Does it make me autistic to enjoy Israeli rock?

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When you first heard the music and already differentiated the language from the music. That's what I am saying.


In the case of Israeli pop both things hit you at once so you didn't consciously differentiate the language from the music, so maybe you did realize that it was the language and not the music that was attracting you maybe.

Still don’t quite understand. I got interest in Nordic culture because I got into Nordic bands. So maybe enjoying Israeli music is a “fake” special interest. But if that’s the case my interest in Nordic languages would be fake as well. I think my obsession with Jewish stuff and Israel really started when I got into Sacha Baron Cohen. I did have a mild interest in Israel about ten years ago when I was into Uri Geller. I found it interesting he didn’t look middle eastern to me, but still had a slightly exotic look. This has been true for the few Israelis I’ve met in real life. They didn’t really look or act middle eastern, but were still exotic enough to ask where they’re from. I’ve never guessed anyone as being from Israel. You just can’t place them easily. I kind of resonate with that. I think my physical appearance is just as unplaceable for most people. Same with my behavior in some ways.

I cant read your mind.Dont know the chronology of your life. I assumed that you got into Nordic languages first. Just forget that theory.

Both Cohen and Geller are good looking and charismatic. I think that Uri Geller is a total con artist, but he is good looking. A little more even featured than your stereotypical big nosed Arab or Jew, but with a charming dash of exoticness ( to WASP north americans). I get that. Even I (a guy) can fall under his spell when I see him speak on TV. But I digress.

You seem to identify with Israelis because they come from all over the Jewish diaspora (from around the world). And you yourself have a mixed background. So maybe you have just answered your own question about why you are drawn to Israeli culture on some level.

But two things.

You over think things. Worry to much about whether something is a real special interest or a fake. What does it matter? If you're into it you're into it.

Second autism is not like homosexuality. Both straights and gays have gayness as a "thing" on their radar screen. But NTs do not obsesses (nor even know much about it) autism the way autistics do.

The question is NOT "will folks think that I am autistic?". The question is ""will folks think that I am weird?".

If you like Israeli pop music they wont think anything about you. But if you talk incessantly about ANY one narrow subject then they will think you are weird.

Ok. I didn’t really know you assumed I got into Nordic languages first either. I got into Nordic music because they have a huge indie and alternative music scene. I really wanted to be cool and indie. Israel doesn’t really have an indie scene. Well they do, but so far it’s been boring as hell. I mainly just listen to mainstream pop rock from there. That’s not my usual preferred genre. Maybe this obsession somewhat broadened my music taste.

I don’t really care if Uri Geller is a con artist. I just love how charismatic he is. I think James Randi had a gay crush on him. I think he wrote several books dedicated to him. While he goes after old Christian faith healers he seemed extra obsessed with Geller. I'm not really attracted to men to begin with. So I never actually had any crushes on Cohen or Geller. Just like their material. I love how Cohen can create disguises and isn’t limited to being himself. I aspire to be like that. I get sick of just being me.


Yeah I guess that’s why I’m drawn to Israeli culture. Still don’t know exactly why I was drawn to Nordic culture. Maybe because I’m cold. I guess I like some personas like Bjork or Fever Ray.


I guess it makes me feel autistic only enjoying music because of the language it’s in. This whole thing where I enjoy a certain type of music from a certain country feels very autistic to me. I remember my accordion teacher finding it weird that I enjoy finnish accordion music since Finland isn’t known for accordion music. I feel like enjoying Israeli pop rock has the same problem. Israel isn’t known for rock or any other music genre. Maybe a bit of world music because it’s middle eastern. Scandinavia is kind of known for rock music or at least metal, but I never got into that too much.

One interesting thing that happened before I had a special interest in Israel was when my mom and step dad were listening to this CD of middle eastern folk music. As a rebellious teen with a bias against being forced to listen to middle eastern music I wasn’t too thrilled. But then this song that reminded me of Finnish folk music came on my mom skipped over it. I was kind of pissed. It turns out it was from Israel.

It seems like no one can tell I’m not straight unless I have short hair. Even when I have short hair I can pass as straight to some people. I am worried about being seen as the wrong kind of weird. Even if they don’t know to label me as autistic they’ll still treat me weirdly.

That’s my problem. I still enjoy asking if ____ interest is weird. It seems like I can get away with having more interest in normal things such as makeup. But I even got nervous about my interest in makeup at one point seeming to intense.

Had the impression you were gay. So I was a bit puzzled that you were into guy celebs. But like I said charisma attracts both genders -not necessarily sexually. Geller, and his mystical soft spoken way of talking combined with his looks is quite charming to either gender. Cohen is a good chameleon of a performer. Randi's books about Geller are probably NOT flattering to Geller. I am sure that his books about Geller are exposes of Geller's chicanery. Unless you mean "he wrote books dedicated to Geller" and not about Geller ( maybe you mean he would print " I salute geller with this book") . Even then I cant believe that Randi would put dedications on books Randi authored to Yuri Geller except in a deliberately ironic way ( you Geller inspired me to go after other SOBs like you! That sorta thing).. Lol! So if that's having "a gay crush" then, its certainly a rather twisted crush.

I dunno. I guess that you're just a wierdo . So just embrace it. But also try to build on your obsessions and figure out ways to capitalize on them to connect with others (socially, vocationally, or avocationally) instead of just being negative about it. See if you can be more intellectually flexible, and say expand your interest in Israeli pop to learning about Eurovision pop in general -say- or about the Middle East in general for example. Earn some currency for conversing with others.

You know how young guys pull their crush’s pigtails. I think that’s how James Randi is. He hates people who make supernatural claims and he hates that he’s attracted to Uri Geller. So that’s why he so passionately against him. Faith healers are way worse, but I don’t see him writing several books dedicated to one specific faith healer. Maybe because they’re old church going men. With Cohen I mainly enjoy his humor and ability to look like a different person.

I’ll try to expand my interests, but on my own terms. I find I can get overly offended and contrarian about what people consider similar to my special interests. Kind of like indie rock fanboys getting offended when people recommend a mainstream rock band.

I think the best way to expand my interests is to just go off on tangents rather than trying to intentionally expand my interests. I think a good way to describe aspie special interests is specific rather than narrow. I already have some ideas on how to expand my interests. Like one Israeli singer sings some Yemeni style music with a lot of French songs. This is slowly getting me interested in French, which I know has a lot of social currency and usefulness. I speak Spanish and used to study French, so I already have some experience in French. Checking out more Yemeni music is also on my to-do list. I think reading interviews from my favorite artists will indirectly teach me about politics which I can learn more about when I please.

I had a funny thing happen on reddit. There was this thread where people can write posts reviewing music they've been listening to lately. I reviewed a few Israeli artists and said I got into them because I wanted to listen to stuff in Hebrew. I then got a reply from this Israeli guy who said he never thought he’d see a fellow Israeli reviewing Israeli music and asked for recommendations. He said he liked all sorts of music as long as it’s not generic. I was shocked. I thought the Israeli music I was into was just mainstream pop rock. I told him that I’m not Israeli and just googled stuff and went crazy on Spotify. I guess saying that I want to listen to stuff in Hebrew could be interpreted as wanting to hear music in my native language. He was very surprised a foreigner would get into Israeli music. I just like to get into random- key niche genres. I’m trying to get into more of them so nothing will stand out and seem too weird. I just listened to a Russian punk playlist. I enjoyed it.

Music tastes do not make someone autistic. That's like someone telling me that the fact that I like the music I do makes me autistic.

That's very true even if it's a mainstream subject.

I just asked why I should even say I’m autistic and they mentioned something about people not getting to see my quirks. That doesn’t even make any sense to me because my quirks are there whether I tell people my label or not. I guess he thinks I hide stuff more when people don’t know my label. I think I hide some things whether people know my label or not. I don’t want to seem autistic to people or reinforce stereotypes or have things labeled by people. When I asked for an example of a quirk he mentioned that listening to danish music is an autistic quirk. It may be a quirk, but I don’t like it being attributed to autism. I know he’d think Israeli music is even more autistic.

Now that I think of it this is kind of my music taste dream come true. I’ve always wanted to genuinely enjoy some real rock music. Not just female pop singers with electric guitars like I have in the past. I’ve always liked the rocker image. Unfortunately I’ve never truly been into rock that much. Unfortunately the rock music I enjoy is in a weird language so I can’t really see band t-shirts. I’m putting some effort into also getting into a bit of non-Israeli rock. Unfortunately I just don’t enjoy it as consistently. When people ask what music I like I’ll mention those non-israeli rock artists and socially profit .
EDIT: I still feel alienated by my music taste. A lot of people seem to enjoy party/clubbing music and trance. I just find it lacks structure too much. It’s all boom boom to me. Maybe I’ll enjoy it later on.

Have you ever heard an Israeli blues rock band “Electric Blue”? They are cool.

No. I mainly listen to stuff in Hebrew, lol.

I’m guessing it’s not all about the language. When I was looking for some Hebrew language music the first thing I did was look for Hebrew music Spotify playlists started by langauge learners. The music sucked and it annoyed me. So some of it is probably related to my true music taste. A lot of the Hebrew songs I listen to don’t sound out of place with my non-Hebrew songs.

Liking Israeli rock simply makes you an Israeli rock fan.

If you have to ask the question the answer is yes. NEXT!

I guess people will see it as a sign of autism. Just like enjoying Danish music was seen as a sign. Anything I enjoy too much will be seen as autistic.