The Portrayal of Autism in the Media
By Vanathi K. Edited by Dominique Samantha, Uday L, Manushri Bapat, Art by Evelyn Chen, Blogged by Asic
In today’s world of pop culture, people are constantly attempting to expand the horizons of media, often going into sensitive topics, or ones that haven’t been spoken about. Although this can be good in reference to some issues, the media ends up spreading more misinformation than awareness in an attempt to make it more ‘likable’ to the general public. Some of the most overlooked cases of misinformation in the media are seen with the depiction of disabilities and mental illnesses due to the lack of education about such topics: specifically autism..
Autism is defined as a broad spectrum of conditions that are characterized by social challenges, repetitive actions and struggles with speech. As a spectrum disorder, autism cannot be classified by one set of strengths, weaknesses or characteristics: what one person with autism might struggle with, another might excel in. Just by this definition of autism, it’s clear that there is so much room for error, especially since the media is known to emphasize and play upon stereotypes.
There have been several strides in the inclusivity of autistic characters and actors. However, there are still many discrepancies. The media often takes on one specific portrayal of autism, and fails to represent other areas of the spectrum, usually being on either extreme of the spectrum. This is especially seen with the trope of the ‘autistic savant,’ or a person with autism with great skill in one specific field, as seen in “The Good Doctor” or “The Big Bang Theory”. Even though this trope isn’t necessarily inaccurate, only about 10% of people on the autism spectrum have already been represented by this trope, so overly displaying this one portrayal is damaging to the other members of the spectrum. Today, one of the most damaging representations of autism is in Sia’s new film, “Music.” First off, people were angry about the fact that Maddie Ziegler, a neurotypical dancer who is known to work with Sia, was chosen to play an autistic character, when an actual member with autism could have been cast. This is problematic,because the whole point of such films is to raise awareness and promote inclusivity for people with autism. And the best way to do that, is to have an actual member of the spectrum contributing. In addition to it, the way Ziegler is acting “like an autistic person” very much follows the stereotypical mimicking of people with autism, the same way they have been bullied and mocked their whole lives. Such actions can be considered offensive, and bring back unwanted memories for those living with autism. Not only this, scenes in “Music” show the restraint and isolation of the autistic character, which is known to upset those with autism. This is especially dangerous because such restraints have killed members of the spectrum and led to significant trauma among autistic people. It also conveys that restraining autistic people is necessary and are loving acts, which isn’t true, considering the better options that occupational therapists can provide with sensory processing. There are both negative and positive impacts on society due to the portrayal of autism in the media. . Some negative repercussions are sustaining common stereotypes, misinformation on the range of autism and leading people to mistreat or isolate those with autism. Those with autism already face so much by going into the world not being neurotypical. The media’s portrayal of autistic people only enables people to harass those on the spectrum. It pushes autistic people to force themselves to be a part of the media stereotypes, instead of acknowledging their place in the spectrum, which can be hurtful.. However, there are also several positive effects including the promotion of inclusion and acceptance, education over a variety of disabilities, showing what autistic people can do and allowing autistic people to feel represented. At the same time, these positive effects can only be successfully seen, if the media portrays autistic people with respect and accuracy, unlike what Sia did in her new movie. In the end, the media needs to take responsibility to display every aspect of the spectrum accurately and positively, to decrease the negative repercussions of the portrayal of autism in the media.
References
Gambacurta, C. (2020, January 06). AUTISM REPRESENTATION IN THE MEDIA. Organization for Autism Research. Retrieved from https://researchautism.org/autism-representation-in-the-media/ Wilson, B. (2020, June). How Has Autism Been Portrayed in the Media? Applied Behavior Analysis Programs Guide. Retrieved from https://www.appliedbehavioranalysisprograms.com/faq/autism-portrayal-in-media/
Oliver, D. (2021, February 04). Sia, facing backlash from autism community, adds disclaimer to ‘Music,’ deletes Twitter. USA Today. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2021/02/04/sia-adds-disclaimer-golden-globe-nominated-music-amid-backlash-autism-community/4386251001/
Sparks, H. (2021, February 17). More than 55,000 critics ‘cancel’ Sia’s ‘Music’ amid autism backlash. New York Post. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2021/02/17/more-than-55000-critics-cancel-sias-music-amid-backlash/
Autism Speaks. (n.d.). What Is Autism? Retrieved from https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism
Originally published at https://issuu.com.
