ATYPICAL

Hey, so I just binge watched Atypical on Netflix (not difficult because eight thirty-minute episodes do not constitute a series by any standard) and I wondered if anybody else has seen it yet and what you thought? Reviews have been mixed so far, but I enjoyed it.

Parents
  • I thought it was a really stereotypical at first. I've recently been diagnosed and I'm trying to figure myself out so I carried on watching and I actually ended up relating to a few things that I didn't realise had anything to do with being on the spectrum. Especially the scene where Sam's girlfriend was touching everything in his room and took his jacket. I do wish the character had a bit more depth and I didn't like the fact they made him seem like such a problem and a burden. 

  • I could see that sometimes he was presented as a burden, where it was 'because of his autism' that people were stopped from doing what they wanted to do.

    But, they weren't really stopped. In almost all these cases, people were making the conscious decision that it was more important to them to take care of Sam when he needed their help, than it was to "follow their dream" or whatever. It was about the sacrifices people made, but that's true of family life anyway, and in the context of 'the family' they were all making the choice to support Sam. Even when it was presented as "I want to go out and do this thing right now but I can't because Sam might need me", it was still people making that choice, and yes it might be a hindrance to them in the moment right now, if you asked them later if they'd make the same decision again, they'd say yes.

    His mum made more of a "big deal" about this, because supporting Sam was the world she had been 'forced' into for the past 18 years, and she had to give up her dreams of what she wanted for her life in order to do so. But again, she went into it as such a 'Beverley Goldberg' whirlwind because that was the nature of her character, she goes all-in to do it properly.

    For me, it wasn't that he was presented as being a burden, it was more about he had certain needs, and it showed the different ways they'd do stuff to help, even if that meant sacrificing something that was also important to them, and the impact all these things had. I didn't get that anyone was really being judgemental about him other than the times when people stated it outright (for the purpose of creating the conflicts which drive the story). Certain things had to be done in certain ways for him, and if these were done then family life would continue as smoothly as "normal" for them. Some things had to be done differently, but they were mostly able to be accommodated as long as you know about and plan for them.

Reply
  • I could see that sometimes he was presented as a burden, where it was 'because of his autism' that people were stopped from doing what they wanted to do.

    But, they weren't really stopped. In almost all these cases, people were making the conscious decision that it was more important to them to take care of Sam when he needed their help, than it was to "follow their dream" or whatever. It was about the sacrifices people made, but that's true of family life anyway, and in the context of 'the family' they were all making the choice to support Sam. Even when it was presented as "I want to go out and do this thing right now but I can't because Sam might need me", it was still people making that choice, and yes it might be a hindrance to them in the moment right now, if you asked them later if they'd make the same decision again, they'd say yes.

    His mum made more of a "big deal" about this, because supporting Sam was the world she had been 'forced' into for the past 18 years, and she had to give up her dreams of what she wanted for her life in order to do so. But again, she went into it as such a 'Beverley Goldberg' whirlwind because that was the nature of her character, she goes all-in to do it properly.

    For me, it wasn't that he was presented as being a burden, it was more about he had certain needs, and it showed the different ways they'd do stuff to help, even if that meant sacrificing something that was also important to them, and the impact all these things had. I didn't get that anyone was really being judgemental about him other than the times when people stated it outright (for the purpose of creating the conflicts which drive the story). Certain things had to be done in certain ways for him, and if these were done then family life would continue as smoothly as "normal" for them. Some things had to be done differently, but they were mostly able to be accommodated as long as you know about and plan for them.

Children
No Data