word "poloumnaya", meaning "mentally-disabled" in a perjorative way.
I want to add: Hitori Goto from Bocchi the Rock, Maomao from Apothecary Diaries, and Ariga Makoto from Hourou Musuko. One of these is definitely Trans, and the others are ace-spec coded.
I think most of Zoe Deschanel's characters have been more like 'Angelman syndrome coded' if we weren't only looking at them through the lens of autism.
I've started to realize that as an autistic person a lot of my favorite franchises seem to have at least a couple of autistic coded characters. I have so many examples though probably the one that has the most autistic coded characters is JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. From JoJo's Bizarre Adventure there is Jonathan Joestar, Jotaro Kujo, Noriaki Kakyoin, Josuke Higashikata, Giorno Giovanna, Bruno Bucciarati, Pannacotta Fugo, Trish Una, Vinegar Doppio, and Weather Report (I haven't finished all of JJBA so there could be others that I haven't seen yet. Also some of these may just be projection on my part but eh)
YES! That is one of the reasons I love JoJo’s so much, it’s so amazing to see the casual neurodivergency (even if it’s just coding). And they all play such powerful roles and have meaningful relationships with their (often also autistic) friends. They’re allowed to just exist for who they are.
@@absolutely_ell4 Yeah! There are other neurodivergencies besides autism that I noticed in some of the characters as well. Even if it is just coded/lightly implied, I still love it! It makes the show feel so special to me because I can see myself in many of the characters. It makes them feel so relatable and easy for me to bond with.
Could it be the these studios are worried about backlash/criticism from the audience if an autistic person is diverse taking it racist or sexist rather than showing that people of all backgrounds could be diagnosed with autism since most people aren’t aware or don’t take autism seriously?
I'm surprised no one brought up Jordan Kent from Superman. They do stated on the pilot that he has some sort of social anxiety disorder and when you take everything to account it isn't really all that big a leaf to say that he could be autistic.
watching this i can't help but reflect upon myself wtf is up with me. i'm defnitely different than almost everyone else but i've always just believed it's because i'm "smarter" than most of my peers. i don't think i'm autistic, but i do spend a lot of time with autistic people. i'm just sort of naturally drawn to them, and i don't like making friends with non-autistic people. that's not a decision i've made, i've only learned my friends were autistic a good while after befriending them. but what does that say about me? watching this video i can't help but feel like some of the points sort of hit home in a sende, yet i can't diagnose myself with anything relating to autism or any sort of disability. except for a few adhd symptoms that i feel like most people can relate to, i'm definitely still far from actuallly having adhd. autism just feels like an answer to why i am the way i am, yet the dots don't completely connect, ever.
Me*to Shera characters sarcastically*:"First Peridot from Steven Universe and now Entrapta. Way to go. Put all disabled characters on leashes. Real classy, people. Real classy."
entrapta was able to get of the leash and was more useful of the leash and perdoit isnt cancily autistic and it happend with mikey he got trapped in that thing
As someone who's HetAce (and possibly has ADHD) I hate Elsa as a character in general. I prefer Lilo, Luna, and Newt.💁♀️ Also, I don’t care what identity you have, what matters is your actions. You can argue that certain characters are "PrObLeMaTiC" all you want, but the reality is you just can't please everyone no matter how good your intentions are. I'm personally sick and tired of people treating the LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent people as first-class citizens that need to be protected from criticism. Bigots are going to be bigots and no amount of "good representation" (at least according to *your* definition) is going to fix that.🤷♀️
and there is nothing wrong with calling a autisitc person cute and entrapta is shown having a romantic relationship so its like oppistie with entrapta dont call the show right for something they did right
While there is no way to completely eradicate every single autism stereotype which I know its not what you're saying, I wonder how can writers portray autistic people the right way as characters? Not as comedic devices or secondary characters, but as actual believable characters who just so happen to be on the spectrum? And how can being autistic be a main point to movies, books and shows? If there is a video that covers what I am saying let me know! Or at least the closest to this, like humanization and using quirks the right way to portray a character.
What about the other shawhn he isn't codded he is cancily aurstic he is little kid not a adult so whearter he is treated as kid or not doesnt matter cause he is one he has a special interest in trains he is a stereotype kinda but still better charcters/rep than this shawhn as for the leash scene she was able to get of the leash when she wanted and was more usefull of the leash and atleast unlike the other charcters you mentioned she is shown to be able to experience romantic attraction and there other aurstic codded charcters who are obssed with stuff/ there special interest for example marientte is obssed with her crush adrien and seems to have a special interest in him and marcy is obssed with and has special interest in video games and entrapta and marcy were cofiend aurstic except for marcy they said they didn't intend it at first but changed things at the end of the show and it's cofried a mirclous is aurstic but it isn't cofiend who it is though plus just like marcy they never mad there treatment of her seem like a good thing just that she was also in the wrong of only focusing on her tech and nothing else and all her aurstic traits as shown to be both advantages and disadvantages rather than one or the other which really good to this is no a hate comment btw just a correction that's all if normorna didn't realize her crush was evil she would creepy and none will call her out not even herself or her mom so even good charcters can have bad traits I don't hate normorna btw I just find her kinda annoying due to that so now entrapta wasn't shown as a angel entrapta likes small foods ear plus running around even when not in space watching people interact her friends cause the one who helped with social cues is clearly her friend depite being mad at her since why else would she help her with social cues and now they dont treat bad anymore and love interest and madye more but that's all I can think of at the the moment so she likes more things than just tech after all that I mentioned do you still think she is that bad aurstic rep ? She also likes purple and autistic people have refnied interests so do you still think entrapta is bad ?
As an autistic guy, I honestly couldn't disagree more with this video. We do not want to be represented in the media like how you're explaining it. Don't get offended on our behalf!
The stuff you said about Entrapta being "problematic" is total nonsense. There's no problem with her portrayal at all. She inconvenienced other characters in the show because of her autism? No, it's not problematic, it's realistic. Autism isn't just being weird and being good at a specific thing, there are times where people with ASD are good at something, but have behaviors that makes things difficult for others. Entrapta was good with machines, it's like a gift, but those abilities come at the cost of some character flaws. That is what autism is, having positive qualities and talents, but major flaws in other areas. The reason why autistic people get infantilized so much is because many refuse to take accountability for their actions and just blame everything on their condition. No, if you want to be treated like an adult, take responsibility as adults and DO BETTER. Everyone should try to do better whether they're on the spectrum or not. Do you think they just put Entrapta on the leash for the sake of it? What else did you want them to do? They had a problem to solve and they saw the leash as the only way to solve it. Sorry that they can't always make autistic characters as perfect as you like, but you are not an authority on this. You are just one autistic person.
you know atleast entrapta is called out for focusing to much on tech unlike norma who isnt called out for being creppy before re finding out her crush is evil not even herself or her mom called her out
Norma didn't have a crush on Pauline. Pauline Phoenix was her special interest, like how trains or horses or Kermit the Frog could be someone's special interest. It's not weird to have your special interest be a celebrity, especially if their work makes you feel seen. The only person Norma had a crush on in that show was her coworker Badyah, who she was notably _not_ creepy towards and was genuinely friends with both before and after realizing her feelings and not having them requited because Badyah is straight. Tbh the biggest problem with Norma as a character who's supposed to be Autistic is that they never explicitly say she's Autistic in the show like they do with Barney's transness or Norma's bisexuality. I found Entrapta to be good rep, too- both Entrapta and Norma made me feel incredibly seen! -but blatantly misrepresenting Norma's character in an effort to do a "gotcha!" at the video creator is just... it comes across as petty and dishonest at best. Especially since Norma is based in part on the creator of the show's own experiences growing up as an afab Autistic person. /nm
@@lalas181 and yes it isnt weried for a special interest to cebliry but all she ever talked about was paline and autistic people talk about other things to if there not obssed but norma
why do characters need to be viewed as autistic-coded as soon as they exhibit a trait associated with autism? cause there are people like that who are not autistic.
i think it has more to do with autistic people finding comfort in characters who exhibit similar traits to them personally. and in general, everyone will present some autistic traits in their life; the difference is that for someone to be autistic, these traits have to be consistent and combined with many other factors. most of the characters autistic people like to think of as neurodivergent are frequent with their behaviours and traits, its shown constantly in their chatacter. this is what makes them autistic coded. think about it like this; you might have a runny nose and a cough, but that does not mean you have a cold. hope this helped even a little bit :)
![Autism Tropes in Media [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/k7q2A3ic0-w/mqdefault.jpg)
![Autism Tropes in Media [CC]](/img/tr.png)
![ไข้ขึ้นเลย! เมื่อแฝดโดนจัดเต็มวัคซีนครบ2เดือน🤒 [cc] แดนแพทตี้ SS2 | EP.54 |](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/z2VHItnyyvY/mqdefault.jpg)
I once read something that really stuck with me. "Autism is cute until someone grows up." Because that is so true.
There are even people that think autism is something you grow out off because it is mostly known as a child thing.
I have it and that is true but except sometimes when they grow up they infantilise autistic people instead.
@@PlanetZaia I wish people saw me more like a child and less like an adult tbh. I wish there where more options for autistic people with regular IQ but childlike personality, almost inpossible.
I think some people think you grow out of autism because they see people learning to mask as they get older
I came for ranpo in the thumbnail. As a neurodivergent myself, bsd is one of my all time favorite series for many reasons, and one of the main reasons is how neurodivergent coded so many of the characters are, and not just in a stereotypical way. Besides Ranpo, Poe and Kunikida also have a lot of autistic traits, and yet they have very different behaviors and personalities than Ranpo.
Literally why I’m here to
Yesss ranpooo 😂😂😂
I was here for Luna Lovegood, she’s so amazing
I'm more like Chuuya,short tempered and more than a little blunt
I'm and love the show for the same reason kunikida is a favorite of mine
>be me
>white "boy"
>very early 20s
>F*cking love trains
>pursue STEM education
>socially inept & Bullied for it
>accused of speaking weirdly
>Be diagnosed with ADHD
>told i should look into whether i have ASD at the end of my appointment
>mfw i am literally a walking stereotype.
ah yes one of the classic special interests, trains (no hate i'm autistic with a special interest in one very particular game called cookie run kingdom)
About the mysoginy, I totally agree. People don't want to admit that also women can be autistic because women have to be always socially acceptable for men, so autistic women are more pressured to mask than autistic men because...you know.... "Boys will be boys"
lol so true, apparently I managed to hide my autism for 17 years from everyone, including myself, despite being tested for it early on in my childhood (as far as my parents said so)
I’m what world do you live in if you think boys are never pressured to behave well in a social setting 😒
Is this real? 😂
I've never met anyone who complained about autism coding in media
Let alone autistic women
Wasn't there a Korean show about an autistic Lawyer, I think my guy friends enjoyed that show a lot
People deny the existence of autistic women all the time, for a long time autism was even considered a "boy's disorder" and even major "experts" theorised it was caused by an extreme "male brain."
Right, I agree! Women are expected to be the responsible ones, to take care of and raise not only their children but their husbands as well! So if an autistic-coded man in media acts forgetful, gets caught up in a special interest, or accidentally says something somewhat offensive/insensitive, it's seen as amusing and/or endearing. Male geniuses are given a free pass in media to act "quirky" because they're geniuses, and their intelligence excuses their lack of impulse control or social skills. Meanwhile, autistic-coded women in media are seen as "childish", "annoying", and "airheads". If a female character often forgets things or gets caught up in a special interest, she's seen as "irresponsible" and/or a ditz, because how dare a woman act in the same manner as a man and need any kind of help or assistance? It's a woman's job to care for her husband, to keep track of his schedule and basically act as his unpaid secretary! It's a woman's job to plan all his meals, remind him to do things, mend his clothes, clean and take care of the house, the dishes, the laundry! It's a woman's job to act as her husband's emotional support animal and comfort him when he's angry or upset! It's a woman's job to basically become her husband's mother and replace his real mother as his caretaker! When autistic-coded women are accepted in media, it's because they're fetishized as "cute", pure-hearted virgin ingenues in need of a man's guidance and protection. Just so long as they don't cause trouble for others or need any actual assistance, so long as they don't show any kind of assertiveness or personality outside of this fetishized image, they are okay.
Lilo and stitch was my favorite movie growing up. I used to watch it on loop everyday. It explains a lot being that I’m autistic I related to her in some ways. I relate much more to autistic coded characters then characters that were explicitly written as autistic.
Same. Lilo’s my favorite! 🥰🥰
Oh same! I relate to her since as a kid, I never could make friends at all and had interest in horror lmaoo but I was never diagnosed with autism nor I am right now. Thought there symptoms I have had at the time, but at the time I was not told what I had until my therapist told me recently it was anxiety
Me as well!
Lilo was and still is my fav disney girl in my entire 16 years of life :D
The stuff about female charcters and gender makes a lot more sense once you remember a lot of a AFAB individuals grow up undiagnosed since research of autism on female bodies has been very misguided and lead to gender bias and stereotypes- the symptoms show similar, but if boy is quiet, he's weird. if a girl is quiet, she's well-behaved.
Female bodies? Can't you just call them women?
Hope you're watching BSD S4, since they made a great adaptation out of this light novel. You can truly feel Ranpo's anguish (almost a meltdown), it can feel heart wrenching, even. ASD aside, Ranpo can also be a Savant. His perception and intuition are brilliant, while his sense of direction is absolutely awful. His peculiar social skills are also related to both, I think. I'm glad he found the father figure he needed to organize his mind better and to become even more amazing!
I think they're going to pull an Alico from The Pit. Also orphaned at a young age and was raised to assist an armed humanitarian organization as it's eyes and ears after the leader noticed his syndrome (he also snipes)
Never seen the show but Alico was my nickname in 12th grade
yes and i’m caught up on the manga!
So many people seem to think that chacters like Luna are naive simply because she is optimistic.
Not just characters, real life people too, unfortunately. I can't tell you how absolutely frustrating and infuriating it is to be seen as "naive" when in reality I'm just optimistic and like to give people the benefit of the doubt. There's a difference between being ignorant and unaware of the bad things in the world, and knowing about those bad things but choosing to be kind and loving and try to see the best in people anyway. I'm an idealist, not an idiot. Too many people forget that the two aren't synonyms, and if you cross me you will soon see I'm not so innocent and defenseless.
I feel like you hit some key details here, mainly being the frustration that autistic people have at the more "straightforward" depictions of "weird nerdy guy," and that coded characters (be it autistic, queer, etc.) can be some of the best depictions of these characters, even if not perfect. Because believe it or not, being autistic isn't a "main story element" in most peoples lives like media portrays, its usually a bunch of little things, Comfy clothes, conversations being a little weird, so on. A coded character works so well because of this. If media goes out of it's way to tell you a character is autistic, then it's probably important somehow to the story, and if it's somehow important to the story, it's probably not a realistic characterization.
Also, having writers who have experience or education with or are themselves autistic, queer, etc. is extremely important to having accurate, positive representations rather than the old and pretty harmful "body of a 24 year old mind of a 7 year old" trope that gets applied to so many
I like to think that Kunikida and Dazai from BSD are also autistic coded but in different ways! It just shows how diverse ND people can be
I THINK THE SAME!!! Kunikida is definitely the much calmer٫ more put together side of Autism. The fact that he literally writes everything down and is so neat about it screams Autism. I don't even think I have to explain Dazai. His special interest is clear٫ and he's just whacky.
My favorite Autistic coded never officially stated Autistic charector is L from death note, (and to a lesser extent near as well) because L is very strongly autistic coded. To the extent if you read l one day you could probably put him in having moderate support needs (needing assistance with ADLs, such as dressing,and you might assume washing given wateri apparently invented a human washing machine for him with built in drying featur, which honestly reads as support parent who doesn’t want to help with washing multiple times a day like L wants.
L also shows a lot of stims and sensory issues, hyper focus on solving cases, cause his favorite things are puzzles that challenge him
Unfortunately L does have the sterotyoical savant like intelligence and skills, I mean he is meant to be the worlds hreatest detective, who solves crimes from his bedroom never showing his face, and does it because they are puzzle for him to and this is fun for him, which is very major autism stereotype but not played off as one, or welll it doesn’t give that same Sheldon cooper energy f you know what I mean
ButI even with being awkward, doesn’t fall into the burden, and his awkward int generally a joke, though I have seen it make some reviewers uncomfortable, other charectors react l confused that he is L when they meet him, they remark he looks a bit off in one scene when he show up to give a speech not dressed up like people in a crowd would, but he is in the show actually given respect and actually a whole person (as much as charectors in death note are whole rounded people at least)
I love that he’s barefoot most of the time and won’t wear socks and barely puts on shoe if he has to wear them, he loves sweets, he wears the same clothes,because sensory preferences, I love that he is alsways subtlety stimming ot stacking coffee creamers for example while thinking, and I love how his awkwardness exists in the space but isn’t standing out it just flows naturally,
I feel like y’all just putting autism label on any autistic character in fiction stories like bro i like doing stuff that i like like in L case don’t mean i have autism dawg and i have been checked for it i don’t quirky characters don’t mean that they’re meant to be autistic
I can see this, vividly
@@rizzwan-42069 Autism-coded characters and Autistic characters are two different things, autism-coded characters are viewed as such because autistic people can find comfort in relating to characters in such a way, and autistic characters are confirmed. autism-coded characters aren't instantly autistic, they just share traits. You yourself have stated that you are not autistic, so this is not your place to speak.
I’m autistic and I often get frustrated when people say: “sheldon isn’t the right representation of autism” when nobody ever said he was. The _creators_ even said “we don’t diagnose our characters”
Someone with some sense
He himself said that he is NOT autistic "My mom had me tested, I am not crazy"
Also he's a jerk I can't stand him
@@T3RM1N4llyOffl1n3 he’s not a jerk he’s just slightly deranged. But I see your point. He has a superiority complex, but he’s not mean to people on purpose.
@@T3RM1N4llyOffl1n3 I hate when people argue with things that don’t exist “sheldon is bad representation, 😰” like bro nobody said he is autistic and the creators said they don’t diagnose characters
Sure, he's not autistic, but just happens to have all the stereotypical traits of someone with autism in Hollywood movies and TV shows. Sounds to me like someone wanting to have their cake and eat it too.
I'm not autistic (at the very least I've never been diagnosed with autism anyway) but I can relate a lot to autistic-coded characters like Ranpo, Twilight Sparkle, and Elsa. In that one episode, when Ranpo freaked out because he couldn't understand others, I was shocked yet happy because "omg, someone else gets it!" I thought. It surprised me how this character was able to express and sum up what I've been feeling my whole life sorta, that I'm different, that I can't understand other people. Not in the sense of I don't get other people's emotions (actually I'm very empathetic if I say so myself, and I've always been rather sensitive) but in the sense that I never really understood what my peers were interested in growing up and, like Ranpo, it felt like there was some secret they were all privy to that I was not. It still feels that way sometimes, and it's very frustrating and disheartening. I get the feeling that people look at me strangely, they think I'm strange, and I'm not quite sure why. What is it I'm doing wrong? What is it about me, about my actions or what I'm saying, that makes people look at me like that? Is it all in my head?
Sometimes it feels like people kind of treat me like a child, even though I'm an adult woman. I've been called "cute" on a couple different occasions and I guess it's flattering but it also sometimes somewhat feels like I'm being talked down to sort of. I've never once been called "sexy" or "hot" which is frustrating, because I don't want to be just "cute". Idk, maybe it's because of my shyness and tendency to keep to myself. Maybe it's because I don't really seem to know all the things I ought to know by now, things other people take for granted. Maybe it's because of my "naivety", because I try to be nice to everyone and give everybody the benefit of the doubt. Or maybe it's because of my sincerity, because I generally see the good in other people or at least try to, and I get attached to people easily and I'm a little too honest at times, idk. Anyway, sorry for rambling on about this, but thank you for making this video it was very interesting and I think you make some excellent points about autistic people and autism-coding in media! I know this was made a year ago but I hope you got a good grade on this assignment because you deserve it!
I LOVE RANPO! HES SO GOOD AT SHOWING SIDES OF A CERTAIN WAY OF THINKING THAT YOU DONT SEE OFTEN!!
I love this is a project I stumbled upon! As someone who found out at 31 that I’m autistic, autistic coded characters always made more sense to me before I knew what coding was.
You did great ☺️
Something that is so funny to me is that every time I feel like a fictional character is literally me, they always end up being autistic-coded. But the character I relate to the most is Ranpo, even snacks and sweets being his safe foods applies to me. I JUST LOVE HIM SO MUCH! (and I enjoyed your video as well)
Honestly same here. I'm suspecting to be somewhat autistic (tho I'm unsure as a friend of mine is autistic and I know others, so I don't want to compare myself to them) but characters like Newt and Luna, Lilo and Elsa always made me comfortable? Like I don't know why that is, maybe because I've been made fun of so Luna instantly felt like comfort (and Hermione to some extent too, tho I wouldn't call her autistic?)
What I like about Entrapta is after she talks to the princesses they stop using the leash on her, because they finally understand what she’s been doing. And that she does have people who like her because of her obsession with tech, like Hordak, he loves her no matter how much she likes tech. He appreciates her for who she is and Scorpia does as well. They never get mad at her like the others do and let her be herself.
She really needed an episode where scorpia is forced to defend her, and perfuma is held accountable for being so dismissing of her...
Good video! Your take on Elsa as an Autistic-coded character is really poignant. The scene where she freaks out in the castle and accidentally hurts Anna is definitely her having a particularly harrowing meltdown. I've had those kinds of meltdowns before, and they are _the worst_ because now someone who was trying to help you is also hurt and confused and it's not just you. For the thing about Ranpo, I think that his sweet snacks could be a bit of a stim. Other than just sensory issues making food difficult, having snacks to munch on or a pleasant and familiar taste in the background can definitely help with self-regulating. I know I personally prefer to have a lollypop or some gum or some hard candy in my mouth while I draw or write to help regulate things! Though that could also be because I also have ADHD in addition to Autism and the sugar gives my brain the extra stimulation it constantly craves, but eh. There's definitely overlap between the two things on that specific front. If there wasn't, they probably wouldn't be comorbid lol
I do disagree with some of your points about Entrapta, but tbh that's both okay and expected since us Autistic folks sure aren't a hivemind like some allistic people sure do like to pretend we are! Specifically, I think she's an amazing example of representation of a high-empathy Autistic person. She may not get social cues, but she isn't entirely oblivious to how others are feeling. She empathizes with Hordak's struggles with his physical disability, and even goes as far to help him out with some new assistive devices and making needed changes to his already existing ones. In the episode where she's on a leash (which isn't the best in and of itself, I agree there), it's revealed in the latter half of the episode that why she kept running off into dangerous areas was because they had bits of tech that would be helpful in solving a problem that another character was having. Mermista even tells the others off for being so hard on Entrapta in that episode because she _is_ trying to help, she's just doing it in her own way and wasn't able to communicate it. Hell, she even empathizes with actual literal robots, which is a mood if I've ever seen one. I especially like how they actually acknowledge that she is able to tell when people are irritated with her or find her annoying and bothersome in the "Destiny" two parter. She tries to keep on a happy face because masking and also The War™, but when Beast Island starts dredging up everyone's insecurities and draining their wills to persevere Entrapta practically melts into a puddle of depressed loneliness. When she was talking about how she feels useless and like everyone would be better off not dealing with her and her Entrapta-ness, my brain lit up and went "That's me! That's how I feel all the time when I'm not distracted or entirely in my element!" And Bow doesn't reenforce _ANY_ of her self-hating thoughts when she dumps them on the ground in front of him. He makes sure she knows that she actually is appreciated, even if some of the Princesses are mean to her sometimes or don't really "get" her. That she _is_ necessary, and he _does_ want to be her friend because she's _her,_ and that they came to Beast Island specifically to find her and bring her home. I never got the impression that she was being framed as a "burden". Just as a character who sometimes causes conflict, just like some of the other characters do. This isn't to say she was always handled perfectly or that there's no flaws in how she's presented or anything, but between her being high-empathy, and a functioning adult, _and_ actually being allowed to get a love interest she really did feel like decent rep over-all to me despite the writing stumbles.
Edit: got the episode wrong
I also really appreciate that you made video essays. I’ve always loved video essays, and I’ve never made one, so it’s really cool to see those that you made, especially ones that are so personal for you. Your work comes off as very coherent and passionate. I also just love the little grids at the beginning, and the way you work with example clips, text, and other graphics.
i made this when I was 18 for a school project don't take it that seriously or personally alright
Im questioning if im autistic right now. I've dealt with a lot of things like taking things literally too much or taking things as a joke too much and vise versa, and not understanding social cues well, and even hiding from loud spaces. When i was younger no one thought much of it, but as of now im 15 almost 16 and my family finds it odd that im not like "typical teens" and I rather hide in my room and draw instead of party or have a sleepover. Videos like these kinda help/ comfort me and i really appreciate this
Yesss! Same. Its like I feel like an imposter both in the neurotypical world for being different and the neurodivergent world for not having a diagnosis.
But videos like this make me feel so much more valid 😁
Growing up as a baby boomer, there were all these shows like Leave It to Beaver, Father Knows Best, My Three Sons, which showed you "how you were supposed to be." Luckily there were so many children on my block that I knew really early that these shows were repressive propaganda that had very little to do with reality. There were certainly norms to conform to at school, but at least I grew up in an area with different races and a lot of foreigners. And a big enough school that you could disappear if you wanted to. My parents, like most parents back then, were completely uninvolved in my life. We were basically just expected to stay out of the way, and not cause any trouble. When my kindergarten teacher tried to tell my parents that I was autistic, they just ignored her. I was doing alright in school, so as far as they were concerned there was no problem. I just had to manage as best I could. And to tell truth, my parents had so many problems of their own, I'm glad they stayed out of it, because if they had gotten involved they probably would have made my situation much worse.
@@steveneardley7541 im sorry to hear about your situation i can kind of understand what you mean
5:31 While I agree that putting Entrapta on a lead WAS very demeaning, the characters were in a literal life or death situation where getting caught could mean their demise - having said that, they should’ve talked to Entrapta beforehand about how important focusing on the task at hand was & be honest with her about how getting distracted could get them killed.
One thing I DID like them doing in this scene & later eps was how Entrapta later takes steps to correct this behaviour in similarly risky situations - something many autistic coded characters are portrayed as incapable of doing, which is absolute bollocks 🤦♀️ this condition may cause someone to make mistakes more often but they’re not incapable of taking responsibility & making steps to gradually improve over time.
I don't know why this video was pushed to me considering this is a literal school project, but I enjoyed your points, and this was put together very well.
This is a great video!!! We actually made a show about growing up autistic and the lead character is the exact opposite of Sheldon. It's called What's the Rule
you made a show? how? where can I find it?
@@kirjom2505 You can watch it on our channel
@@kirjom2505 go to their TH-cam channel
@@kirjom2505 It’s on their channel
My personal favorite autistic coded character is Caleb Widowgast from campaign 2 of Critical Role. He is shown to stim by flapping his hands, spinning, and counting objects. He has special interests in magic, books, and cats (and not just "smart books" like other autistic coded characters, he canonically loves other books like trashy romance novels too! Its literally just books and reading them itself). He has a familiar named Frumpkin who often acts more like a service animal. He often misses jokes and other social cues and tends to take things more literally. But the best part of course is that he's a fully fleshed out character outside of all these things. His personality isn't just Autism Trait™ (or any of his other traits that tend to get made into character personalities like him having ptsd or being polyamorous and bisexual (we stan a king)). He is still a person and isn't soley defined by these things, and it makes me really happy to see a character that really speaks to me as an autistic person even though hes only autistic coded. Idk, just wanted to talk about him : )
I'm going to be studying ADHD and Autism this school year and this video is going to help me so much! Thank you for making videos that let people know more about things like this
The absolute best example of an autistic coded character from a TV show that I can think of is the bank teller played by Burgess Merideth on the Twilight Zone episode Time Enough at Last. No discussion of autistic coding in the media is complete without talking about that. He was a character who was thought up in the 1960's, before most people even heard of it. I'm sure that the writers didn't even know what autism was. They just thought of him as an obsessive nerd, and they wanted to make a statement about obsession. This needs to be part of a larger discussion about how high functioning autistic people (the thing formerly known as Asperger's Syndrome,) fit into society and how neurotypical society viewed and perceived them before the 1990's when anyone really knew what it was. I want to see someone make a documentary about this.
It's so funny, as someone who's autistic but self diagnosed herself with bpd zuko always struck out as autibpd.
He has a very traumatic childhood where his younger sister gets all the attention away, he lashes out at his uncle and due to trauma bonding Ozai was his favorite person. But as time went on and Zuko realized who he is without his favorite persons approval he learned to have his own identity other then being a puppet.
Maybe im just projecting idk.
Cute is my favorite blanket complement so I try to pick specific parts of people to complement. It's easier to say "your hair is pretty" than fight my desire to call them a cute person
Thank you for the video, now I know that almost all my favourite characters have autistic traits. And I love it. I'm very "high functioning", but it's hard for me to recognise ASD traits. Thanks to ASD coded characters, not only do I learn how ASD can look, but also that unmasking these traits is ok, and I find these amazing characters which I relate to.
Here is my take on characters which are created to be autistic. I used to like Sheldon, but the moment I realised I'm autistic, I started to find the show problematic. However, he is a great representation of ASD asshole, and sadly I know some like him. I also watched 2 episodes of Good Doctor and then cried for several hours so I'm not doing that again. I highly recommend Woo Young Woo, because she is a character which made my family more open to talk about autism (used to be taboo). I really like Accountant, and he is my favourite character, but I understand why the film is problematic. Rain Man is really good, but my sibling told me after the film that: "He is not like you, because it looks like there is something genuinly wrong with him, while you just look stupid." And called my diagnosis BS.
When I read manga I often find "autism" to be used as a slur, or someone use it as a warning ("He will become autistic if he stays in his room all day" ).
If I ever find a partner and would wish to explain ASD to them, I probably wouldn't do it through a film or comic.
Luna is indeed riculed and bullied by some people but there are also a lot of people in the school that really like here and respect here.
Entrapta is apparently not just autistic coded but explicitly confirmed by the showrunners as to be written as autistic
I’m a simple person, I see Ranpo- I click
Same
BTW entrapta isn't autistic coded, the writers said she is autistic.
oh whoops
Woah
Great vid! And I think you're right. Autistic coding characters give off a more rich story telling vs representation. Because when you start to intentionally make autistic characters, it becomes rigid and we're still seeing women with autism as a newish thing. For sure, there are autistic-coding men/boys in anime and seen as heroic. Whereas, autistic-coding women/girls in anime are heavily infantized and are just 'weird kawaii.' I hated this so much. Kino from "Kino's Journey" was the closest I saw as autistic coding but not infantized due to the fact that she dresses like man (like my pfp) Sigh.
Seeing Luna Lovegood on the front makes me so happy, I love her so much! ❤
My autistic ass saw ranpo on the thumbnail and clicked so fast
same frfr
same lol
I loved the mention of bsd in here
I once asked my mom if there was a time she and my dad thought I was autistic, she told me yes but from a scale of one to ten she said 1 and I felt confused later my friend asked me if I had ADHD cause she always saw me fidgeting whenever I sat down and their are time I see that maybe I do have one of those but I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder so I’m confused most of the time whenever I catch myself fidgeting or getting overwhelmed with my surroundings. I wanna get tested but I’m scared that it’s all in my head and it’s not real (autism runs in my family, and I did research on mental health and neurological disorders cause I want to work on a field that helps people with neurological problems)
I personally think that Dazai from BSD could be autistic too, specially if we take into consideration that his character was inspired by Oba Yōzo from "No Longer Human". Oba had noticed since early childhood that he was different from the other people. For example, he didn't feel hunger, or didn't know which present he should've asked from his father. He feared humans because he couldn't understand them. Therefore, he tried to do social masking by playing the image of a funny clown in school.
This has a lot in common with the anime Dazai. For him, good and evil don't mean much, probably because he is autistic and doesn't feel these social laws like neurotypical people do. And I also think he might have high empathy, since he understands other people's feelings very well and manipulates them based on that.
As a young girl I used to say I had powers like Elsa. Little did I know these “powers” were autistic traits, I didn’t get diagnosed until I was 10
Tbh idk if i agree with coding being better-while yes majority of creators are NT coding just gives NT fans a free pass to deny a character is autistic just cause its not stated outright
Like im a monster high fan and ghoulia yelps in gen1 is very clearly autistic & nonverbal- her bio states she struggles with expressing herself , hates changes and needs a routine shes even shown to have a special interest in tech-she also doesnt talk she just moans and groans which nonverbal fans have said is how they communicate too
Yet bcus shes not outright stated as autistic and mattel said she “speaks in zombie” nt fans refuse to accept shes autistic coded even defending mattel removing all of these traits from her in gen3
i really liked this i cant wait to see a second one!:D
Good list, some more autistic coded charecters are Abed from Community, Raj from Big Bang, Edward Scissorhands,
I don't exactly think Elsa's powers are a metaphor, it's quite literally about "don't mask 'cause it'll hurt you" in a general sense.
Excellent job with this.
Great topic selection and breakdown! I hope you got a good grade
One thing that makes the Sheldon character worse is that in real life and in the show, he is explicitly stated to be not autistic. Part of his lore is that his parents had him tested (multiple times if I remember correctly) and the results were inconclusive. On top of that, the creators straight up said he is not, which is convenient. They get to shove a bunch of autistic stereotypes into a character and make him the focal point of most of their comic relief and spectacle, then say he’s not actually autistic, which means they and their audience get to laugh at autistic people without technically laughing at them. It’s a flimsy way to give themselves plausible deniability while having fun with ableism. “No, the joke isn’t that he’s autistic. It’s that he ACTS autistic”.
Something I hate about the Rosmen Russian translation of the Harry Potter books: Luna was renamed into Polumna, which sounds similar to the word "poloumnaya", meaning "mentally-disabled" in a perjorative way.
I want to add:
Hitori Goto from Bocchi the Rock, Maomao from Apothecary Diaries, and Ariga Makoto from Hourou Musuko.
One of these is definitely Trans, and the others are ace-spec coded.
I think most of Zoe Deschanel's characters have been more like 'Angelman syndrome coded' if we weren't only looking at them through the lens of autism.
I've started to realize that as an autistic person a lot of my favorite franchises seem to have at least a couple of autistic coded characters. I have so many examples though probably the one that has the most autistic coded characters is JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
From JoJo's Bizarre Adventure there is Jonathan Joestar, Jotaro Kujo, Noriaki Kakyoin, Josuke Higashikata, Giorno Giovanna, Bruno Bucciarati, Pannacotta Fugo, Trish Una, Vinegar Doppio, and Weather Report (I haven't finished all of JJBA so there could be others that I haven't seen yet. Also some of these may just be projection on my part but eh)
YES! That is one of the reasons I love JoJo’s so much, it’s so amazing to see the casual neurodivergency (even if it’s just coding). And they all play such powerful roles and have meaningful relationships with their (often also autistic) friends. They’re allowed to just exist for who they are.
@@absolutely_ell4 Yeah! There are other neurodivergencies besides autism that I noticed in some of the characters as well. Even if it is just coded/lightly implied, I still love it! It makes the show feel so special to me because I can see myself in many of the characters. It makes them feel so relatable and easy for me to bond with.
Could it be the these studios are worried about backlash/criticism from the audience if an autistic person is diverse taking it racist or sexist rather than showing that people of all backgrounds could be diagnosed with autism since most people aren’t aware or don’t take autism seriously?
I'm surprised no one brought up Jordan Kent from Superman. They do stated on the pilot that he has some sort of social anxiety disorder and when you take everything to account it isn't really all that big a leaf to say that he could be autistic.
Thoughs who came cause of the bsd hyper fixation like me 7:50
watching this i can't help but reflect upon myself wtf is up with me. i'm defnitely different than almost everyone else but i've always just believed it's because i'm "smarter" than most of my peers. i don't think i'm autistic, but i do spend a lot of time with autistic people. i'm just sort of naturally drawn to them, and i don't like making friends with non-autistic people. that's not a decision i've made, i've only learned my friends were autistic a good while after befriending them. but what does that say about me? watching this video i can't help but feel like some of the points sort of hit home in a sende, yet i can't diagnose myself with anything relating to autism or any sort of disability. except for a few adhd symptoms that i feel like most people can relate to, i'm definitely still far from actuallly having adhd. autism just feels like an answer to why i am the way i am, yet the dots don't completely connect, ever.
Why is No one talking about Noah Foster From Scream? That seems like such an obvious one
Me*to Shera characters sarcastically*:"First Peridot from Steven Universe and now Entrapta. Way to go. Put all disabled characters on leashes. Real classy, people. Real classy."
Perdoit isn't cancily autistic and entrapta was able to get of the leash and was more usefull of the leash
entrapta was able to get of the leash and was more useful of the leash and perdoit isnt cancily autistic and it happend with mikey he got trapped in that thing
2:00 do you have actual statistics regarding this pattern?
Lastly I find it hard to believe that most creators are neurotypical, it might be true but a lot of artist do have a type of autism.
Well I do believe they would discriminate thou
i grew up with my older brother (who is autistic) who acts EXACTLY like sheldon cooper, wild
Im autistic and everyone keeps saying I don't "look" autistic.
this is such a great video it deserves more views
I feel like all of Wonderlands x Showtime could be autistic (maybe adhd too), reply if u want me to explain why
As someone who's HetAce (and possibly has ADHD) I hate Elsa as a character in general. I prefer Lilo, Luna, and Newt.💁♀️
Also, I don’t care what identity you have, what matters is your actions. You can argue that certain characters are "PrObLeMaTiC" all you want, but the reality is you just can't please everyone no matter how good your intentions are. I'm personally sick and tired of people treating the LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent people as first-class citizens that need to be protected from criticism. Bigots are going to be bigots and no amount of "good representation" (at least according to *your* definition) is going to fix that.🤷♀️
elsa autisitc traits can be explained by other things she probaly isnt autistic but other charcters are
She just had trauma from being forced to isolate herself because of her ice powers
We literally get other autistic characters in good doctor alone when dr murphy multiple times mentions it’s a spectrum what more do you need
and there is nothing wrong with calling a autisitc person cute and entrapta is shown having a romantic relationship so its like oppistie with entrapta dont call the show right for something they did right
How is Zuko autistic coded?
6:39 Please do not try to compare the 2.
4:48 L isn't seen as acceptable to society at all? Or as humours? His colleagues even have admitted to hate him
No wonder i liked frozen so much as a kid. Lol
I'm here because of Zuko
what would luther fall under? he's clearly not neurotypical
and some autistic people can be ace in fact I think its common
👏 👏 👏 great job
While there is no way to completely eradicate every single autism stereotype which I know its not what you're saying, I wonder how can writers portray autistic people the right way as characters? Not as comedic devices or secondary characters, but as actual believable characters who just so happen to be on the spectrum?
And how can being autistic be a main point to movies, books and shows?
If there is a video that covers what I am saying let me know! Or at least the closest to this, like humanization and using quirks the right way to portray a character.
Donnie from Rottmnt 9:21
Yeah, there are certainly few females. Temperance Brennan is the only one I immediately bring to mind.
What about the other shawhn he isn't codded he is cancily aurstic he is little kid not a adult so whearter he is treated as kid or not doesnt matter cause he is one he has a special interest in trains he is a stereotype kinda but still better charcters/rep than this shawhn as for the leash scene she was able to get of the leash when she wanted and was more usefull of the leash and atleast unlike the other charcters you mentioned she is shown to be able to experience romantic attraction and there other aurstic codded charcters who are obssed with stuff/ there special interest for example marientte is obssed with her crush adrien and seems to have a special interest in him and marcy is obssed with and has special interest in video games and entrapta and marcy were cofiend aurstic except for marcy they said they didn't intend it at first but changed things at the end of the show and it's cofried a mirclous is aurstic but it isn't cofiend who it is though plus just like marcy they never mad there treatment of her seem like a good thing just that she was also in the wrong of only focusing on her tech and nothing else and all her aurstic traits as shown to be both advantages and disadvantages rather than one or the other which really good to this is no a hate comment btw just a correction that's all if normorna didn't realize her crush was evil she would creepy and none will call her out not even herself or her mom so even good charcters can have bad traits I don't hate normorna btw I just find her kinda annoying due to that so now entrapta wasn't shown as a angel entrapta likes small foods ear plus running around even when not in space watching people interact her friends cause the one who helped with social cues is clearly her friend depite being mad at her since why else would she help her with social cues and now they dont treat bad anymore and love interest and madye more but that's all I can think of at the the moment so she likes more things than just tech after all that I mentioned do you still think she is that bad aurstic rep ? She also likes purple and autistic people have refnied interests so do you still think entrapta is bad ?
Relatable i'm autistic
also someone in another video that they need to be restarined or something or they will wounder of or something
As an autistic guy, I honestly couldn't disagree more with this video. We do not want to be represented in the media like how you're explaining it. Don't get offended on our behalf!
mf who's we now you're speaking on behalf of other people
@alam2258 you literally spoke on behalf of autistic people in the video 💀
yeah and you did yourself when you said “we do not want to be represented…” and “our behalf” … sounds like speaking for people
Dummy shes saying you said we as in you were speaking for all people@wallsgirlfriend9841
@@wallsgirlfriend9841your a dummy she's saying you are a Hypocrite as if you speak for all
if its extreme they can act like a child
The stuff you said about Entrapta being "problematic" is total nonsense. There's no problem with her portrayal at all. She inconvenienced other characters in the show because of her autism? No, it's not problematic, it's realistic. Autism isn't just being weird and being good at a specific thing, there are times where people with ASD are good at something, but have behaviors that makes things difficult for others. Entrapta was good with machines, it's like a gift, but those abilities come at the cost of some character flaws. That is what autism is, having positive qualities and talents, but major flaws in other areas.
The reason why autistic people get infantilized so much is because many refuse to take accountability for their actions and just blame everything on their condition. No, if you want to be treated like an adult, take responsibility as adults and DO BETTER. Everyone should try to do better whether they're on the spectrum or not. Do you think they just put Entrapta on the leash for the sake of it? What else did you want them to do? They had a problem to solve and they saw the leash as the only way to solve it.
Sorry that they can't always make autistic characters as perfect as you like, but you are not an authority on this. You are just one autistic person.
yes mabye they should done something else though but also she was able to get of the leash and was more useful of the leash
and all of entrpata autistic traits are shown as both good and bad
you know atleast entrapta is called out for focusing to much on tech unlike norma who isnt called out for being creppy before re finding out her crush is evil not even herself or her mom called her out
Norma didn't have a crush on Pauline. Pauline Phoenix was her special interest, like how trains or horses or Kermit the Frog could be someone's special interest. It's not weird to have your special interest be a celebrity, especially if their work makes you feel seen. The only person Norma had a crush on in that show was her coworker Badyah, who she was notably _not_ creepy towards and was genuinely friends with both before and after realizing her feelings and not having them requited because Badyah is straight. Tbh the biggest problem with Norma as a character who's supposed to be Autistic is that they never explicitly say she's Autistic in the show like they do with Barney's transness or Norma's bisexuality. I found Entrapta to be good rep, too- both Entrapta and Norma made me feel incredibly seen! -but blatantly misrepresenting Norma's character in an effort to do a "gotcha!" at the video creator is just... it comes across as petty and dishonest at best. Especially since Norma is based in part on the creator of the show's own experiences growing up as an afab Autistic person. /nm
@@lalas181 she had pictures of paline on every wall she brought everything based paline baday was her crush and baday is paline
@@lalas181 yes she is obbsed
@@lalas181 and yes it isnt weried for a special interest to cebliry but all she ever talked about was paline and autistic people talk about other things to if there not obssed but norma
@@lalas181 is it nomoral to have way to many pictures of someone even if there a celberty
Remember being passionate is being autistic. Thats what i got from this
Then you misunderstood it
why do characters need to be viewed as autistic-coded as soon as they exhibit a trait associated with autism? cause there are people like that who are not autistic.
i think it has more to do with autistic people finding comfort in characters who exhibit similar traits to them personally. and in general, everyone will present some autistic traits in their life; the difference is that for someone to be autistic, these traits have to be consistent and combined with many other factors. most of the characters autistic people like to think of as neurodivergent are frequent with their behaviours and traits, its shown constantly in their chatacter. this is what makes them autistic coded. think about it like this; you might have a runny nose and a cough, but that does not mean you have a cold. hope this helped even a little bit :)
@@pinksharkz521 actually, it did help. thanks!