From Parenthood to The Good Doctor : The Development of Representations of Autism on American Television
| Autoři | |
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| Rok publikování | 2025 |
| Druh | Kapitola v knize |
| Fakulta / Pracoviště MU | |
| Citace | |
| Popis | Since its release in 1988, Rain Man, with Dustin Hoffman in the lead role as Raymond Babbitt, has introduced autism to the general public in a capacity as no other film had before. Nearly four decades later, it is still being referenced in popular as well as academic literature on autism and the character of a savant male, typically a White, young boy from middle- or upper-class family, who is excessively invested in his interests and has difficulty with social interactions is still the most commonly chosen representation of autism across all forms of media. Contemporary representation of autism in American television is restricted to the genres of comedy drama, medical drama, and criminal drama, which consequently reinforces several major stereotypical characterisations of autistic people, including the quirky yet rude savant working in intellectually demanding fields such as medicine and criminal investigation. This essay aims to present an overview of how the representation of autism in contemporary American television series has changed based on a thematic analysis of age, gender, and background of autistic characters in 5 selected television series: The Good Doctor, Atypical, Parenthood, Everything’s Gonna be Ok, and As We See It. As the findings show, there seems to be a slow yet certain shift from the representation of autism as a disability with strictly defined symptoms affecting mostly middle- and upper-class young boys to a spectrum where one can belong regardless of sex, gender, age, or background, although racial diversity is still lacking and the characterization is primarily based on stereotypes. |
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