Post Autistic TV characters you notice

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They are all modified to varying degrees for the comedy and story, so they are just fictional characters with an autistic edge to varying degrees of sharpness. I think it's a shame that most of the public don't know that parts of these characters are based around autistic people.


Mr Bean: Quite autistic in ways, especially how he views other people, he seems to think of them as more like animals than people, he interacts with them in ways which appear learnt rather than natural and is often annoyed at having to interact with them/disturbed at the presence of others. Most of the time he doesn't interact with people at all which means he goes incredibly far out of his way to find intricate solutions to problems which could easily be solved if he'd just initiate a conversation ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2nl9FtXxTs ) At the start of the show it looks like he's dropped down by a UFO which may be a reference to "wrong planet syndrome"?



The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon Cooper: One of the most realistic portrayals of an autistic person who would be definitely be currently (wrongfully according to my pro-neurodiversity beliefs) classified as having either “Asperger's Syndrome” or a “high functioning autistic spectrum disorder.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHj8MQ1d ... re=related



The Britts Empire: Gordon Brittas who is addicted to his leisure centre and is constantly going against the conventions of social interactions, upsetting people but oblivious to people's moods. Interesting part in this where he is taught neurotypical social skills (at 2:00) and then tries to use them near the end http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF_lJiwzKBE



Father Ted: Dougal, not much more needs to be said on that one.. loads of examples http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uOX_hbkAMc



Terminator Sarah Conner Chronicles: The robot Cameron in that, though autistics do have feelings, they may just not shine through and logic may be stronger, also they are often aware of the other meanings which people think they aren’t. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC09-v0h ... re=related



Star Trek Voyager: The borg woman 7 of 9.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JckeeSxe6Rc



Monty Python character I noticed posted on this site, borrowing from autism as so many comedic characters do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coi86g8bxE8



Black Books: Bernard Black's character is very anti-social, mostly he just wants to be left alone, but he's also very clever e.g. he got carried away obsessively writing a large novel when he was supposed to be writing a children's book. His character would not be “diagnosed” with autism as he’s missing one or two things, but I think all he really needs to be autistic in addition to the way he already is is an obsessive hobby which he spends 12 hours a day on. The bit where he has trouble with his accounts is also interesting, his mind won’t allow him to focus on it and he just wants it out of the way. Personally I think it’s because I’m more logical and I don’t understand bureaucracy as it’s not the most efficient logical way to deal with things, the amount of things which don’t make sense add up and mentally hurts which makes something like a few simple forms very hard to do. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/blac ... e-contract



Red Dwarf: Rimmer, he is quite autistic at times e.g. his very long slideshow of the inside of the ship in this clip, oblivious to how no one else is getting pleasure from it, he maybe needs one or two changes though but he's not too far away http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_JD1ixTvIU



As you can see British comedy loves autism.

I don't think any of these shows actually had "autism" in mind when these characters were created, you're just seeing it because you want to see it in characters you identify with.

And..erm, Odo in DS9

yeah sure, they are fictional characters not autistic people but the most interesting and key parts of the characters were taken from autism

Again, I don't think autism ever came into the creators mind when they created many of these characters. What they were probably thinking of was some old friend who was just like this character who may have had an ASD, but the creator doesn't know that.

This also means you're saying that NT's are capable of making totally convincing portrayals of those with autism and that they understand it, I get the impression that you belong to the camp that does not believe NT's can understand autism.

Maybe Gus from the UK programme Tracy Beaker? I don't really watch it but my daughter does and so I hear / see the odd bit that makes me wonder. Last episode I noticed he threw something on one of the care workers shoes(I think it was piccallili) and said "your shoes are pickled" or something like that and the care worker was shocked because he'd actually made a joke. There was another episode in which he was getting increasingly upset because he was going to be late for an appointment and he's obsessed with his little notebook and writing everything down

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/articles/char ... carmichael

Few examples (gus is the kid with dark curly hair)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYk4o9ekn-8[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJrjRbEucj8[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tchz-7Z51-Q[/youtube]

There was also a documentary on the same kids channel about autism a few weeks ago;

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeGaffIJvHM[/youtube]

Last edited by Az29 on 04 Jan 2012, 12:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I don't think Mr. Bean has Asperger's; I think he's just weird. He's quirky. And even though I've only seen it a few times, I think the characters on "The Big Bang Theory" are just nerds, not people with Asperger's. If they had Asperger's, they wouldn't be so social. They found other nerds to hang out with and they date. Most people with Asperger's have trouble making friends and dating. I can't really comment on those other shows, either because I don't watch them or I've never heard of them. However, even though I've only watched it a few times, I think "Bones" (from the TV show, not the doctor on "Star Trek") has Asperger's because she's better with bone structures than she is with people.

He is diagnosed with AS. They mention it on the Tracy Beaker returns website. As for the others, I expect they were just based on undiagnosed 'nerds' or family members who were a bit 'square'. I did notice Arnold Rimmer though, but like I said, probably just coincidence.

BBC article about Gus:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/ ... 497965.stm

I don't think there's much of a conflict caused by me saying that these characters all have an autistic edge to varying degrees of sharpness, yet also being able to say that it's nowhere near sharp enough to show an in depth understanding of autism, consulting autistic people being a necessity to achieve this.

Yes a lot of the characters may have been based on "that weird annoying guy who wouldn't shut up" or "that super logical emotionless woman" and I extend my "it's a shame the public don't realise these are just like autistic traits" to include "the writers" as well in this instance.

I do think that someone autistic inputted into Sheldon's character, or at least a writer grew up with an autistic sibling, I would be impressed if not, though still not enough to say it's a real in-depth understanding.

I think that if these characters were all real people and all went to a psychiatrist that some would leave with no diagnosis of anything (such as Rimmer, Bernard Black) whereas some would leave with a diagnosis of autism (I think that Sheldon, Cameron would definitely be diagnosed as autistic by most current psychiatrists. Mr Bean I think would also likely be diagnosed as autistic by many). Some are pushing it a bit more.

But disregarding any speculation towards the character as a whole, if you just focus solely on the autistic traits of all of these characters I think it's pretty interesting. Yes I do see what I would regard as autistic traits easily and certainly occasionally in people who are not autistic, everyone's a little autistic though to a certain extent.


As for a lack of NT understanding, there is a lot they don't get e.g. they often think that "alone" is a terrible thing and an autistic person is suffering for not "being out and playing with friends", they seem to have no concepts beyond themselves, this can be taught and learnt though. Beyond that however, I think the thing neurotypicals will never understand is the way we think, I don't think they can ever get how I seem to have multiple thoughts constantly, separate but also merged with each other creating a kind of haze in my mind, but not a confusing or messy one, countless options towards anything presented to me so I can spend a long time thinking about seemingly the simplest things or even make seemingly stupid mistakes if I pick the "incorrect" interpretation from the extensive list (they often think that this is the only interpretation you had, again relating only to their own way of thinking). They seem to think in a more 1D way, one thought at a time, focused and grounded in on or off, black or white, yes or no etc. I don't think they can understand the feeling of having a mind which works in such a different way

So in conclusion: Maybe we should collectively ask for royalties for all of our interesting quirks being imbedded into these characters? I mean we're practically writing half of their show for them, with our awesomeness alone....

Tails the fox, from Sonic X
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYGNiZbuId8

Can't seem to find English subtitles.

The main character of Bones is based on an Aspie.

I believe firmly that Goren in Law and order CI is autistic.

Grissom in the original CSI strikes me as pretty autistic too.

Too tired to think of more, but I know there are some. Oh right, Dr Tony Hill in Wire in the Blood as well...

He is based on Sherlock Holmes.
However on the episode with a guy with AS they do hint at him possibly having AS, kind of like they did House.

I'm pretty sure Sheldon Cooper has AS but they can't say because if they do making fun of him won't be funny any more, just like what happened to Gerry on Boston Legal.

Mr. Bean is an alien. He falls from a UFO. Mr. Bean is from the 1980's (or early 90's), way before the term 'Wrong Planet' was coined up.

I can see how you think that the writers based them on autism but it's probably closer to they knew people with ASD traits, but back in those days little was known about HF autism. And really what it just proves is that people like to laugh at stupid people. Some Mother Do Have 'Em/ Michael Crawford. If you saw it you'd probably say he was an aspie. No. People just know people like to laugh at stupid people, and it's true. I always thought Brittas was just a careless boss who cared little for his employees, something else people like to laugh at. The Office, anyone?

I'm glad you didn't say Gumby from Monty Python. Way to make Einstein look like an idiot.

[Moved from General Autism Discussion to Television, Film, and Video]

Julian Bashir, and the four augments, (Sarina, Lauren, Jack, and Patrick), Star Trek DS9

Moss from "The IT Crowd"

I agree on Goren from CI.

Abed from Community.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_76a5DQqVx8[/youtube]
He's not diagnosed, but it's hinted at pretty directly several times on the show.

Larry David from 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' seems to fit the description. Or at least is designed with that kind of thought process in mind. I can relate to that show way too much.

I think a lot of traits that have been used to design certain comedy characters (like the example of Bernard Black, or Mr. Bean) are based on aspies, just that the Asperger's diagnosis is relatively recent so these people would have previously just been considered eccentric.