The coding of donnie in rise feels realistic and complex which is huge. Rather than being “the autistic” or the butt of the joke, he’s a genuine character with autism. An accurate representation of what it COULD look like while being a character with real personality and individualism. It’s refreshing and exciting! Donnie is among my favorites from rise (next to mikey!) so I think he’s written amazingly well
Honestly I was really confused with people going "the autistic" and making it seem bad and creepy when you cannot separate someone from their autism. It isn't a roommate and isn't an allergy, you are literally born with it. That's why people mostly prefer being addressed as autistic, because they are embracing their symptoms and C-PTSD eventually or always have.
I feel like another great example is Abed from Community. In Community it’s more clear Abed has Autism compared to Donie but they use that in the show, not by making fun of stereotypes but making situations only Abed would find himself and his friends in because of his Autism.
@@anglepsycho i might actually be able to help with that, when they talk about being able to 'separate' the characters from their autism, they don't mean that in a literal sense, instead they mean that the characters shouldn't be defined solely by the term 'autistic'. you should be able to describe their personality without using that word at all. for example, i could say that donnie is witty, sarcastic, intelligent, and a bit of a smartass. sure, these elements tie into his autism, but he's just as much of a character without the label. hope this helps!
I agree this is amazing representation! But I always feel bitter sweet when I think about the fact that having good autistic representation is so rare that if we’re so much as portrayed as actual character it deserves a celebration. The fact that we’re jumping for joy at the fact that Donnie has feeling makes my stomach churn, yes I’m absolutely overjoyed that us neurodivergents are getting more, and better, representation, but the fact that there’s so little absolutely sucks
As someone on the spectrum who has seen some of the WORST representations of autism in movies and tv, Donatello was the breath of fresh air that I needed
As an autistic/ADHD person, the way Donnie was portrayed is SO important to me. It's the little things, like how Donnie goes on his phone in almost every scene he isn't directly speaking in, or how his family doesn't alienate him. How he speaks in a monotone/formal way or uses his battle shell to accommodate him. The writers never make him seem odd or any weirder than the rest of his weird family. He's the type of character I would've loved to have to related to as a kid, and would've made me feel a lot less different than others. Representation like his matters, and it's so unfortunate that rise was discontinued (at the time of writing this). Tbh I just think the rise writers REALLY know how to write nd characters because they did I really good job with Mikey too (Sorry for rambling in your comments lmao) I love this video so much, great job!!
this this this! i'm very touch averse like donnie because of sensory problems, and was always criticized for it and basically "trained" out of it like a lot of autistic kids are. seeing his family respect him and his needs is so important and comforting to me, and it makes me happy to know children will get to see themselves where we didn't get to. and yes mikey!! please someone make an adhd analysis for mikey so i can watch it! 😭
As a Donnie fan something else that I noticed and have take great admiration for is that even though Donnie doesn’t like to initiate touch and has a slight aversion to it he seems to be comfortable when it comes to Mikey. I’ve rewatched scenes of Donnie and Mikey together and lot of the time they are both physically affectionate towards the other. Like when Donnie let Mikey hold his arm, or in the movie where pulls Mikey to him in a one arm hug when he sees how scared Mikey is after they fail to save Raph. I don’t know if it’s due to just Donnie being a protective older brother but I find it rather wholesome that he’s the most comfortable around the youngest of the family.
I feel like Donnie and Mikey had an especially close relationship, not just because they have a lot of episodes together, but because of how they interact with each other
It kinda reminds me of my sis and I because she (a Donny simp lol) has Autism, and also dislikes physical affection other than from hugging her best friend. However, when I'm really not feeling great emotionally, and no one else seems to understand (I have ADHD), she will hug me despite her aversion of that. It always means a lot to me when she does that because I know she really cares for me. Lol, I don't know if it's been confirmed, but it would be funny if Mikey had ADHD because he's literally so much like me. (drama queen, creative as heck, and side note off-topic- loves pineapples on pizza, draws on self with pen, etc...) I think we can all agree that Donnie and Mikey are the best turtles from rise. (Imagine if all the turtles from rise represented something different idk...) Sry for the rant lol.
You know those sonic forces kind of thing or wait am i even saying the right game sonic forces it's hard to tell there's to with f in the name one is cringe you know those robots in sonic forces they kind of remind me of like the dystopia of the krang I'm calling it that just because i don't know what it's actually called
OK WAIT BUT MYSTICS BEING TIED TO EMOTIONS MAKES. SO MUCH SENSE. Mikey is the most emotionally inclined, hence why his weapon was the first to activate, Raph's strong feelings of protective-ness and urgency to save Leo during the rooftop scene with Draxum are what allowed him to activate his complete aura ability, Leo struggles with his portals because of his struggle with his self-worth, and all the stuff you mentioned for Donnie makes sense for him. It all makes so much sense now! I love this so, so much.
This also explains why Mikey is such a powerful mystic in the movie. He’s such a ball of empathy and emotions and loves his family so openly that it results in stronger power (and in the dark timeline he dies trying to help Leo and Casey). Donnie is the opposite extreme: his emotions are muted and he’s not very open, and struggles with using it as a result. Personally, I headcanon all of the boys to be autistic/ADHD in different ways
Donnie's relationship with his family is the best, I love that they always punch up and not down with him. They rib him but it never feels mean or malicious and it's just the best. Bar none my fav interaction is the scene where Donnie says Basketball wrong and Raph is just like, "I know what your doing, you PoS. STOP."
This, exactly! I've had a hard time putting it into words, but I think "punching up" is the perfect way to describe how the other boys razz Donnie. They never tease him about anything that could actually be hurtful or ableist-like the basketball example, they only call him out when he intentionally plays up his "condescending intellectual" schtick. This is true of the show as a whole, too. Donnie's autism is never treated like a flaw that need to be overcome. The jokes are never about the fact that he has special interests or sensory issues, or that he's low empathy. Even in the Donnie-centric episodes where he has to learn some kind of lesson, the takeaway is more often that he needs to be more of a team player and understand that he can't use tech to solve all his problems. Something that's really important to me is that in the rare instances where the jokes *are* about those things, it's always Donnie himself who's making them. He zings himself about being low empathy with all his jokes about not feeling emotions, he gives himself the nickname "Vomitello" about his sensory issues, etc. It's just good writing. You love to see it. (Edit: I just finished watching the full video, and a lot of these points are already made!!! I guess it just goes to show how good the show's writing is, if all of this is so clearly identifiable and relatable to its audience!)
one thing i really love about rise's depiction of donnie's autistic traits is in how his family/the people around him respond. or rather, the fact that donnie is never shown to be the butt of the joke because of his autistic traits (obviously he is often the butt of the joke, they are brothers after all). More specifically, he is not treated as being in the wrong for his low empathy, or touch aversion. In fact, the characters often go out of their way to accomodate for him, without it being made a big deal of . Raph's "this is not a hug! its a rescue" and mikey knowing that donnie's worst nightmare would be touching the awful goo are just two examples of this, as well as all the brothers happily accepting the affection of donnie's robo-arms, without shaming him for not being able to provide "more". I find that this kind of reaction is very rare in media, as often the autistic character is shown to "grow" by suddenly being able to be empathetic, and touchy when the NT characters prove that its the "better" way to be. That never happens in rise, donnie's allowed to be touch averse, and show little empathy, and he is never told he's wrong for doing or feeling those things. :) amazing video i cant wait for more !
I also love that when Donnie goes into an info heavy speech, the rest of the family accepts it and shows patience, like they give a casual "this will be awhile".
Having watched the movie earlier today- there was also the scene where Leo reunited with Donnie and Mikey after they're unable to save Raph, and Leo ran straight past Donnie to hug Mikey (and Donnie quietly got out of their way). It was such a simple moment but really powerful nonetheless. Even in the heat of the moment, running high on emotion and stress, Leo remembered and respected Donnie's touch aversion. And this just made it even more heartwarming when Donnie happily went in to hug Leo in the end. Jfc these four are sibling goals. And going back to the scene where Donnie is forced to touch the goo to control the Krang ship, I REALLY appreciate how Donnie's discomfort wasn't played as a joke, and they framed it in a manner that looked genuinely terrifying. Because it was most likely a legitimate hell for him, especially when he had to leave his soft shell exposed to feel it too.
Thank you so much this video was so cathartic. To me Donnie is the perfect representation of autism. I don't feel he's stereotypical. He is definitely my favorite character in rise he is so relatively. To see a character on screen like him just makes me happy.
agreed! i can definitely see how he could be labeled as a stereotype but as i said, i think it goes way deeper than that. we definitely need more characters like him on screen.
One of the episodes that was cut actually explored another interest of Donnie’s: gardening. Also, this video is so well-done, thank you for making this
Whenever I see attempts at autistic representation as an autistic person it feels like it’s supposed to teach the allistic people about autism. In that situation that autistic person is a lesson, not a person. I’ve always struggled with not seeing characters like me being portrayed. They’re always logical and are portrayed with having no emotions. I am a logical and emotional person so I’m glad to see that Donnie isn’t just a stereotype he is so much more than what he contributes to the team. he has just as much depth as any other character in the team and it’s lovely! I can relate to the fact that he talks very formally and grammatically correct. I’ve been told I speak like a writer, grammatically correct and riddled with expressive words.
That's true, and sometimes seeing "educationally autistic" characters is fine for the sake of bridging the gap, considering the stage of understanding that we're at right now, but it does get exhausting that every autistic character is a Thing. I love Donnie for that reason, it feels like he was meant to be seen by us rather than someone who exists for allistic people.
I had a bit of the same thought on an episode of a show my parents were watching about a year ago. It was a show that dove into a number of social topics, and one of the episodes was about people with autism, and featured a number of people who all expressed their autism very differently. And I think thats great. However, speaking as someone who has lived those experiences their entire life, I feel like the way the show ultimately approached or said a lot of things was kind of shallow, overly simplified or reductive, at least for my tastes. Not so much in a harmful or malicious way, mind you, but more in a "we want this to be accessible and understandable for people who dont know anything about this stuff" kinda way, which I do think is a very valuable thing to have, and was also the idea of the show in general on a variety of other topics as well, so good on them, I do think that is a good thing. But, again, as someone who lives that experience, thats just not the type of thing I wanna watch myself... And thats fine because it wasnt made for people like me, but I still would like some media that manages to do people like me well in a way I can also enjoy, like TMNT mannaged to do with Donnie. This turned into a bit of an essay... my apologies...
@@TheSpeep don’t worry about your comment being too long, I found it quite enjoyable to read! And you put in a way that I I couldn’t quite figure out, but it explains how I feel
By far one of my favorite parts about rise is the way donnie's family handles him. They treat him like a complete person while also managing to meet him half-way with things he clearly struggles with (EX: leo complimenting the bikes and clarifying hes not being sarcastic; raph making it vocal that he isn't hugging donnie when saving him). They don't tend to get their feelings hurt from his low empathy bc they know that's just how he is, and that there's no negative intent behind it. They love him exactly as he is, and express no interest in him needing to change.
I love that you mentioned about people with autism that also have high empathy. I am autistic and have high empathy, which many people don’t understand. I am also extremely extroverted with also makes people confused as well. Even with this, I am still autistic and there is no one way of being autistic.
Im a social and high empathy autistic person too! :D I wish there where more autistic characters like that in popular media beacause (not that i hate unsocial autistic charactersl but im getting pretty tired of having autistic characters being almost genius, not liking to be around people or doesn't show many emotions :/ Im not saying characters like that should be removed but i want an autistic character that doesn't feel like the opposite of me ;-;
your analysis of donnie's staff weapon actually made me tear up. I like dance and I like martial arts because it helps me to train the parts of myself that I am not naturally proficient in and helps me to feel more connected to my body and strengthen my personal shortcomings.
This is the exact reason I love those things as well! Feeling in tune with your own body is so rewarding, I don't really know how to explain it. When I used to regularly practice martial arts, the bo was one of my favorites for this reason. I'm so glad that part resonated with you! 💕
You definitely need more subscribers, this is great Rottmnt has a special place in my heart, my dad once came into the room while i was telling my brothers about this stuff and he didnt really understand, he was like “low empathy just means your a dick with no feelings” and i got pretty ticked off at that, wish some people would actually do research on things and think before they speak In all Im glad donnie was written this well, its a good that more things are getting out there like alot of lgbtq representations and just some mental disabilities Even if theyre not 100% conformed, it helps alot of people understand those types of things and topics
agreed!! even if the word isn't said, it doesn't mean that person isn't autistic. characters like donnie are helping us bridge the gap in understanding and i'm so excited to see it.
I relate to Donnie in a lot of ways. One of the biggest ways was how he goes about physical affection and touch. It makes him uncomfortable and he often would rather have it avoided unless he’s the one initiating it. I relate to this and my family used to think that I felt “too cool” to hug them or as if I hated them because of this when in reality it just makes me uncomfortable. (sensory issues) My body physically recoils from hugs 😭 I just rather people not show their love for me like that and the way his brothers acknowledge how he doesn’t like to be touched in a way that isn’t demonized made me very happy. Great video, I am a new subscriber 😈 (a few other things he does/has that i relate to: stimming, big vocabulary bc i love my silly words, mispronouncing words for fun [bAs-kAy-bAll] and his love for dance :))
I feel this so hard, and I'm sad that so many people do. I have always been really avoidant of physical touch because of sensory stuff but, like a lot of autistic kids, got "trained" out of it for allistic people's comfort. Being touch averse doesn't mean we don't feel affection or love, and I'm so glad to see Donnie displaying that and his family accepting it. You deserve to be met where you are because you're wonderful as you are.
@@heybuwan thank you, i didn’t realize how much i needed to hear that last bit. :(( I can tell you’re also pretty wonderful 👉👈 I’m glad I found this community because it’s the first time i’ve felt so seen. I MEAN HECK I DIDNT EVEN KNOW WHY I WAS DOING HALF OF THE STUFF I WAS UNTIL I SAW DONNIE DOING IT💀
I am not autistic, but I always try to learn more and more about autism and other disorders so I can understand my neurodivergent friends better and recognize their needs. Representation is really really important and it needs to be made with care and accuracy. Thank you for this video! I really like analysis videos about donnie's autistic representation because while I learn and understand more about autism and autistic people's experiences, I also understand more my favorite character of rottmnt!
I actually cried while watching this. My school put me down as autistic from a young age, but when I finally went to get it diagnosed at 18 I was told I didn't qualify. I've been trying to 'fix' my autistic traits ever since. Hearing all my traits called out with examples - as something positive no less - was really vindicating for me. While I'm still unsure if I'm autistic or not, it means the world knowing whatever traits I do have aren't negative. Thank you so much.
Of course! Above all else, please know this: there is nothing wrong with you or your (possible) autism. You are valid and wonderful just the way you are and deserve to be met where you are, and you aren't alone. We're all working towards a better understanding together. Thanks for watching! 🐢💜
If it makes you feel any better, something similar happened to me, albeit at a very young age. My mother told me that when she got me checked when I was really young, the doctors described me as "not autistic, but ten steps below" as she said. I think what they were trying to say was that I wasn't officially autistic but shared a lot of similar traits. I guess that's part of why it's called the spectrum since everyone experiences different traits at different frequencies. I am not saying this should somehow invalidate your struggles, but maybe this helps provide some explanation about why you didn't qualify. That, or you should consider getting a second opinion if you haven't already.
A personal thing I love about Donnies autistic coding is how his autistic traits aren't made fun of. Yeah they've been the joke (the feet tappy dance, "Ohmigosh dreams do come true!", ect-) it's only funny given the context that they're put in. It's not "look at this autistic trait, that's funny isn't it?" And it's "these autistic traits are treated in the same way anyone else's character traits would be used and that's the comedy, not the traits themselves" Leo being cocky bastard is funny, but it's a character trait. Raphs anger is funny, but it's still a character trait. Mikeys high empathy is funny, and still a character trait. Same goes with donnies autism. And the show has always gone out of his way to treat all those traits SERIOUSLY and not make caricatures of them. Leo's cockiness is acknowledged as a serious thing he needs to work on, or the fact it's hiding away his deep rooted insecurities and fear of vulnerability. Raphs anger is acknowledged and justified given the fact he's scared for the safety of his family. A thing he believes he's solely responsible for. Mikeys high empathy is shown to boost Mikeys emotional intelligence and he shares what he knows with the rest of his family. Him also being outwardly upset has been treated seriously before. And with Donnie it's no different, his outbursts, genuine happiness and sensory issues have been treated with the seriousness they deserve. I'm glad the writers didn't shy away from making the autistic character funny WITH his autistic traits. It's such a hard line to walk, considering it borders on "making fun of autism" or "it can't take the autistic traits lightheartedly and it always treats it as this BIG THING", BUT THEY DID SUCH A WONDERFUL JOB WITH UT. I'm not autistic, but a lot of the people closest to me are, and so seeing the lighthearted yet serious and non malicious take on Donnie is something I actually treasure a lot.
Agreed! Context is important in the comedy of the show, because Donnie's autism isn't the joke. It's the way he refuses to say "basketball" correctly or how he doesn't think his lying is /that/ bad. It's jokes we can find funny because it feels like it was written for us, not for everyone else and we just get to come along for the ride.
I love how the movie treats his touch sensory issue with touching the krang as a difficult obstacle he has to overcome to save the day and that he's not treated as a coward or has a touch love moment to him like "get over your stupid phobia soldier!". Mikey encourages him and knows that this is the hardest trial Donnie has ever had to overcome.
Donnie in my opinion is the best character in a show I’ve ever watch (I’m being fr). When I first watched the show I didn’t really understand what autism was like and how it shows (symptoms) and for some reason I didn’t realize him as ‘different’ or anything. When I think of Donnie and how he thinks it reminds me of myself and ig it didn’t even phase me that he was autistic. I’m not autistic (I believe) but I really connect with him and idek why. Maybe his sarcasm or empathy or something but I always feel comforted and safe when watching the show especially when he’s on screen 💜(anyone else? Or is it just me?)
omg same!! he was the one I identified the most, and actually made look more into the topic (autism spectrum), and I noticed I have a lot of the symptoms, I want to talk with my therapist about it but unfortunately I didn't have the time yet. anyway Donnie it's definitely a great character I hope other shows get inspired to do characters written like him 💜🐢
Honestly, as an autistic person? Donnie’s behavior is..super similar to mine. The part of analyzing his behaviors, the choice of weapon (a weapon I myself was trained to use when I was younger), and on top of all of that the ‘nice’ way of discussing the attributes without attacking Donnie or his writing? It..actually made me tear up a little. I guess I felt seen. Thank you for making this video :3
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed! I relate a lot to this Donnie and wanted to handle him with care. And same! The bo was one of my favorite weapons to train with!
Okay something I don’t see brought up because it’s REALLLLY tiny but very telling is in “Breaking Purple” (which I’m just realizing it a Breaking Bad reference). There’s a scene where Mikey asks him about emotions he lists “Hot, cold, sleepy, and hungry” These are feelings yeah, but not in the same way “happy” or “sad” are- being very physical and objective feelings, that are comparatively easier to name and express giving reason for someone with low empathy like Donnie to think of them first.
Your intro was such a breath of fresh air- the amount of people I hear spouting shit like "everyone has a little autism" is aggravating. This video is amazing by the way- I learned way more in this video then even what my therapist has told me.
i love donnie so much and am happy as someone with an autisic brother and friends that there are repersatation like rise donnie. now something about this is I've now come to realize I may too be autistic, I relate to donnie a lot. but the thing is that it could just be my ADHD cause I'm diagnosed with ADHD but then again it could be a misdiagnose or maybe I have both! I've seen many MANY things and they all point to me being autistic. idk if I do have it though, its confusing me! yes i do have times being over stimulated by noise and then keep focusing on it making it worse or when i cant understand something. i would ask my parents to get a diagnoses for me but they said that its just my ADHD
I saw the first video essay, loved it, immediately subscribed and turned on notifications, and I'm SO GLAD I DID!!! I watched this with my sibling (We're both on the autistic spectrum) and we both were super happy! Such a great video! My sibling especially really loved it. They see so much of themselves in Donnie and a huge part of that is because of their Neurodivergence, and to see this character that they connect with so much analyzed through the lens of his autism makes them, really happy! I personally see more of myself in Mikey, but I'd be lying if I said that the representation Donnie gives is unappreciated. Also PLEASE make a Mikey video essay, he is my favorite and I relate to him an unhealthy amount! He needs all the love!!!
thank you so much this is so sweet!! 😭it makes me so happy to hear so many people seeing themselves in this donnie. we need so much more rep like this, he's a step in a really good direction. mikey will DEFINITELY be getting an essay cuz i love him, he needs some love too 🐢🧡
OMG YESSS I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO POST AND ALSO AMAZING VIDEO WHOOO!! Honestly Donnie is such an incredible representation for the autistic community, my sister is autistic and I see her in Donnie when it comes to stimulation and stimming. Also I love being surrounded by people with Donnie’s personality they are such talented, funny, creative, interesting and intelligent people THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY BADASSES!! Also it’s so cool that you find comfort in Donnie’s character we need more representation like him!! I’m sure your all the traits I listed as well!! (You seem really interesting and intelligent- I find people that make and create videos, art and scripts for analysis really smart!)
thank you so much, that's very sweet!! we definitely need more representation like donnie, it makes me so happy to know that characters like him can be visible to children now since i didn't have that growing up. he represents so much more than a funky little purple turtle 🐢💜
I actually really enjoy it when characters with autistic/ADHD traits are inhuman in some physical way too like being an alien or mutant. It does create a “normal vs not normal” visual metaphor, but it oddly makes it seem more “for us”, like out there somewhere there is a society that finds autistic/ADHD traits entirely normal and acceptable without having to justify it to anyone. And I just enjoy inhuman character designs more, but that’s just me. This is a fantastic video and was very informative, thank you! The portrayal of Donnie and even Raph in Rise helped me realize and accept a lot about myself, and I’m glad others have found that in this show too!
That's super valid, I actually really like the Angara for this reason too! When I played Mass Effect Andromeda, I was shocked to find how much I liked the idea of their culture and how comforting I found Jaal's honesty to be. And I do love a cool alien. On the other hand though, I can see why this repetitive depiction can be as harmful as it is in good fun.
This is such an incredible video essay. I'm not autistic, but I am neurodivergent, and you perfectly explained all my jumbled feelings on why I resonated so much with the way Rise!Donnie was written. Your point about him feeling like "a character that just so happens to be autistic" instead of "the autistic character" encapsulates it perfectly. Both queerness and neurodivergence feel so inherent to the show and its characters. The representation may not be explicitly mentioned, but everything from the writing to the art style seems intentional. Maybe it wasn't, but like you said, it's a hell of a coincidence if it's not!
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed! Representation and coding can be really hard to pinpoint and tackle, but with this show where everything feels very intentional combined with two groups (neurodivergent and queer) that have been essentially trained to look for nuances and subtext for their rep, I find it hard to believe that any of it was done unintentionally.
As a High Functioning Autistic person myself, Donnie became my favorite character instantly. I also have trouble with socializing, I have my own personal stims, and I still have some motor function issues. But like this show, my family doesn't alienate me because of this. They acknowledge that I have it and still love me for it.
I would like to point out Donnie being very relatable on the fact that he has these little quirks that some of us also do have, as someone in the autism spectrum I literally see Donnie as another me sometimes when I watch him. Even his color, purple, even plays a role into his character with purple being a very compassionate color among other meanings. Donnie exhibits personality quirks most commonly found in the spectrum, of course like you said it's not the same for everyone but in some cases it's incredibly similar. Donnie being written this way may very well have been some weird accident like Luz from the owl house, the creators saw this and decided to wing it which... I think happens a lot if I think hard enough on it. When writing a quirky character like this it's often a very good idea to actually pace it out to where it's not overdone and well in this case it is. It works brilliantly
As someone who’s going to be evaluated for audhd soon, the Donnie and Mikey solidarity is everything to me. They feel like such good adhd autism rep, and I love their bond. Sidenote, 2012 Donnie and Mikey kinda feel like autism-adhd solidarity as well, though of course less fleshed out. Both versions have been my favorite characters in the franchise. Great video essay!
Idk if I’m autistic or if it’s mainly stemming from how I was raised, and it’s been bothering me for a while cause I don’t wanna be one of those people who are just eager to fit into a particular category. As of now, I’m trying to tell myself that autistic or not, this is who I am and just try to navigate the world as best I can
I absolutely love Donnie. His representation is amazing, and his family is so understanding. I related to him from the first episode. I'm so glad I came across this video, your analysis is so well done! I wish my family was as understanding as Donnies family.
Being autistic myself I can relate to all Donnie's actions can say that it's pretty accurate to how I acted before course my dad still getting used to it but that's okay we then got me officially confirmed about me having autism until last year so yeah I can relate with Donnie here
I don't really like to bring up my place on the spectrum very often, given that I have a multitude of disabilities as it is (ADHD, high-functioning autism, aspberger's, even vertigo). But I have to admit this series got me into TMNT and I immediately resonated with Donnie as I watched the show. It's important to remember that as humans, we all have our stuff. Basically everyone has some form of "disability", wether it be physical, emotional, mental, whatever. Donnie feels like a person BECAUSE he's flawed, but also brilliant and creative in his own individual way. Funny how this is all coming from the haha funny turtle show, but I really gotta hand it to the creators for their writing of the characters in general, but especially Donatello.
I actually *LOVE* this video!! Im not autistic but i always found the topic "autism" really interesting!! I also *LOVE* donnie and the fact that almost the whole fandom agrees that he has autism, including me, lol. Sometimes i even wish that i had an autistic friend because I've always wanted to learn more things about autism!!!! (Not in a bad way, i actually think they are really nice and fun people even tought I've just seen autistic people on media😭😭) I also love how he's being loved for the way he is, which he totally deserves, and his relationship with other characters!!! (I sometimes feel kinda jelly because I never had friends like that or a friend group like ttmnt😭😭) Sometimes i wish i had a friend like donnie but i don't really know if someone with autism would like to be friends with me since im an extrovert (enfp) with adhd and im going to be honest i act and relate to Mikey *A LOT* which also makes me think that he has adhd, it would be great if you talk about it in your next video, i would love to watch it!! Hope you'll have a great day and thanks for reading all of this, byeeee!!!!!!!! Edit: Sorry if i texted something wrong, english is not my mother language, haha!
Buwan, once again you knocked this out of the fucking park. Amazing lead in, knowledgeable, and entertaining of a video!! Even helped me realize I....do some of those things myself, so haha learning more about my own mind every day 😂 Thank you, truly, for taking the time and care to talk about stuff like this. You're truly a treasure 😭🙏💜💜💜 ...also remember to eat. Love you 😘
Very nice vid! ^v^ I'd also like to add that both I and my best friend firmly headcanon Raph as autistic as well. Given so many little moments and traits he has, he just strongly has that autistic vibe to me. One moment that always sticks out to me is his anger about his "just kidding" quotes getting completely misunderstood in the ep 'The Mutant Menace'. Another bit comes from 'Snow Day' - we see him happy stim as Mikey's explaining the rules of the snowball fight, and then later on he mentions how he gets 'stuck' in a pirate accent after watching that one Jupiter Jim movie which, yeah that's happened to me before, haha. I could also see the "I wasn't sure if they knew what a week was" bit in 'Pizza Pit' as him feeling like he needs to overexplain so that there isn't any miscommunication, which could also be considered an autistic trait. Similar to Mikey, he can be highly empathetic (becoming incredibly attached to people like Frankenfoot and objects like Laceface the football), and Raph also shows signs of having anxiety ESPECIALLY when things change rapidly - like when he suddenly loses his brothers in 'Man VS Sewer'. He also has his own special interests - specifically wrestling and (possibly) bears, given his teddy collection and love of Ghostbear specifically. And speaking of THAT, we see him get overwhelmed either by his own emotions as well as by noise, as seen in episodes like "Mascot Melee" and "Shell in a Cell". And really, just the way Raph says certain things or phrases also just comes off as autistic to me - like Don, he just has a very particular way of speaking and, idk. Like I said, it's just a really strong inkling that both me (someone who only recently realized was very likely autistic) and my bff (someone who was lucky enough to get a diagnosis as a child) have.
That's really interesting, I know a lot of the fandom headcanons all of the boys as neurodivergent in some way but I never noticed how many traits Raph has! I love that so many of us can look at these characters and see ourselves in some way, especially when it comes to this. It's so comforting and refreshing to see characters that are just allowed to be. Thanks for watching!! 🐢❤
You were able to articulate so many things that are so hard for me and many other autistic people to put to words, ESPECIALLY with the beginning of the video. And I never actually realized that he tends to like consistently outwardly take more stressful situations worse than the others. I'm really glad you really broke down all of those episodes for an in-depth analysis on his traits and specifically to tie them into how they contribute to his personality because I think that's one thing a lot of allistic people get wrong. They kind of tend to write the symptoms, but not the personality (and the rottmnt writers get that RIGHT they put it into his personality) This video just did a really amazing job explaining and describing what it is about Donnie that makes him such a good example of an autistic character. He's just like me fr. AND THAT ENDING BIT. AGH THAT HIT ME IN MY FEELINGS.
Hello! I love your Donnie video too, thank you for watching!! And thank you, I was worried I overanalyzed these episodes so I'm glad the message got through! :'D Personalities with autism can be hard to grasp for people who aren't autistic but it's not impossible. With more characters like Donnie, I think we'll be able to bridge the gap someday. 🐢💜
I have been diagnosed with ADHD and autism since I was very young. In older years my autism has become more apparent and as I never got any information about either of my diagnosis, but especiallymy autism, this has become a bit of a problem. But this video somehow helped me better understand some things about my autism that I wasn't aware of before. Like the whole thing with not handling change, I've always thought this was just me being, well, me, and while my autism is indeed a part of me, knowing why I have trouble with changes somehow helps. When I first started watching rise, I didn't pay too much attention to Donnie, but after hearing it mentioned about him being autistic, I payed more attention to him and ended up loving him as a character. I relate to some parts of him and I see other things about relating to my best friend who's also autistic. And while we gave autistic traits that overlap, a lot of traits are different for each of us. Thank you for making this video, it really helped me.
Another amazing video!!! 2 for 2- and if that little hint at a Mikey analysis is anything to go by, 3 for 3 in the future? 👀I totally agree with your assessment of Donnie as a representation of an autistic person, and although I am autistic but do not behave in any way similar to Donnie (I'm much more similar to Mikey and will be an autistic Mikey truther until the day I die) I, like many others, adored how autism was portrayed in Rise through Donnie's character. Just seeing a character who stims in ways that I do that isn't put down or treated as weird for it is so incredible and I'm so happy that the creators and writers put so much care into Donnie's character and how his friends and family didn't treat him any differently for his behaviours.
thank you so much, i hope that i keep making good stuff lol mikey's neurodivergence is definitely something that needs to be discussed more, esp since he was mentioned in the same tweet that confirmed donnie's autism!
I've really enjoyed the videos you have put so far. Like everyone else in the comments, I love Donnie and listening to more videos focused on how to write about autism has helped me understand a bit better the autistic experience and how to be a supportive friend for my autistic friends. I also just really like the way you write your videos, I think they're very nuanced and have lots of potential! Keep up the great work, I look forward to seeing your upcoming works!
Beautifully done! Thank you! The positive talk surrounding Donnie as a good representation of autism is actually what got me into Rise, and has also lifted the stigma and fear I felt toward autism to a degree that I can finally start looking into my own lifelong struggles with the symptoms, so… I’m kind of all about this right now. 😂 Will be watching for that Mikey analysis! 👀
I love how he isn’t super generalized. Donnie is clearly a unique character with strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Usually with autistic rep it’ll either be heavily stereotyped or incredibly broad, with only a few traits displayed. The way Donnie is in the show just makes him feel more realistic and not one-dimensional. I absolutely love that, and this point is proved by me, an autistic, being able to relate to some parts of his character but not others. Autism is a spectrum and that is definitely shown in Rise.
Progressive autism representation to me is when it isn’t used as a lesson for neurotypical viewers. When there’s an educational segment crammed in like “oh they’re autistic, this is what autism is…” “we need to try and accept them for who they are!” “I’m sorry we treated you poorly” etc etc, a neurotype becomes a narrative device and it just separates the autistic character from the rest of the cast. What I love about Rise is there’s an unspoken understanding among all the characters. When Donnie speaks or acts differently it’s just a regular Tuesday. He’s not “the autistic one”, he’s just Donnie! That is the kind of acceptance I crave in real life, for the people that I love to just be used to me, used to how I am. Donnie encapsulates that perfectly. His brothers just genuinely love him, all of him, and he never feels out of place because the show never alienates him
One thing that upsets me the most is communication. It can naturally become upsetting that I can't explain things, "normally", in this sense, usually my Mom only understands what I'm saying. I often wave my hands around to show what I'm saying when I talk, my words often not sounding English to others is hard. She's taken the the time to understand me even though I'm different. Most of the times I don't understand what people are feeling and lack to help them, or have meltdowns that don't make sense until people actually ask me. Autism is hard handling once you say, "You've got Autism but that doesn't mean there's something wrong with you." It just means some things are harder or easier than others. For example, I'm decent at art, but when I was younger I'd ask why people draw the way they do. You see how that sounds mean- I was just curious because I didn't recognize art differently for everyone. I made a lot of enemies just because I couldn't understand why others would have a different art style. They thought I was saying their art looked bad but that wasn't on my mind at all.
i love this video so so much! this means so much to me as a autistic person :) donnie is definitely my favorite autistic character and i’m so grateful for him representation wise
I'm about to write a wall of text- (infodumping be like) Donnie's obsession with tech was definitely my first "waitaminute" moment for the character. Of course, most Donnies have this but the way it was portrayed made it stand out a bit more as something that he's fixated with, rather than something casual. I have a lot of special interests, some of which fade in and out depending on literally just what I'm interested in at that moment. (Some of the more static ones are psychology and social justice so this is gonna be very long sorrynotsorry-) My special interests are pretty much always taking up some space in my mind, and I take *every* opportunity to infodump. I also know just how disheartening it can be to be denied that chance when people show disinterest. Low empathy is... *Not* something I have. In the slightest. I'm actually very high empathy. But the amount of Autistic characters I see in the media who are "low empathy" are just straight up ableist. Donnie, thank you. Todd's scouts was definitely when I said "holy crap he's like me-" Because that was definitely a meltdown. My phone is my comfort item too, and I need to have it with me *at all times.* It either needs to be in sight, or I need to be able to feel it in my pocket. So many teachers have told me off for having it on my desk and I have to explain that I'm not even gonna use it, it just needs to be there. (They never actually believe me-) When I'm anxious, things get loud, and I get overheated and just- *t o u c h i n g .* Which pretty much immediately brings on sensory overload- Donnie's way of handling his meltdown is actually very healthy. He seems to have an innate knowledge of what's happening to him and how to deal with it. He probably stims more in this episode than all the others combined, which could very easily be seen as a conscious effort to ground himself, which is something I do. He vocalizes his need for his comfort items, which won't bring them back, but shows he's aware of his situation and honestly? Sometimes talking about my comfort items can bring me comfort, albeit a small amount. He also goes to measures such as making his goggles out of pinecones or covering his shell with bark. He's going to an effort to at least *replicate* his comfort items, which is such an amazing touch, because once again, the bare minimum for me is feeling my phone in my pocket, which is about the equivalent of what he's trying to do here. You can see the process of the meltdown getting worse but then better as he adapts to the situation and finds ways to make it more familiar to him. I could see the moment it ended. He wasn't complaining about his phone, he took off the substitute tech and he stopped the scratching. My parents, bless their Neurotypical hearts, laughed as they saw this... "unhinged" Donnie, while I was biting my nails in the background because *I got it.* He was in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar situation, without any of the comfort items he usually carries around, and with no way to really distract himself via special interests because there's really no tech in the woods, nor any way to indulge in his love of music or sci-fi *without* his tech. This is probably why he specified his phone as the thing he needed most. He could easily load up music on there, which would probably be a simple calming strategy. I sighed aloud when he started being *Donnie* again. (Also the ASL definitely solidified my already forming autistic headcanon because NONVERBAL EPISODES BE LIKE-) And the motor skills are just like me I swear- Give me sports, I'll crash, but give me music and I'll dance like no one's watching. Give me a pencil, nope. But I type like a God. All in all, this is the most natural representation of Autism I've seen in media like, ever. His Autism is never treated as a mental illness or even a disability. And I know that's our best definition for it at the moment but I've never seen my Autism as a disability. Ever. And I know other people feel the same way. And his family is so supportive I swear- He's the one who's the target of the last physical affection, and while his family might slip up and miss his discomfort, it's obvious they're aware of his sensory issues and accommodate to the bet of their abilities. While they're not very patient with listening to him infodump, they never discourage him from his love of science. Their annoyance isn't with him, but rather, comes from a lack of interest in the topic, which is completely understandable. They love talking about Jupiter Jim or Lou Jitsu with him, and depending on the situation, groove out with him to his beats. (I.E. Leo backing his rap up) Mikey definitely shows the most understanding as someone who probably has ADHD. He actively tries to understand him, no matter how hard that is for him specifically. Bringing out Dr. Feelings to help him express himself healthily without ever acting like one of those therapists who try to enforce eye contact like it's the most important thing in the world- (I usually look at people's mouths cuz it's less overwhelming and let's me process words better. Guys always think I wanna kiss them-) They're all very aware of his low empathy and very much understand when he's being sarcastic or not, and they never get mad when he misunderstands a social cue. Donnie's not "the Autistic character." He's a character who happens to be Autistic. And he's so *real* to me. I see myself in him but also see him as someone who's definitely not me. I feel like when I see Autisticcoded characters it's either "they're just like me" or "no." The former is nice but ultimately makes Autism seem pretty 1dimensional. The other one... No- I see him do things that I do, but also see things that are nothing like any of my experiences. He's like a friend. There's common ground, but he's too deep for me to call him my kin. And strangely? That's a better feeling than if he *was* my kin. Don, I love you. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
I think analyzing Donnie's character in regards to being "the savant" is so interesting because, like you mentioned in this video, there definitely are SOME parts of Donnie that could make him labeled as "the savant autistic who's autism is 'acceptable' cause he contributes"; what's amazing tho is that Rise manages to tackle that by addressing Donnie's insecurities with serving a purpose or having a "use" on the team. For one, Donnie vs. Witch Town is all about Donnie feeling like his special interest with tech is his only redeeming factor and how he gets over that (his whole monalogue had me in my feels). Secondly, despite his insecurities, his family never ONCE reduces him to "the tech guy" or just what he contributes to the team. This complexity in Donnies character+autism is what makes me love him and Rise so much, and your video really highlighted that. Keep up the great work!
Thank you! I think the whole "contribution-based value" thing is, unfortunately, something that often gets forgotten in autistic characters. At least we got one of them right tho lmao
Y e s, another video analyzing Donnie~ 💜☺️ As a person with ADHD, I'm still coming to terms with things that I always thought were normal to do (happy dancing, talking with my hands, trying REALLY hard to repress my emotions and expressions of such emotions due to being told it was "weird"), and I'm learning new terms for things that I've done all my life (masking, stimming) and while it IS a bit of an identity crisis, I'm glad I found this show! If I didn't watch that one vid of "Donnie being canonically autistic for 10 minutes", I would've never gotten into the fandom, and I probably would've never seen such an accurate amalgam of how I used to be as a child (sarcastic, blunt, "know-it-all") and how I am today in the one character package that Donnie is. I feel so seen! It's overwhelming in a good way to see him do ANYTHING honestly cuz he's such a relatable and funny character, and I can't help but wish there was more rep like him when I was younger. It would also explain why I love characters like Spencer Reid and Young Woo- Spencer was relatable too, but Donnie?? He's on another level, and while hyperfixating on ROTTMNT has given me so much serotonin, I can't help but think I need to get a proper diagnosis of whether I have just ADHD or Autism to some extent (I hear the two have overlapping symptoms, so I just wanna be sure, ya know?). You've made such a beautiful video! 💜💖🌈☺️🌈☺️
Hii!! Firstly, thank you SO SO SO much for making this, I identify with him as an autistic person so much, seeing a video as easily comprehensive and digestible as this is incredible!!! Id also like to ask if you knew anything more about high empathy, particularly in autistic people. I haven't seen much of it and I would love to put that sort of representation in my work, as well as understanding it more. However I'm not the best at grasping the concept of empathy in general, much less high empathy. Again, awesome video thanks again
Thanks for watching! I'm not a professional, so my own knowledge is unfortunately pretty limited. However, I do know that the conversation surrounding autistic people and empathy usually has to do with alexithymia: a personality trait (not categorized as a disorder) that just so happens to be common in autistic people. You could do some research there to see if any comparisons are made between high or low empathy? If you're looking for more journals and articles, try the Google Scholar search engine too. Additionally, two books that get recommended to me a lot by other autistic people are *Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity* by Devon Price and *We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation* by Eric Garcia. I've not read these books so they might not discuss high empathy specifically, but they might be a good place to start digging into the topic!
As a neurodivergent kiddo, I really love seeing things like sensory stuff such as sensitivities and stimming, emotional disregulation and all the other fun brain stuff being portrayed in a fully fleshed out character as a person who deserves respect like anyone else. I'm not the most eloquent person but basically Donnie made me feel happy and seen. Great analysis, I could listen to your commentary all day :D
Thank you! And same, I was (am) very self-conscious of my autistic traits but seeing Donnie and seeing the autistic community love him actually has helped me really come to terms with and love things about myself that I used to be so ashamed of. The power of representation is truly underrated.
im not diagnosed as autistic or ADHD but donnie's character means a lot to me, i relate to him so much. And seeing the little things that he does that i do makes me feel seen. Not only that seeing him be loved and cared for by his family makes me want to breakdown and sob :')
As someone who is wondering if I'm on the spectrum, the amount I relate to Donnie really hits home for me. The sensory traits, stimming, meltdowns/shutdowns, and range of fixations vs just the one as usually seen in media especially. I also didn't actually realise that high empathy was a trait of autism and thought it was low empathy only so never related in that aspect. I'm a highly empathetic person, to the point of crying out of caring so much, even about little things (I cried at this when it got to the point of Donnie being insecure like heck no my baby), and even if it wasn't the focus of the video, it gave me a lil 'huh...' moment. I don't know if I want to/should get a diagnosis but I just want to thank you for making a video about an amazing character that helped me realise a bit more about myself too 🐢💜
i relate to this a lot! Aside from the low empathy i relate to him a lot, the way his actions are done and presented felt super close to me. I’ve only been diagnosed with adhd but my parents think i have asd.
I should also point out that while Donnie is clearly very intelligent and talented/skilled, he's not the typical savant stereotype. His tech can and has backfired enough times to where his brothers and april kinda just expect any new invention to turn evil (The bed short, albearto, shelldon, donnie vs witchtown). That plus his insecurities towards his place on the team make it clear that he's not a savant, It's more of a mix of a special interest + the anxiety of "If I cannot provide material worth then no one will love me" which that last part is honestly so fucking relatable.
It’s says a lot about autistic representation when a mutant turtle feels more real then most human autistics in current media I love Donnie so much and it brings me so much joy to see him being treated like a fully fleshed person and not a shoehorned stereotype I adore rise and it’s writing so much Fingers crossed other shows take notes from rise and we can get similarly cared for portrayals of neurodivergency Wonderful video btw oh my gosh
14:19 - on that note, I like to think that he takes a lot of pride in the fact that the aforementioned extension of himself is a missed-launching selfie-taking high-tech staff that he designed himself. Like having a robot arm without having to go through the motions of LOSING an arm to make room for a robot one, if that makes sense? Also, since I don't trust doctors for the life of me, I find a lot of comfort in this video when going through an in-depth self-diagnosis of my supposed autism. Thank you, and amazing video in general, man ✨✨✨
I think we need more special interests that are just fun for them, like, personal example, I have a special interest in mythology, sure I know a lot, but it's not like I'm gonna solve world hunger with it Normalize Special Interests that aren't inherently practical Normalize Special Interests as a part of their personality and not as a judgement of their worth to the group Very often it feels like people "put up" with autistics so that they can use their skill set, and it can make autistic viewers feel bad if their special interest isn't "useful". Edit: I think if someone wants to do fantasy autism, it shouldn't be a species wide thing, it should be still unique to the individual
I like what they did with Donnie's mystic powers and find it very fitting for him. They strike me as similar to Green Lantern's powers; Hard Light constructions which are made from the thoughts of the user. The more you understand what you are trying to create, the stronger it is and the closer to its physical counterpart it becomes. Because of how much he understands his tech, it's no surprise that it is just as powerful as the physical items. It honestly probably makes his powers the strongest out of everyone's ironically.
I honestly love Donnie. The show really does a great job on portraying the way he experiences life as an autistic person as positive character traits. Most of the time, shows with ASD coded or canonical ASD characters tend to make their traits something that needs changing or negative in nature. Donnie goes through character growth without changing things that are a huge aspect of who he is as an autistic coded character. He is loved, supported, and allowed to exist amongst family members. It's everything I could ask for and more :')
I had 3 "adopting" daughters and 2 of them are autistic and one of hers' personality is like this Donnie (idk her true name because she was so shy sharing personal information so i only know her nickname Racoon but i called her Rac) and is a 15 years old girl,my other autistic daughter is Luna with 6 years old and my not autistic daughter is Estrella (Star in spanish because my daughters and i are latams).
it's so good that characters like donnie are visible to children in their media, i'm glad he's able to help people understand each other a little better! also unrelated but my name in English is moon, kinda funny we all have a little theme going lmao 🌙
This was such a well done video!! I'm a new TMNT fan and seeing this kind of neurodivergent rep especially in shows targeted towards younger audiences is really nice to see, and you put it into words in a way I honestly couldn't do if I tried! This show does an incredible job at writing a character who has autism, and showing how it impacts their life WITHOUT defining them! cant wait to see more of your vids :)
Also, love the highlight of him and his weapon. I heard that the turtles' weapons actually have a lot of meaning, but it's so SO true about how interesting it is that he learns to use the bo staff as an extension of himself, but can't do most other sporty things until we see him in Lair Games. Arguably another special interest that doesn't transfer, which I think is great and not just a joke of him being bad at sports because tech and sports don't mix.
Thank you! I love looking into the meaning of their weapons and I definitely believe they have significant symbolism to the characters, but this one in particular feels like it has multiple. I'm glad you liked it!
This video made me so happy, I love Donnie so much, and as an autistic person he is so precious to me. Great analysis, had me feeling all sorts of ways
As a self-diagnosed autistic, I would like to share a few tips that I think writers should use to make their representation much better 1-SAY THE WORD. When I went to elementary there was a nonverbal autistic kid in another class that had a lot of tantrums and had a special educator that followed him personally, so I grew up thinking that is all that autism was, while it isn’t. If more kids and parents are thought the full meaning of autism we might manage to diagnose a lot of people earlier making their life easier. Like for example my dad made me take a test for Asperger from which it turned out that I wasn’t but that’s not the full spectrum, I might be something else 2-Show how allistic people can help. Just show some supportive friends helping the autistic person go through a meltdown or a very stimulating experience, so that other people know what to do in a similar situation 3-Be diverse with it. Don’t do only the usual sheldon 2.0 every single time. Try doing someone with high empathy or someone who also has adhd. We need to show all the corners of the spectrum to make everyone feel represented
God, I have family members who need to see this. My cousin is autistic and his parents try to train him out of so many things. Every time we visit each other, they make him hug us but I’m always the one who says “no, if he doesn’t want to hug, it’s okay.” And ever since 2020 (ya know….) he stopped talking and his parents always get mad at him for it :c And instead of working on ASL, they yell at him to talk. And he does have a need for cleanliness and washes his hands & uses hand sanitizer a lot, which is fine, but his parents always get mad at him for that too….. I love him a lot, and I wish they would just treat him the best way for him, not for them.
I’m so happy you made this. ROTTMNT is one of my two special interests and Donnie is my favorite character. He makes me so happy and less different. Personally I think he’s an amazing representation of Autism, he has as much character depth as the rest of the team and his family helps accommodate him while treating him like an equal. There’s a reason ROTTMNT Donnie is the best Donnie :)
i absolutely love donnie as a character. i have issues with touch-aversion, and it’s always stood out to me how well his is handled. the little moment where he hesitates before hugging sheldon always comes to mind, and the moment in the movie where raph assures him that he’s rescuing him and it’s not a hug genuinely made me tear up a little the first time i saw it. i still wish this show had been given more of a chance.
I appreciate that they gave Donnie multiple special interests that don’t necessarily correlate with one another. As someone on the spectrum, my special interests are widely ranging and show up greater at certain times than others. It just goes to show that, like most people, people labeled as autistic have multiple things they are passionate about and may just express their passions in a different way.
Seria hermoso si hablaras de TDAH de Mikey :D (si asi te interesa obviamente ;) It would be beautiful if you talked about Mikey ADHD :D (if you are obviously interested) Your reviews are great :)
Its interesting that you used that scene from Star Trek, because there is a good chance that Dr. McCoy is also (almost certainly unintentionally) autistic coded: hyper-empathy, stimming, sensory issues, difficulty with emotional regulation, difficulty maintaining varied relationships, a knack for making unlikely connections and thinking outside the box, good intuition about people, but difficulty understanding and accepting approaches to life (his belief that Spock cannot be content unless he embraces emotion). Which is interesting, because it would be an example of almost opposing points on the spectrum being represented in the same show.
I just love the new show and the fact that they decided to have an autistic character without it being the but of the joke or making fun of the character or making him seem like less of a person for being autistic which is what I have seen before (in shows and from unwanted acquaintances), personally, I just don't like it when a company will rewrite a character for profit purposes while pretending and telling people that it's for "representation" by either by just not mentioning it and making the fans do the work or by talking about it a heck ton and keeping talking about how good it is that they are representative when in reality it was just a money grab at the expense of twisting the character. Personally, I see it similarly as when a lazy writer changes the character or makes them do things they would never do just to progress the plot rather than do it naturally, so instead of just changing an already existing character, I feel ad though a better approach would have been to create a whole new character, as I feel that would actually also make the show more interesting from a plot point of view, as a new character means that we don't already know everything about them meaning that we get to be introduced to a fun new character all over again, like that first time we were introduced to the original cast.
I’m not autistic, but I have ADHD and characters like Donnie and Mickey (though Donnie feels a lot closer to me than sweet Mickey) it feels validating, to see just natural characters with mental illnesses portrayed as normal and “ok”. Honestly it helped me make me feel like myself for once, and not just me trying to battle against it the entire time. I damn near cried when I saw the similarities between me and them! Although ADHD isn’t talked about as much, it’s representation still exists to an extent and it’s amazing, I wish more shows follow the example of this one.
gosh this is a rlly good video. you spoke rlly well, and made genuinely good points that i agreed with. i love donnie a lot, and i see a lot of my traits and habits in him, and a lot in mikey as well. this show holds a special place in my heart, and i love watching these kind of analysis videos that aren't talking about whether its good or bad (because i couldnt take someone calling my favourite show shit), but talking about the characters. ill probably be watching this video at least a few times, because its easy to watch but keeps me interested, is infortmative but doesnt take itself too seriously and all the things i love in a video. again, incredible video
agreed! i'm surprised at the lack of analysis videos on this series considering how much praise it gets for the writing? my first video on this channel did review the show and refute criticisms, mostly for the sake of ice breaking, but my big goal is to do a lot of analysis cuz this show definitely deserves some dissecting. thanks for watching!! 🐢💜
![[LAST REUPLOAD] Donnie being autistic for like... so many minutes](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/V6k-7z5gQjQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![[LAST REUPLOAD] Donnie being autistic for like... so many minutes](/img/tr.png)
The coding of donnie in rise feels realistic and complex which is huge. Rather than being “the autistic” or the butt of the joke, he’s a genuine character with autism. An accurate representation of what it COULD look like while being a character with real personality and individualism. It’s refreshing and exciting! Donnie is among my favorites from rise (next to mikey!) so I think he’s written amazingly well
Honestly I was really confused with people going "the autistic" and making it seem bad and creepy when you cannot separate someone from their autism. It isn't a roommate and isn't an allergy, you are literally born with it. That's why people mostly prefer being addressed as autistic, because they are embracing their symptoms and C-PTSD eventually or always have.
I feel like another great example is Abed from Community. In Community it’s more clear Abed has Autism compared to Donie but they use that in the show, not by making fun of stereotypes but making situations only Abed would find himself and his friends in because of his Autism.
@@anglepsycho i might actually be able to help with that, when they talk about being able to 'separate' the characters from their autism, they don't mean that in a literal sense, instead they mean that the characters shouldn't be defined solely by the term 'autistic'. you should be able to describe their personality without using that word at all. for example, i could say that donnie is witty, sarcastic, intelligent, and a bit of a smartass. sure, these elements tie into his autism, but he's just as much of a character without the label. hope this helps!
I agree this is amazing representation! But I always feel bitter sweet when I think about the fact that having good autistic representation is so rare that if we’re so much as portrayed as actual character it deserves a celebration. The fact that we’re jumping for joy at the fact that Donnie has feeling makes my stomach churn, yes I’m absolutely overjoyed that us neurodivergents are getting more, and better, representation, but the fact that there’s so little absolutely sucks
As someone on the spectrum who has seen some of the WORST representations of autism in movies and tv, Donatello was the breath of fresh air that I needed
As an autistic/ADHD person, the way Donnie was portrayed is SO important to me. It's the little things, like how Donnie goes on his phone in almost every scene he isn't directly speaking in, or how his family doesn't alienate him. How he speaks in a monotone/formal way or uses his battle shell to accommodate him. The writers never make him seem odd or any weirder than the rest of his weird family.
He's the type of character I would've loved to have to related to as a kid, and would've made me feel a lot less different than others. Representation like his matters, and it's so unfortunate that rise was discontinued (at the time of writing this).
Tbh I just think the rise writers REALLY know how to write nd characters because they did I really good job with Mikey too
(Sorry for rambling in your comments lmao) I love this video so much, great job!!
this this this! i'm very touch averse like donnie because of sensory problems, and was always criticized for it and basically "trained" out of it like a lot of autistic kids are. seeing his family respect him and his needs is so important and comforting to me, and it makes me happy to know children will get to see themselves where we didn't get to. and yes mikey!! please someone make an adhd analysis for mikey so i can watch it! 😭
THE PHONE THING IS SO RELATABLE. I can NOT function correctly if i do not have my phone with me😭❌
@@heybuwan I got you covered!! This is one of my favorite TH-camr friends to watch when it comes to analysis! th-cam.com/video/jC5ED0d6wZw/w-d-xo.html
@@pipyup LITERALLY SAME HERE OMG
@@CreativelyCAN101 Thank you so much, I'll definitely give this a watch! 🙏👀
As a Donnie fan something else that I noticed and have take great admiration for is that even though Donnie doesn’t like to initiate touch and has a slight aversion to it he seems to be comfortable when it comes to Mikey.
I’ve rewatched scenes of Donnie and Mikey together and lot of the time they are both physically affectionate towards the other. Like when Donnie let Mikey hold his arm, or in the movie where pulls Mikey to him in a one arm hug when he sees how scared Mikey is after they fail to save Raph. I don’t know if it’s due to just Donnie being a protective older brother but I find it rather wholesome that he’s the most comfortable around the youngest of the family.
I feel like Donnie and Mikey had an especially close relationship, not just because they have a lot of episodes together, but because of how they interact with each other
It kinda reminds me of my sis and I because she (a Donny simp lol) has Autism, and also dislikes physical affection other than from hugging her best friend. However, when I'm really not feeling great emotionally, and no one else seems to understand (I have ADHD), she will hug me despite her aversion of that. It always means a lot to me when she does that because I know she really cares for me. Lol, I don't know if it's been confirmed, but it would be funny if Mikey had ADHD because he's literally so much like me. (drama queen, creative as heck, and side note off-topic- loves pineapples on pizza, draws on self with pen, etc...) I think we can all agree that Donnie and Mikey are the best turtles from rise. (Imagine if all the turtles from rise represented something different idk...) Sry for the rant lol.
You know those sonic forces kind of thing or wait am i even saying the right game sonic forces it's hard to tell there's to with f in the name one is cringe you know those robots in sonic forces they kind of remind me of like the dystopia of the krang I'm calling it that just because i don't know what it's actually called
OK WAIT BUT MYSTICS BEING TIED TO EMOTIONS MAKES. SO MUCH SENSE.
Mikey is the most emotionally inclined, hence why his weapon was the first to activate, Raph's strong feelings of protective-ness and urgency to save Leo during the rooftop scene with Draxum are what allowed him to activate his complete aura ability, Leo struggles with his portals because of his struggle with his self-worth, and all the stuff you mentioned for Donnie makes sense for him. It all makes so much sense now! I love this so, so much.
Not only was Mikey able to activate his mystic powers first but he's also becomes the most powerful with it (spoiler alert in the movie)
This also explains why Mikey is such a powerful mystic in the movie. He’s such a ball of empathy and emotions and loves his family so openly that it results in stronger power (and in the dark timeline he dies trying to help Leo and Casey).
Donnie is the opposite extreme: his emotions are muted and he’s not very open, and struggles with using it as a result.
Personally, I headcanon all of the boys to be autistic/ADHD in different ways
Donnie's relationship with his family is the best, I love that they always punch up and not down with him. They rib him but it never feels mean or malicious and it's just the best. Bar none my fav interaction is the scene where Donnie says Basketball wrong and Raph is just like, "I know what your doing, you PoS. STOP."
Agreed! It's not his autism that's the butt of the joke, it's just that he's their brother and no brother is spared from the sibling ribbing lmao
also the joke isn't "Donnie says basketball wrong" it's "Donnie knows how to say basketball but chooses to say it wrong"
This, exactly! I've had a hard time putting it into words, but I think "punching up" is the perfect way to describe how the other boys razz Donnie. They never tease him about anything that could actually be hurtful or ableist-like the basketball example, they only call him out when he intentionally plays up his "condescending intellectual" schtick.
This is true of the show as a whole, too. Donnie's autism is never treated like a flaw that need to be overcome. The jokes are never about the fact that he has special interests or sensory issues, or that he's low empathy. Even in the Donnie-centric episodes where he has to learn some kind of lesson, the takeaway is more often that he needs to be more of a team player and understand that he can't use tech to solve all his problems.
Something that's really important to me is that in the rare instances where the jokes *are* about those things, it's always Donnie himself who's making them. He zings himself about being low empathy with all his jokes about not feeling emotions, he gives himself the nickname "Vomitello" about his sensory issues, etc.
It's just good writing. You love to see it.
(Edit: I just finished watching the full video, and a lot of these points are already made!!! I guess it just goes to show how good the show's writing is, if all of this is so clearly identifiable and relatable to its audience!)
one thing i really love about rise's depiction of donnie's autistic traits is in how his family/the people around him respond. or rather, the fact that donnie is never shown to be the butt of the joke because of his autistic traits (obviously he is often the butt of the joke, they are brothers after all). More specifically, he is not treated as being in the wrong for his low empathy, or touch aversion. In fact, the characters often go out of their way to accomodate for him, without it being made a big deal of . Raph's "this is not a hug! its a rescue" and mikey knowing that donnie's worst nightmare would be touching the awful goo are just two examples of this, as well as all the brothers happily accepting the affection of donnie's robo-arms, without shaming him for not being able to provide "more".
I find that this kind of reaction is very rare in media, as often the autistic character is shown to "grow" by suddenly being able to be empathetic, and touchy when the NT characters prove that its the "better" way to be. That never happens in rise, donnie's allowed to be touch averse, and show little empathy, and he is never told he's wrong for doing or feeling those things. :) amazing video i cant wait for more !
I also love that when Donnie goes into an info heavy speech, the rest of the family accepts it and shows patience, like they give a casual "this will be awhile".
Having watched the movie earlier today- there was also the scene where Leo reunited with Donnie and Mikey after they're unable to save Raph, and Leo ran straight past Donnie to hug Mikey (and Donnie quietly got out of their way). It was such a simple moment but really powerful nonetheless. Even in the heat of the moment, running high on emotion and stress, Leo remembered and respected Donnie's touch aversion. And this just made it even more heartwarming when Donnie happily went in to hug Leo in the end. Jfc these four are sibling goals.
And going back to the scene where Donnie is forced to touch the goo to control the Krang ship, I REALLY appreciate how Donnie's discomfort wasn't played as a joke, and they framed it in a manner that looked genuinely terrifying. Because it was most likely a legitimate hell for him, especially when he had to leave his soft shell exposed to feel it too.
Thank you so much this video was so cathartic. To me Donnie is the perfect representation of autism. I don't feel he's stereotypical. He is definitely my favorite character in rise he is so relatively. To see a character on screen like him just makes me happy.
agreed! i can definitely see how he could be labeled as a stereotype but as i said, i think it goes way deeper than that. we definitely need more characters like him on screen.
But we just gotta admit he is the top Donnie out of all of the Donnies ✨🐢
Yeah,in personality,desing and even how he fights.
rise donnie is by far my favorite donnie so far ngl
Rise donnie isn't a god damn simp, woo
@@senacario5942 les gooo
Him and 2012 Donnie are my favs, but rise D wins bcs he's not a simp+acts lk a queer coded mad scientist and I love it
One of the episodes that was cut actually explored another interest of Donnie’s: gardening. Also, this video is so well-done, thank you for making this
Oh I would've loved that episode! 😭 Please Nick give us S3 so we can have this
Finally, a Donatello that isn't just "does machines" and "smart"
Whenever I see attempts at autistic representation as an autistic person it feels like it’s supposed to teach the allistic people about autism. In that situation that autistic person is a lesson, not a person.
I’ve always struggled with not seeing characters like me being portrayed. They’re always logical and are portrayed with having no emotions. I am a logical and emotional person so I’m glad to see that Donnie isn’t just a stereotype he is so much more than what he contributes to the team.
he has just as much depth as any other character in the team and it’s lovely! I can relate to the fact that he talks very formally and grammatically correct. I’ve been told I speak like a writer, grammatically correct and riddled with expressive words.
That's true, and sometimes seeing "educationally autistic" characters is fine for the sake of bridging the gap, considering the stage of understanding that we're at right now, but it does get exhausting that every autistic character is a Thing. I love Donnie for that reason, it feels like he was meant to be seen by us rather than someone who exists for allistic people.
I had a bit of the same thought on an episode of a show my parents were watching about a year ago.
It was a show that dove into a number of social topics, and one of the episodes was about people with autism, and featured a number of people who all expressed their autism very differently.
And I think thats great.
However, speaking as someone who has lived those experiences their entire life, I feel like the way the show ultimately approached or said a lot of things was kind of shallow, overly simplified or reductive, at least for my tastes. Not so much in a harmful or malicious way, mind you, but more in a "we want this to be accessible and understandable for people who dont know anything about this stuff" kinda way, which I do think is a very valuable thing to have, and was also the idea of the show in general on a variety of other topics as well, so good on them, I do think that is a good thing.
But, again, as someone who lives that experience, thats just not the type of thing I wanna watch myself... And thats fine because it wasnt made for people like me, but I still would like some media that manages to do people like me well in a way I can also enjoy, like TMNT mannaged to do with Donnie.
This turned into a bit of an essay... my apologies...
@@TheSpeep don’t worry about your comment being too long, I found it quite enjoyable to read! And you put in a way that I I couldn’t quite figure out, but it explains how I feel
You know it's good rep when you routinely have to explain it to neurotypical people because they're confused, you know I'm right lol
By far one of my favorite parts about rise is the way donnie's family handles him. They treat him like a complete person while also managing to meet him half-way with things he clearly struggles with (EX: leo complimenting the bikes and clarifying hes not being sarcastic; raph making it vocal that he isn't hugging donnie when saving him). They don't tend to get their feelings hurt from his low empathy bc they know that's just how he is, and that there's no negative intent behind it. They love him exactly as he is, and express no interest in him needing to change.
I love that you mentioned about people with autism that also have high empathy. I am autistic and have high empathy, which many people don’t understand. I am also extremely extroverted with also makes people confused as well. Even with this, I am still autistic and there is no one way of being autistic.
Im a social and high empathy autistic person too! :D I wish there where more autistic characters like that in popular media beacause (not that i hate unsocial autistic charactersl but im getting pretty tired of having autistic characters being almost genius, not liking to be around people or doesn't show many emotions :/ Im not saying characters like that should be removed but i want an autistic character that doesn't feel like the opposite of me ;-;
your analysis of donnie's staff weapon actually made me tear up. I like dance and I like martial arts because it helps me to train the parts of myself that I am not naturally proficient in and helps me to feel more connected to my body and strengthen my personal shortcomings.
This is the exact reason I love those things as well! Feeling in tune with your own body is so rewarding, I don't really know how to explain it. When I used to regularly practice martial arts, the bo was one of my favorites for this reason. I'm so glad that part resonated with you! 💕
This is how I feel with rhythm games! My reflexes have gotten way better since hyperfixating on FNF
@@heybuwan :0!!!
I do martial arts, have been for 8 years, and the bo is such a fun weapon!!
You definitely need more subscribers, this is great
Rottmnt has a special place in my heart, my dad once came into the room while i was telling my brothers about this stuff and he didnt really understand, he was like “low empathy just means your a dick with no feelings” and i got pretty ticked off at that, wish some people would actually do research on things and think before they speak
In all Im glad donnie was written this well, its a good that more things are getting out there like alot of lgbtq representations and just some mental disabilities
Even if theyre not 100% conformed, it helps alot of people understand those types of things and topics
agreed!! even if the word isn't said, it doesn't mean that person isn't autistic. characters like donnie are helping us bridge the gap in understanding and i'm so excited to see it.
He doesn't know love is shown in a lot more ways besides kisses/hugs and it shows.
I relate to Donnie in a lot of ways. One of the biggest ways was how he goes about physical affection and touch. It makes him uncomfortable and he often would rather have it avoided unless he’s the one initiating it. I relate to this and my family used to think that I felt “too cool” to hug them or as if I hated them because of this when in reality it just makes me uncomfortable. (sensory issues) My body physically recoils from hugs 😭 I just rather people not show their love for me like that and the way his brothers acknowledge how he doesn’t like to be touched in a way that isn’t demonized made me very happy. Great video, I am a new subscriber 😈
(a few other things he does/has that i relate to: stimming, big vocabulary bc i love my silly words, mispronouncing words for fun [bAs-kAy-bAll] and his love for dance :))
I feel this so hard, and I'm sad that so many people do. I have always been really avoidant of physical touch because of sensory stuff but, like a lot of autistic kids, got "trained" out of it for allistic people's comfort. Being touch averse doesn't mean we don't feel affection or love, and I'm so glad to see Donnie displaying that and his family accepting it. You deserve to be met where you are because you're wonderful as you are.
@@heybuwan thank you, i didn’t realize how much i needed to hear that last bit. :((
I can tell you’re also pretty wonderful 👉👈
I’m glad I found this community because it’s the first time i’ve felt so seen. I MEAN HECK I DIDNT EVEN KNOW WHY I WAS DOING HALF OF THE STUFF I WAS UNTIL I SAW DONNIE DOING IT💀
I am not autistic, but I always try to learn more and more about autism and other disorders so I can understand my neurodivergent friends better and recognize their needs. Representation is really really important and it needs to be made with care and accuracy. Thank you for this video! I really like analysis videos about donnie's autistic representation because while I learn and understand more about autism and autistic people's experiences, I also understand more my favorite character of rottmnt!
I actually cried while watching this. My school put me down as autistic from a young age, but when I finally went to get it diagnosed at 18 I was told I didn't qualify. I've been trying to 'fix' my autistic traits ever since. Hearing all my traits called out with examples - as something positive no less - was really vindicating for me. While I'm still unsure if I'm autistic or not, it means the world knowing whatever traits I do have aren't negative. Thank you so much.
Of course! Above all else, please know this: there is nothing wrong with you or your (possible) autism. You are valid and wonderful just the way you are and deserve to be met where you are, and you aren't alone. We're all working towards a better understanding together. Thanks for watching! 🐢💜
Just know that whether you are autistic or not, you are valid
It could be ADHD or something that presents like autisim. Just a suggestion. You could have both.
If it makes you feel any better, something similar happened to me, albeit at a very young age.
My mother told me that when she got me checked when I was really young, the doctors described me as "not autistic, but ten steps below" as she said.
I think what they were trying to say was that I wasn't officially autistic but shared a lot of similar traits. I guess that's part of why it's called the spectrum since everyone experiences different traits at different frequencies.
I am not saying this should somehow invalidate your struggles, but maybe this helps provide some explanation about why you didn't qualify.
That, or you should consider getting a second opinion if you haven't already.
A personal thing I love about Donnies autistic coding is how his autistic traits aren't made fun of. Yeah they've been the joke (the feet tappy dance, "Ohmigosh dreams do come true!", ect-) it's only funny given the context that they're put in. It's not "look at this autistic trait, that's funny isn't it?" And it's "these autistic traits are treated in the same way anyone else's character traits would be used and that's the comedy, not the traits themselves"
Leo being cocky bastard is funny, but it's a character trait.
Raphs anger is funny, but it's still a character trait.
Mikeys high empathy is funny, and still a character trait.
Same goes with donnies autism.
And the show has always gone out of his way to treat all those traits SERIOUSLY and not make caricatures of them.
Leo's cockiness is acknowledged as a serious thing he needs to work on, or the fact it's hiding away his deep rooted insecurities and fear of vulnerability.
Raphs anger is acknowledged and justified given the fact he's scared for the safety of his family. A thing he believes he's solely responsible for.
Mikeys high empathy is shown to boost Mikeys emotional intelligence and he shares what he knows with the rest of his family. Him also being outwardly upset has been treated seriously before.
And with Donnie it's no different, his outbursts, genuine happiness and sensory issues have been treated with the seriousness they deserve.
I'm glad the writers didn't shy away from making the autistic character funny WITH his autistic traits. It's such a hard line to walk, considering it borders on "making fun of autism" or "it can't take the autistic traits lightheartedly and it always treats it as this BIG THING", BUT THEY DID SUCH A WONDERFUL JOB WITH UT.
I'm not autistic, but a lot of the people closest to me are, and so seeing the lighthearted yet serious and non malicious take on Donnie is something I actually treasure a lot.
Agreed! Context is important in the comedy of the show, because Donnie's autism isn't the joke. It's the way he refuses to say "basketball" correctly or how he doesn't think his lying is /that/ bad. It's jokes we can find funny because it feels like it was written for us, not for everyone else and we just get to come along for the ride.
I love how the movie treats his touch sensory issue with touching the krang as a difficult obstacle he has to overcome to save the day and that he's not treated as a coward or has a touch love moment to him like "get over your stupid phobia soldier!". Mikey encourages him and knows that this is the hardest trial Donnie has ever had to overcome.
Donnie in my opinion is the best character in a show I’ve ever watch (I’m being fr). When I first watched the show I didn’t really understand what autism was like and how it shows (symptoms) and for some reason I didn’t realize him as ‘different’ or anything. When I think of Donnie and how he thinks it reminds me of myself and ig it didn’t even phase me that he was autistic.
I’m not autistic (I believe) but I really connect with him and idek why. Maybe his sarcasm or empathy or something but I always feel comforted and safe when watching the show especially when he’s on screen 💜(anyone else? Or is it just me?)
omg same!! he was the one I identified the most, and actually made look more into the topic (autism spectrum), and I noticed I have a lot of the symptoms, I want to talk with my therapist about it but unfortunately I didn't have the time yet.
anyway Donnie it's definitely a great character I hope other shows get inspired to do characters written like him 💜🐢
Honestly, as an autistic person? Donnie’s behavior is..super similar to mine. The part of analyzing his behaviors, the choice of weapon (a weapon I myself was trained to use when I was younger), and on top of all of that the ‘nice’ way of discussing the attributes without attacking Donnie or his writing? It..actually made me tear up a little. I guess I felt seen. Thank you for making this video :3
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed! I relate a lot to this Donnie and wanted to handle him with care. And same! The bo was one of my favorite weapons to train with!
Okay something I don’t see brought up because it’s REALLLLY tiny but very telling is in “Breaking Purple” (which I’m just realizing it a Breaking Bad reference).
There’s a scene where Mikey asks him about emotions he lists “Hot, cold, sleepy, and hungry”
These are feelings yeah, but not in the same way “happy” or “sad” are- being very physical and objective feelings, that are comparatively easier to name and express giving reason for someone with low empathy like Donnie to think of them first.
That's true, I forgot about that scene! Good eye!
Your intro was such a breath of fresh air- the amount of people I hear spouting shit like "everyone has a little autism" is aggravating. This video is amazing by the way- I learned way more in this video then even what my therapist has told me.
i love donnie so much and am happy as someone with an autisic brother and friends that there are repersatation like rise donnie. now something about this is I've now come to realize I may too be autistic, I relate to donnie a lot. but the thing is that it could just be my ADHD cause I'm diagnosed with ADHD but then again it could be a misdiagnose or maybe I have both! I've seen many MANY things and they all point to me being autistic. idk if I do have it though, its confusing me! yes i do have times being over stimulated by noise and then keep focusing on it making it worse or when i cant understand something. i would ask my parents to get a diagnoses for me but they said that its just my ADHD
it's different for everyone! i'm no doctor so i can't make a suggestion, but i do hope you're able to learn about that part of yourself!
@@heybuwan thanks, i hope you have a good day/night
I saw the first video essay, loved it, immediately subscribed and turned on notifications, and I'm SO GLAD I DID!!! I watched this with my sibling (We're both on the autistic spectrum) and we both were super happy! Such a great video!
My sibling especially really loved it. They see so much of themselves in Donnie and a huge part of that is because of their Neurodivergence, and to see this character that they connect with so much analyzed through the lens of his autism makes them, really happy!
I personally see more of myself in Mikey, but I'd be lying if I said that the representation Donnie gives is unappreciated.
Also PLEASE make a Mikey video essay, he is my favorite and I relate to him an unhealthy amount! He needs all the love!!!
thank you so much this is so sweet!! 😭it makes me so happy to hear so many people seeing themselves in this donnie. we need so much more rep like this, he's a step in a really good direction. mikey will DEFINITELY be getting an essay cuz i love him, he needs some love too 🐢🧡
OMG YESSS I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO POST AND ALSO AMAZING VIDEO WHOOO!! Honestly Donnie is such an incredible representation for the autistic community, my sister is autistic and I see her in Donnie when it comes to stimulation and stimming. Also I love being surrounded by people with Donnie’s personality they are such talented, funny, creative, interesting and intelligent people THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY BADASSES!!
Also it’s so cool that you find comfort in Donnie’s character we need more representation like him!! I’m sure your all the traits I listed as well!! (You seem really interesting and intelligent- I find people that make and create videos, art and scripts for analysis really smart!)
thank you so much, that's very sweet!! we definitely need more representation like donnie, it makes me so happy to know that characters like him can be visible to children now since i didn't have that growing up. he represents so much more than a funky little purple turtle 🐢💜
I actually really enjoy it when characters with autistic/ADHD traits are inhuman in some physical way too like being an alien or mutant. It does create a “normal vs not normal” visual metaphor, but it oddly makes it seem more “for us”, like out there somewhere there is a society that finds autistic/ADHD traits entirely normal and acceptable without having to justify it to anyone. And I just enjoy inhuman character designs more, but that’s just me.
This is a fantastic video and was very informative, thank you! The portrayal of Donnie and even Raph in Rise helped me realize and accept a lot about myself, and I’m glad others have found that in this show too!
That's super valid, I actually really like the Angara for this reason too! When I played Mass Effect Andromeda, I was shocked to find how much I liked the idea of their culture and how comforting I found Jaal's honesty to be. And I do love a cool alien. On the other hand though, I can see why this repetitive depiction can be as harmful as it is in good fun.
This is such an incredible video essay. I'm not autistic, but I am neurodivergent, and you perfectly explained all my jumbled feelings on why I resonated so much with the way Rise!Donnie was written. Your point about him feeling like "a character that just so happens to be autistic" instead of "the autistic character" encapsulates it perfectly.
Both queerness and neurodivergence feel so inherent to the show and its characters. The representation may not be explicitly mentioned, but everything from the writing to the art style seems intentional. Maybe it wasn't, but like you said, it's a hell of a coincidence if it's not!
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed! Representation and coding can be really hard to pinpoint and tackle, but with this show where everything feels very intentional combined with two groups (neurodivergent and queer) that have been essentially trained to look for nuances and subtext for their rep, I find it hard to believe that any of it was done unintentionally.
best donnie
.
As a High Functioning Autistic person myself, Donnie became my favorite character instantly.
I also have trouble with socializing, I have my own personal stims, and I still have some motor function issues.
But like this show, my family doesn't alienate me because of this. They acknowledge that I have it and still love me for it.
one of the BEST Donnie analysis videos I've seen, and I don't say that lightly. Amazing script, editing, and music choice, keep up the good work ^-^
thank you so much! :D
I would like to point out Donnie being very relatable on the fact that he has these little quirks that some of us also do have, as someone in the autism spectrum I literally see Donnie as another me sometimes when I watch him. Even his color, purple, even plays a role into his character with purple being a very compassionate color among other meanings. Donnie exhibits personality quirks most commonly found in the spectrum, of course like you said it's not the same for everyone but in some cases it's incredibly similar. Donnie being written this way may very well have been some weird accident like Luz from the owl house, the creators saw this and decided to wing it which... I think happens a lot if I think hard enough on it. When writing a quirky character like this it's often a very good idea to actually pace it out to where it's not overdone and well in this case it is. It works brilliantly
As someone who’s going to be evaluated for audhd soon, the Donnie and Mikey solidarity is everything to me. They feel like such good adhd autism rep, and I love their bond. Sidenote, 2012 Donnie and Mikey kinda feel like autism-adhd solidarity as well, though of course less fleshed out. Both versions have been my favorite characters in the franchise.
Great video essay!
Idk if I’m autistic or if it’s mainly stemming from how I was raised, and it’s been bothering me for a while cause I don’t wanna be one of those people who are just eager to fit into a particular category. As of now, I’m trying to tell myself that autistic or not, this is who I am and just try to navigate the world as best I can
I absolutely love Donnie. His representation is amazing, and his family is so understanding. I related to him from the first episode. I'm so glad I came across this video, your analysis is so well done! I wish my family was as understanding as Donnies family.
Thank you! And agreed, we all deserve the acceptance Donnie gets!
Being autistic myself I can relate to all Donnie's actions can say that it's pretty accurate to how I acted before course my dad still getting used to it but that's okay we then got me officially confirmed about me having autism until last year so yeah I can relate with Donnie here
I don't really like to bring up my place on the spectrum very often, given that I have a multitude of disabilities as it is (ADHD, high-functioning autism, aspberger's, even vertigo). But I have to admit this series got me into TMNT and I immediately resonated with Donnie as I watched the show. It's important to remember that as humans, we all have our stuff. Basically everyone has some form of "disability", wether it be physical, emotional, mental, whatever. Donnie feels like a person BECAUSE he's flawed, but also brilliant and creative in his own individual way. Funny how this is all coming from the haha funny turtle show, but I really gotta hand it to the creators for their writing of the characters in general, but especially Donatello.
I actually *LOVE* this video!! Im not autistic but i always found the topic "autism" really interesting!! I also *LOVE* donnie and the fact that almost the whole fandom agrees that he has autism, including me, lol. Sometimes i even wish that i had an autistic friend because I've always wanted to learn more things about autism!!!! (Not in a bad way, i actually think they are really nice and fun people even tought I've just seen autistic people on media😭😭) I also love how he's being loved for the way he is, which he totally deserves, and his relationship with other characters!!! (I sometimes feel kinda jelly because I never had friends like that or a friend group like ttmnt😭😭) Sometimes i wish i had a friend like donnie but i don't really know if someone with autism would like to be friends with me since im an extrovert (enfp) with adhd and im going to be honest i act and relate to Mikey *A LOT* which also makes me think that he has adhd, it would be great if you talk about it in your next video, i would love to watch it!! Hope you'll have a great day and thanks for reading all of this, byeeee!!!!!!!! Edit: Sorry if i texted something wrong, english is not my mother language, haha!
I love your work! Your knowledge mixed with your perspective has a really satisfying effect
thank you!! i'm glad you enjoyed!
ooo that ending scene was so good + definitely looking forward to the Mikey analysis when u have time ♥️
thank you!! i definitely want to get around to him, he deserves attention! 🐢🧡
Buwan, once again you knocked this out of the fucking park. Amazing lead in, knowledgeable, and entertaining of a video!! Even helped me realize I....do some of those things myself, so haha learning more about my own mind every day 😂
Thank you, truly, for taking the time and care to talk about stuff like this. You're truly a treasure 😭🙏💜💜💜
...also remember to eat. Love you 😘
i would, and i cannot emphasize this enough, die for you. mwah. 💋
Very nice vid! ^v^ I'd also like to add that both I and my best friend firmly headcanon Raph as autistic as well. Given so many little moments and traits he has, he just strongly has that autistic vibe to me. One moment that always sticks out to me is his anger about his "just kidding" quotes getting completely misunderstood in the ep 'The Mutant Menace'. Another bit comes from 'Snow Day' - we see him happy stim as Mikey's explaining the rules of the snowball fight, and then later on he mentions how he gets 'stuck' in a pirate accent after watching that one Jupiter Jim movie which, yeah that's happened to me before, haha. I could also see the "I wasn't sure if they knew what a week was" bit in 'Pizza Pit' as him feeling like he needs to overexplain so that there isn't any miscommunication, which could also be considered an autistic trait.
Similar to Mikey, he can be highly empathetic (becoming incredibly attached to people like Frankenfoot and objects like Laceface the football), and Raph also shows signs of having anxiety ESPECIALLY when things change rapidly - like when he suddenly loses his brothers in 'Man VS Sewer'. He also has his own special interests - specifically wrestling and (possibly) bears, given his teddy collection and love of Ghostbear specifically. And speaking of THAT, we see him get overwhelmed either by his own emotions as well as by noise, as seen in episodes like "Mascot Melee" and "Shell in a Cell". And really, just the way Raph says certain things or phrases also just comes off as autistic to me - like Don, he just has a very particular way of speaking and, idk. Like I said, it's just a really strong inkling that both me (someone who only recently realized was very likely autistic) and my bff (someone who was lucky enough to get a diagnosis as a child) have.
That's really interesting, I know a lot of the fandom headcanons all of the boys as neurodivergent in some way but I never noticed how many traits Raph has! I love that so many of us can look at these characters and see ourselves in some way, especially when it comes to this. It's so comforting and refreshing to see characters that are just allowed to be. Thanks for watching!! 🐢❤
He’s a really well written character and I really want rise back season 3! Personally, Leo’s my favorite but Donnie is a close second!
same! leo is my fav in this version but the one i relate to the most is definitely donnie!
You were able to articulate so many things that are so hard for me and many other autistic people to put to words, ESPECIALLY with the beginning of the video. And I never actually realized that he tends to like consistently outwardly take more stressful situations worse than the others. I'm really glad you really broke down all of those episodes for an in-depth analysis on his traits and specifically to tie them into how they contribute to his personality because I think that's one thing a lot of allistic people get wrong. They kind of tend to write the symptoms, but not the personality (and the rottmnt writers get that RIGHT they put it into his personality)
This video just did a really amazing job explaining and describing what it is about Donnie that makes him such a good example of an autistic character. He's just like me fr.
AND THAT ENDING BIT. AGH THAT HIT ME IN MY FEELINGS.
Hello! I love your Donnie video too, thank you for watching!! And thank you, I was worried I overanalyzed these episodes so I'm glad the message got through! :'D Personalities with autism can be hard to grasp for people who aren't autistic but it's not impossible. With more characters like Donnie, I think we'll be able to bridge the gap someday. 🐢💜
I have been diagnosed with ADHD and autism since I was very young. In older years my autism has become more apparent and as I never got any information about either of my diagnosis, but especiallymy autism, this has become a bit of a problem. But this video somehow helped me better understand some things about my autism that I wasn't aware of before. Like the whole thing with not handling change, I've always thought this was just me being, well, me, and while my autism is indeed a part of me, knowing why I have trouble with changes somehow helps. When I first started watching rise, I didn't pay too much attention to Donnie, but after hearing it mentioned about him being autistic, I payed more attention to him and ended up loving him as a character. I relate to some parts of him and I see other things about relating to my best friend who's also autistic. And while we gave autistic traits that overlap, a lot of traits are different for each of us.
Thank you for making this video, it really helped me.
Donnie, my man 😌👆
Another amazing video!!! 2 for 2- and if that little hint at a Mikey analysis is anything to go by, 3 for 3 in the future? 👀I totally agree with your assessment of Donnie as a representation of an autistic person, and although I am autistic but do not behave in any way similar to Donnie (I'm much more similar to Mikey and will be an autistic Mikey truther until the day I die) I, like many others, adored how autism was portrayed in Rise through Donnie's character. Just seeing a character who stims in ways that I do that isn't put down or treated as weird for it is so incredible and I'm so happy that the creators and writers put so much care into Donnie's character and how his friends and family didn't treat him any differently for his behaviours.
thank you so much, i hope that i keep making good stuff lol mikey's neurodivergence is definitely something that needs to be discussed more, esp since he was mentioned in the same tweet that confirmed donnie's autism!
I've really enjoyed the videos you have put so far. Like everyone else in the comments, I love Donnie and listening to more videos focused on how to write about autism has helped me understand a bit better the autistic experience and how to be a supportive friend for my autistic friends. I also just really like the way you write your videos, I think they're very nuanced and have lots of potential! Keep up the great work, I look forward to seeing your upcoming works!
thank you so much! i'm glad that you found it helpful!
I love Donnie so much, and I love hearing people talk about him so much😭😭💕
Amazing video!!
Beautifully done! Thank you! The positive talk surrounding Donnie as a good representation of autism is actually what got me into Rise, and has also lifted the stigma and fear I felt toward autism to a degree that I can finally start looking into my own lifelong struggles with the symptoms, so… I’m kind of all about this right now. 😂
Will be watching for that Mikey analysis! 👀
Only an hour after I finish your first rotmnt video, you post a Donnie video. Good timing
....Am I autistic?
I love how he isn’t super generalized. Donnie is clearly a unique character with strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Usually with autistic rep it’ll either be heavily stereotyped or incredibly broad, with only a few traits displayed. The way Donnie is in the show just makes him feel more realistic and not one-dimensional. I absolutely love that, and this point is proved by me, an autistic, being able to relate to some parts of his character but not others. Autism is a spectrum and that is definitely shown in Rise.
Progressive autism representation to me is when it isn’t used as a lesson for neurotypical viewers. When there’s an educational segment crammed in like “oh they’re autistic, this is what autism is…” “we need to try and accept them for who they are!” “I’m sorry we treated you poorly” etc etc, a neurotype becomes a narrative device and it just separates the autistic character from the rest of the cast. What I love about Rise is there’s an unspoken understanding among all the characters. When Donnie speaks or acts differently it’s just a regular Tuesday. He’s not “the autistic one”, he’s just Donnie! That is the kind of acceptance I crave in real life, for the people that I love to just be used to me, used to how I am. Donnie encapsulates that perfectly. His brothers just genuinely love him, all of him, and he never feels out of place because the show never alienates him
One thing that upsets me the most is communication. It can naturally become upsetting that I can't explain things, "normally", in this sense, usually my Mom only understands what I'm saying. I often wave my hands around to show what I'm saying when I talk, my words often not sounding English to others is hard. She's taken the the time to understand me even though I'm different. Most of the times I don't understand what people are feeling and lack to help them, or have meltdowns that don't make sense until people actually ask me. Autism is hard handling once you say, "You've got Autism but that doesn't mean there's something wrong with you." It just means some things are harder or easier than others. For example, I'm decent at art, but when I was younger I'd ask why people draw the way they do. You see how that sounds mean- I was just curious because I didn't recognize art differently for everyone. I made a lot of enemies just because I couldn't understand why others would have a different art style. They thought I was saying their art looked bad but that wasn't on my mind at all.
OMG I saw ur first video and subbed and I'm super super hyped to watch this one
thank you very much! i hope you enjoy this one as well! 💕
i love this video so so much! this means so much to me as a autistic person :) donnie is definitely my favorite autistic character and i’m so grateful for him representation wise
I'm about to write a wall of text- (infodumping be like)
Donnie's obsession with tech was definitely my first "waitaminute" moment for the character. Of course, most Donnies have this but the way it was portrayed made it stand out a bit more as something that he's fixated with, rather than something casual.
I have a lot of special interests, some of which fade in and out depending on literally just what I'm interested in at that moment. (Some of the more static ones are psychology and social justice so this is gonna be very long sorrynotsorry-)
My special interests are pretty much always taking up some space in my mind, and I take *every* opportunity to infodump. I also know just how disheartening it can be to be denied that chance when people show disinterest.
Low empathy is... *Not* something I have. In the slightest. I'm actually very high empathy. But the amount of Autistic characters I see in the media who are "low empathy" are just straight up ableist. Donnie, thank you.
Todd's scouts was definitely when I said "holy crap he's like me-" Because that was definitely a meltdown.
My phone is my comfort item too, and I need to have it with me *at all times.* It either needs to be in sight, or I need to be able to feel it in my pocket. So many teachers have told me off for having it on my desk and I have to explain that I'm not even gonna use it, it just needs to be there. (They never actually believe me-)
When I'm anxious, things get loud, and I get overheated and just- *t o u c h i n g .* Which pretty much immediately brings on sensory overload-
Donnie's way of handling his meltdown is actually very healthy. He seems to have an innate knowledge of what's happening to him and how to deal with it.
He probably stims more in this episode than all the others combined, which could very easily be seen as a conscious effort to ground himself, which is something I do.
He vocalizes his need for his comfort items, which won't bring them back, but shows he's aware of his situation and honestly? Sometimes talking about my comfort items can bring me comfort, albeit a small amount.
He also goes to measures such as making his goggles out of pinecones or covering his shell with bark. He's going to an effort to at least *replicate* his comfort items, which is such an amazing touch, because once again, the bare minimum for me is feeling my phone in my pocket, which is about the equivalent of what he's trying to do here.
You can see the process of the meltdown getting worse but then better as he adapts to the situation and finds ways to make it more familiar to him. I could see the moment it ended. He wasn't complaining about his phone, he took off the substitute tech and he stopped the scratching.
My parents, bless their Neurotypical hearts, laughed as they saw this... "unhinged" Donnie, while I was biting my nails in the background because *I got it.* He was in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar situation, without any of the comfort items he usually carries around, and with no way to really distract himself via special interests because there's really no tech in the woods, nor any way to indulge in his love of music or sci-fi *without* his tech. This is probably why he specified his phone as the thing he needed most. He could easily load up music on there, which would probably be a simple calming strategy.
I sighed aloud when he started being *Donnie* again. (Also the ASL definitely solidified my already forming autistic headcanon because NONVERBAL EPISODES BE LIKE-)
And the motor skills are just like me I swear- Give me sports, I'll crash, but give me music and I'll dance like no one's watching. Give me a pencil, nope. But I type like a God.
All in all, this is the most natural representation of Autism I've seen in media like, ever. His Autism is never treated as a mental illness or even a disability. And I know that's our best definition for it at the moment but I've never seen my Autism as a disability. Ever. And I know other people feel the same way.
And his family is so supportive I swear-
He's the one who's the target of the last physical affection, and while his family might slip up and miss his discomfort, it's obvious they're aware of his sensory issues and accommodate to the bet of their abilities.
While they're not very patient with listening to him infodump, they never discourage him from his love of science. Their annoyance isn't with him, but rather, comes from a lack of interest in the topic, which is completely understandable. They love talking about Jupiter Jim or Lou Jitsu with him, and depending on the situation, groove out with him to his beats. (I.E. Leo backing his rap up)
Mikey definitely shows the most understanding as someone who probably has ADHD. He actively tries to understand him, no matter how hard that is for him specifically. Bringing out Dr. Feelings to help him express himself healthily without ever acting like one of those therapists who try to enforce eye contact like it's the most important thing in the world- (I usually look at people's mouths cuz it's less overwhelming and let's me process words better. Guys always think I wanna kiss them-)
They're all very aware of his low empathy and very much understand when he's being sarcastic or not, and they never get mad when he misunderstands a social cue.
Donnie's not "the Autistic character." He's a character who happens to be Autistic. And he's so *real* to me. I see myself in him but also see him as someone who's definitely not me. I feel like when I see Autisticcoded characters it's either "they're just like me" or "no." The former is nice but ultimately makes Autism seem pretty 1dimensional. The other one... No-
I see him do things that I do, but also see things that are nothing like any of my experiences. He's like a friend. There's common ground, but he's too deep for me to call him my kin. And strangely? That's a better feeling than if he *was* my kin.
Don, I love you.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
I think analyzing Donnie's character in regards to being "the savant" is so interesting because, like you mentioned in this video, there definitely are SOME parts of Donnie that could make him labeled as "the savant autistic who's autism is 'acceptable' cause he contributes"; what's amazing tho is that Rise manages to tackle that by addressing Donnie's insecurities with serving a purpose or having a "use" on the team. For one, Donnie vs. Witch Town is all about Donnie feeling like his special interest with tech is his only redeeming factor and how he gets over that (his whole monalogue had me in my feels). Secondly, despite his insecurities, his family never ONCE reduces him to "the tech guy" or just what he contributes to the team. This complexity in Donnies character+autism is what makes me love him and Rise so much, and your video really highlighted that. Keep up the great work!
Thank you! I think the whole "contribution-based value" thing is, unfortunately, something that often gets forgotten in autistic characters. At least we got one of them right tho lmao
Y e s, another video analyzing Donnie~ 💜☺️
As a person with ADHD, I'm still coming to terms with things that I always thought were normal to do (happy dancing, talking with my hands, trying REALLY hard to repress my emotions and expressions of such emotions due to being told it was "weird"), and I'm learning new terms for things that I've done all my life (masking, stimming) and while it IS a bit of an identity crisis, I'm glad I found this show! If I didn't watch that one vid of "Donnie being canonically autistic for 10 minutes", I would've never gotten into the fandom, and I probably would've never seen such an accurate amalgam of how I used to be as a child (sarcastic, blunt, "know-it-all") and how I am today in the one character package that Donnie is. I feel so seen! It's overwhelming in a good way to see him do ANYTHING honestly cuz he's such a relatable and funny character, and I can't help but wish there was more rep like him when I was younger.
It would also explain why I love characters like Spencer Reid and Young Woo- Spencer was relatable too, but Donnie?? He's on another level, and while hyperfixating on ROTTMNT has given me so much serotonin, I can't help but think I need to get a proper diagnosis of whether I have just ADHD or Autism to some extent (I hear the two have overlapping symptoms, so I just wanna be sure, ya know?). You've made such a beautiful video! 💜💖🌈☺️🌈☺️
Hii!! Firstly, thank you SO SO SO much for making this, I identify with him as an autistic person so much, seeing a video as easily comprehensive and digestible as this is incredible!!!
Id also like to ask if you knew anything more about high empathy, particularly in autistic people.
I haven't seen much of it and I would love to put that sort of representation in my work, as well as understanding it more. However I'm not the best at grasping the concept of empathy in general, much less high empathy.
Again, awesome video thanks again
Thanks for watching! I'm not a professional, so my own knowledge is unfortunately pretty limited. However, I do know that the conversation surrounding autistic people and empathy usually has to do with alexithymia: a personality trait (not categorized as a disorder) that just so happens to be common in autistic people. You could do some research there to see if any comparisons are made between high or low empathy? If you're looking for more journals and articles, try the Google Scholar search engine too. Additionally, two books that get recommended to me a lot by other autistic people are *Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity* by Devon Price and *We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation* by Eric Garcia. I've not read these books so they might not discuss high empathy specifically, but they might be a good place to start digging into the topic!
@@heybuwan thank you so much!! I'll be sure to look into these :)
As a neurodivergent kiddo, I really love seeing things like sensory stuff such as sensitivities and stimming, emotional disregulation and all the other fun brain stuff being portrayed in a fully fleshed out character as a person who deserves respect like anyone else. I'm not the most eloquent person but basically Donnie made me feel happy and seen. Great analysis, I could listen to your commentary all day :D
Thank you! And same, I was (am) very self-conscious of my autistic traits but seeing Donnie and seeing the autistic community love him actually has helped me really come to terms with and love things about myself that I used to be so ashamed of. The power of representation is truly underrated.
YESSS YOURE BACK! Love your vids and your scripts!
thank you! :D welcome back!
@@heybuwan yay! Cant wait for the next vid
im not diagnosed as autistic or ADHD but donnie's character means a lot to me, i relate to him so much. And seeing the little things that he does that i do makes me feel seen. Not only that seeing him be loved and cared for by his family makes me want to breakdown and sob :')
Can't wait for leo's video 💙🐢🏳️🌈
it's coming as soon as i can stop crying over the movie :'D
Personally I found ROTTMNT's Donatello to be highly relatable.
As someone who is wondering if I'm on the spectrum, the amount I relate to Donnie really hits home for me. The sensory traits, stimming, meltdowns/shutdowns, and range of fixations vs just the one as usually seen in media especially. I also didn't actually realise that high empathy was a trait of autism and thought it was low empathy only so never related in that aspect. I'm a highly empathetic person, to the point of crying out of caring so much, even about little things (I cried at this when it got to the point of Donnie being insecure like heck no my baby), and even if it wasn't the focus of the video, it gave me a lil 'huh...' moment. I don't know if I want to/should get a diagnosis but I just want to thank you for making a video about an amazing character that helped me realise a bit more about myself too 🐢💜
i relate to this a lot! Aside from the low empathy i relate to him a lot, the way his actions are done and presented felt super close to me. I’ve only been diagnosed with adhd but my parents think i have asd.
I should also point out that while Donnie is clearly very intelligent and talented/skilled, he's not the typical savant stereotype. His tech can and has backfired enough times to where his brothers and april kinda just expect any new invention to turn evil (The bed short, albearto, shelldon, donnie vs witchtown). That plus his insecurities towards his place on the team make it clear that he's not a savant, It's more of a mix of a special interest + the anxiety of "If I cannot provide material worth then no one will love me" which that last part is honestly so fucking relatable.
Honestly I feel like if anyone's a savant it's Baxter Stockboy
It’s says a lot about autistic representation when a mutant turtle feels more real then most human autistics in current media
I love Donnie so much and it brings me so much joy to see him being treated like a fully fleshed person and not a shoehorned stereotype I adore rise and it’s writing so much
Fingers crossed other shows take notes from rise and we can get similarly cared for portrayals of neurodivergency
Wonderful video btw oh my gosh
14:19
- on that note, I like to think that he takes a lot of pride in the fact that the aforementioned extension of himself is a missed-launching selfie-taking high-tech staff that he designed himself. Like having a robot arm without having to go through the motions of LOSING an arm to make room for a robot one, if that makes sense? Also, since I don't trust doctors for the life of me, I find a lot of comfort in this video when going through an in-depth self-diagnosis of my supposed autism. Thank you, and amazing video in general, man ✨✨✨
oh absolutely, that staff is probably one of his pride and joys. and thank you, glad you enjoyed!
What a fantastic video, you have such a good pacing for these types of videos and I loved watching it! Can't wait to see more!
there’s just so much to rise, it’s really clear that they put so much effort into writing these new turtles. i think they’re really really neat
I think we need more special interests that are just fun for them, like, personal example, I have a special interest in mythology, sure I know a lot, but it's not like I'm gonna solve world hunger with it
Normalize Special Interests that aren't inherently practical
Normalize Special Interests as a part of their personality and not as a judgement of their worth to the group
Very often it feels like people "put up" with autistics so that they can use their skill set, and it can make autistic viewers feel bad if their special interest isn't "useful".
Edit: I think if someone wants to do fantasy autism, it shouldn't be a species wide thing, it should be still unique to the individual
I like what they did with Donnie's mystic powers and find it very fitting for him. They strike me as similar to Green Lantern's powers; Hard Light constructions which are made from the thoughts of the user. The more you understand what you are trying to create, the stronger it is and the closer to its physical counterpart it becomes. Because of how much he understands his tech, it's no surprise that it is just as powerful as the physical items. It honestly probably makes his powers the strongest out of everyone's ironically.
I honestly love Donnie. The show really does a great job on portraying the way he experiences life as an autistic person as positive character traits. Most of the time, shows with ASD coded or canonical ASD characters tend to make their traits something that needs changing or negative in nature.
Donnie goes through character growth without changing things that are a huge aspect of who he is as an autistic coded character. He is loved, supported, and allowed to exist amongst family members. It's everything I could ask for and more :')
Loved the video ♥
I had 3 "adopting" daughters and 2 of them are autistic and one of hers' personality is like this Donnie (idk her true name because she was so shy sharing personal information so i only know her nickname Racoon but i called her Rac) and is a 15 years old girl,my other autistic daughter is Luna with 6 years old and my not autistic daughter is Estrella (Star in spanish because my daughters and i are latams).
it's so good that characters like donnie are visible to children in their media, i'm glad he's able to help people understand each other a little better! also unrelated but my name in English is moon, kinda funny we all have a little theme going lmao 🌙
@@heybuwan so your name is Luna too,interesting
@@sergiomendoza251 it's Buwan! i'm filipino! 😊
@@heybuwan ohhhh,my daughters are from Mexico (Estrella & Luna) and Peru (Rac) and i am from Argentina.
This was such a well done video!! I'm a new TMNT fan and seeing this kind of neurodivergent rep especially in shows targeted towards younger audiences is really nice to see, and you put it into words in a way I honestly couldn't do if I tried! This show does an incredible job at writing a character who has autism, and showing how it impacts their life WITHOUT defining them! cant wait to see more of your vids :)
Autistic people 🤝 Non-binary people
Being represented by aliens in media
Truly it's a blessing and a curse.
Also, love the highlight of him and his weapon. I heard that the turtles' weapons actually have a lot of meaning, but it's so SO true about how interesting it is that he learns to use the bo staff as an extension of himself, but can't do most other sporty things until we see him in Lair Games. Arguably another special interest that doesn't transfer, which I think is great and not just a joke of him being bad at sports because tech and sports don't mix.
Thank you! I love looking into the meaning of their weapons and I definitely believe they have significant symbolism to the characters, but this one in particular feels like it has multiple. I'm glad you liked it!
This video made me so happy, I love Donnie so much, and as an autistic person he is so precious to me. Great analysis, had me feeling all sorts of ways
As a self-diagnosed autistic, I would like to share a few tips that I think writers should use to make their representation much better
1-SAY THE WORD. When I went to elementary there was a nonverbal autistic kid in another class that had a lot of tantrums and had a special educator that followed him personally, so I grew up thinking that is all that autism was, while it isn’t. If more kids and parents are thought the full meaning of autism we might manage to diagnose a lot of people earlier making their life easier. Like for example my dad made me take a test for Asperger from which it turned out that I wasn’t but that’s not the full spectrum, I might be something else
2-Show how allistic people can help. Just show some supportive friends helping the autistic person go through a meltdown or a very stimulating experience, so that other people know what to do in a similar situation
3-Be diverse with it. Don’t do only the usual sheldon 2.0 every single time. Try doing someone with high empathy or someone who also has adhd. We need to show all the corners of the spectrum to make everyone feel represented
God, I have family members who need to see this. My cousin is autistic and his parents try to train him out of so many things. Every time we visit each other, they make him hug us but I’m always the one who says “no, if he doesn’t want to hug, it’s okay.” And ever since 2020 (ya know….) he stopped talking and his parents always get mad at him for it :c And instead of working on ASL, they yell at him to talk. And he does have a need for cleanliness and washes his hands & uses hand sanitizer a lot, which is fine, but his parents always get mad at him for that too….. I love him a lot, and I wish they would just treat him the best way for him, not for them.
notice how his uniform has built in headphone thingies, clocking those as noise buffers/ tism music :)
I’m so happy you made this. ROTTMNT is one of my two special interests and Donnie is my favorite character. He makes me so happy and less different.
Personally I think he’s an amazing representation of Autism, he has as much character depth as the rest of the team and his family helps accommodate him while treating him like an equal.
There’s a reason ROTTMNT Donnie is the best Donnie :)
i absolutely love donnie as a character. i have issues with touch-aversion, and it’s always stood out to me how well his is handled. the little moment where he hesitates before hugging sheldon always comes to mind, and the moment in the movie where raph assures him that he’s rescuing him and it’s not a hug genuinely made me tear up a little the first time i saw it. i still wish this show had been given more of a chance.
the way donnie describes feelings as "hot cold hungry..." is the example I usually use-
I appreciate that they gave Donnie multiple special interests that don’t necessarily correlate with one another. As someone on the spectrum, my special interests are widely ranging and show up greater at certain times than others. It just goes to show that, like most people, people labeled as autistic have multiple things they are passionate about and may just express their passions in a different way.
This donnie is my favorite I love him so much
Seria hermoso si hablaras de TDAH de Mikey :D (si asi te interesa obviamente ;)
It would be beautiful if you talked about Mikey ADHD :D (if you are obviously interested)
Your reviews are great :)
Its interesting that you used that scene from Star Trek, because there is a good chance that Dr. McCoy is also (almost certainly unintentionally) autistic coded: hyper-empathy, stimming, sensory issues, difficulty with emotional regulation, difficulty maintaining varied relationships, a knack for making unlikely connections and thinking outside the box, good intuition about people, but difficulty understanding and accepting approaches to life (his belief that Spock cannot be content unless he embraces emotion). Which is interesting, because it would be an example of almost opposing points on the spectrum being represented in the same show.
9:05 is where it pans back to Donnie.
I’m sorry but at 18:00. It looks like Donnies saying the commentary 😂😭😭
Also at 17:10
I just love the new show and the fact that they decided to have an autistic character without it being the but of the joke or making fun of the character or making him seem like less of a person for being autistic which is what I have seen before (in shows and from unwanted acquaintances), personally, I just don't like it when a company will rewrite a character for profit purposes while pretending and telling people that it's for "representation" by either by just not mentioning it and making the fans do the work or by talking about it a heck ton and keeping talking about how good it is that they are representative when in reality it was just a money grab at the expense of twisting the character. Personally, I see it similarly as when a lazy writer changes the character or makes them do things they would never do just to progress the plot rather than do it naturally, so instead of just changing an already existing character, I feel ad though a better approach would have been to create a whole new character, as I feel that would actually also make the show more interesting from a plot point of view, as a new character means that we don't already know everything about them meaning that we get to be introduced to a fun new character all over again, like that first time we were introduced to the original cast.
This... This is beautiful. I REALLY hope they make a season 3 so we can see more Donnie
Donnie is so well represented that it was the first thing that made my undiagnosed ass realize “oh shit I might need to schedule a doctor appointment”
I just wanted to watch this as a tmnt fan, and now I'm sure I'm autistic...
Maybe don't diagnose yourself of off one video
Do some research and then see again :D
I’m not autistic, but I have ADHD and characters like Donnie and Mickey (though Donnie feels a lot closer to me than sweet Mickey) it feels validating, to see just natural characters with mental illnesses portrayed as normal and “ok”. Honestly it helped me make me feel like myself for once, and not just me trying to battle against it the entire time. I damn near cried when I saw the similarities between me and them!
Although ADHD isn’t talked about as much, it’s representation still exists to an extent and it’s amazing, I wish more shows follow the example of this one.
gosh this is a rlly good video. you spoke rlly well, and made genuinely good points that i agreed with. i love donnie a lot, and i see a lot of my traits and habits in him, and a lot in mikey as well. this show holds a special place in my heart, and i love watching these kind of analysis videos that aren't talking about whether its good or bad (because i couldnt take someone calling my favourite show shit), but talking about the characters. ill probably be watching this video at least a few times, because its easy to watch but keeps me interested, is infortmative but doesnt take itself too seriously and all the things i love in a video.
again, incredible video
agreed! i'm surprised at the lack of analysis videos on this series considering how much praise it gets for the writing? my first video on this channel did review the show and refute criticisms, mostly for the sake of ice breaking, but my big goal is to do a lot of analysis cuz this show definitely deserves some dissecting. thanks for watching!! 🐢💜
The way Donnie's ASD is displayed is so nice because its the first one ive seen that's not portrayed through an Allistic and ableist lense.