Aspergers/HFA and Rowan Atkinson

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As a HFA person I just wanted to write that, from my personal experience I found Rowan Atkinsons' programmes very helpful and would really recommend them to parents of children on the spectrum and adults as well. I personally found his characters very accessible and understandable, calmer emotionally and providing confidence and acceptance in who you are regardless of abilities/disabilities.
When older, I found that the Blackadder series particularly opened up my language skills, making conversation fun and engaging and encouraged me to speak more. I think Mr Bean may be more appropriate for other levels of the Autistic Spectrum, although I found the character always inspired confidence to just get out and be in the world, even if we sometimes feel we are not particularly capable.

First off, welcome to Wrong Planet.

Mr Bean displays some of the characteristics of an Aspie.

Mr Bean seems to be merely a child trapped inside a man’s body, looking at the world with a bright awe in his face, constantly doing silly things. Bean is never seen to question his actions, but accepts everything he does. What is going on behind that innocent grin and wide-eyed expression?

Throughout the entire original series Mr Bean mostly speaks with mumbles, or one word responses like “Bean”. Monosyllabic word choice could link to possible autism, Asperger Syndrome, or possible Savant Syndrome as all of these are usually accompanied by lexical hindrances. Bean is Socially Awkward. His life-long friend is a Teddy bear and his closest human relationship is Irma Gobb, which is frosty at best. This furthers the theory of Bean registering somewhere on the Autism Spectrum, as he either struggles to form social relationships, or chooses not to. Mr Bean possesses an apparent vulnerability, he is innocent and sweetly naive yet selfish and highly vindictive when he wants to be. He switches between these two modes like a child in his pre-teens. And, like any child, his first duty to himself is look out for himself – scratch the surface and you will discover that Bean is a highly selfish character.

Whenever Bean encounters the blue Reliant Robin (a three-wheeled car) he has to damage it, overtake it, or even try to knock it over. This behaviour could be an example of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Bean often gets himself into all manner of scrapes. Now, while it is true that a lot of the time the problems he creates for himself are completely his own fault, he does manage to come up with spectacular solutions time and time again. His original thinking and problem solving abilities do certainly point to some sort sort of above-average intelligence. All things taken into account, Mr Bean’s main disorder – if you can call it that – is probably High Functioning Autism.

Source: The Mental Disorders of Mr Bean

Obviously, Mr. Bean is a fictional character portrayed by a professional actor. That means that while Mr. Bean may seem to display some autistic traits, those traits are intentionally displayed by the actor, who seems to display no autistic traits of his own in real life.

So, if you look to Mr. Bean as an authentic example of an autistic person, you would only mislead yourself.

Mr. Bean is a "mime" type character squarely in the tradition of "mime" type characters.

These sorts of characters have been around a long time.

This character might have "autistic traits"---but, like Fnord said, to use him as an example of someone with autism would be rather absurd.

I think he's a funny guy......but he's pretty far from being a "typical" autistic person.

I always say Mr Bean looks like a dumb idiot from the outside, but is actually much smarter than the average person on the inside. Some of his ideas, skills and tactics are very clever.

That's the whole point of comedy, really. A seemingly foolish "exterior"---but a consummately wise "interior."

Court Jesters were mocked left and right by kings and those in his court----but (trust me) they were frequently the king's confidants.

Many comedians are actually quite serious folks---and sometimes tormented folks. They represent, well, that oft used symbol of theatrical arts (the one with the sad and funny faces facing each other).

There are many types of Aspies. Some grow up to become scientist and engineers. Others evolve into writers, poets, musicians, screen writers etc. Many writers put their life experiences down in the pages of their books or scripts of plays and movies. So although Mr. Bean is a fictional character it is based on the memories and feelings and experiences of an actual living person.

One of the popular programs today on TV is called Big Bang Theory. Although the Big Bang Theory states that Sheldon is not on the autism spectrum, Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon on the show, has mentioned in several interviews how his character seems to exhibit some Asperger-like characteristics. So I wouldn't be a bit surprised if one or more of the screenwriters of this show are Aspies.

When I was young there was a popular Television series called "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis". This was a marvelous television program filled with Aspie type characters. It is set during the difficult High School Years. It encompassed a showcase of future actors and actresses. It was a marvelous world. Dobie Gillis is significant as the first American television program produced for a major network to feature teenagers as leading characters. The program originally aired from 1959-1963 and included 147 episodes. It is filled with life lessons for Aspies. So many of these are echoed on the threads in Wrong Planet. Such as will I ever get a girlfriend? What would the world be like if it was filled with Aspies. Will I ever get a job? No one wants to be my friend! But sometimes it goes a step further such as to what lengths will an Aspie go to keep a girlfriend. No, these characters were not Aspies, but many of them were created from a screenwriter who probably was and weaved the tapestry of his life into his works.

I agree with all of you that we'll never really know about the actor or the character but he always cheers me up and I expect many others on the spectrum feel the same, he certainly is one funny guy.

There is a fan theory that Mr. Bean is actually an alien, which is the way many people with ASD feel.

It's not just a fan theory. It's literally implied in the opening to the show:

Yes, a friend of mine said he felt like he was an alien.

I was described that I was a cross between Mr Bean and Frank Spencer when I was in collage.

I remember being in high school and I found a list of people and fictional characters with AS and Rowan was on it. I have no idea if he is actually diagnosed or if it was just someone armchair diagnosing him. I have never seen him come out and say he has it nor read anywhere else about him having it. But I remember reading he is actually smart and has an engineering degree while people assumed he wasn't smart. That meant he was a good actor so people were convinced he wasn't very bright so he played Mr. Bean. He actually made the show himself. As an actor, you need to haven what they call, a survival job. So not only do actors study drama and film, they also study another area too and get a degree in another area while studying drama and getting trained as an actor.