Emotional Recognition and Cartoons

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Just a question I've been thinking about asking.

Are you more able to recognise (and maybe sypathise or empathise) with the emotions and expressions of cartoons than real people? As I've been thinking a lot about this, I think it's very much the case for me that I find it a lot easier to recognise the facial expressions of cartoons because they're generally exaggerated and caricatured to make them more obvious, with clear narratives to help to explain why the characters are feeling certain ways. I think it's maybe why I've also had a life long obsession with cartoons, because I feel like I can read and understand them much better than I can real people, and feel more connected with them despite the fact that they aren't really real. I've been told that I can also draw emotions quite well through cartoons, and I think I mostly got this through learn to draw books and television programs like art attack . I think it's much easier to learn how to associate the expressions of cartoons with certain emotions by rote, and I think learning to draw cartoons and cartoon expressions is probably a great exercise for people on the spectrum.

In real life and with real people however, I am terrible at expressing or understanding emotion and reading other people's emotions. Until I was diagnosed, I didn't even realise normal people could do this naturally, it seemed impossible to me. I can conceptualise emotions, but I can't really experience them with clarity.

I think though, what this tells me, is that I'm very much able to identify and connect and empathise with people if I have a very obvious idea of their character and what their feelings are and the narrative around them and the situations that they are reacting to, but that unfortunately, we don't get things explained in this way in real life and are supposed to be able to pick in up on the things that are unsaid and do it for ourselves. This is probably why my taste in movies and television is somewhat immature in general (I mainly watch kids programs and movies even though I'm in my 20s).

Well, I'm rambling now aren't I? Does anyone else have a similar experience? I have an idea that maybe this is why so many aspies are really drawn towards animation and cartoons, so I was wondering what the response might be.

Yes cartoons are good.. My fav animations are Ratatouille and Wallace & Gromit ... What are your fav?

I did learn expressions through cartoons as a child...

People hide their real intent which makes it harder but even if they did not I am not good at reading faces

I definitely pick up on facial expressions more on cartoons than on real people, as you say they're exaggerated which makes it easier. It's interesting that it's possible to recognise the expressions though (presuming I interpret them correctly), it suggests that I have the 'programming' to interpret/understand facial expressions, I just don't utilise it in everyday life. Perhaps real expressions are just too subtle/fast to accurately read.

I don't think my taste is immature, it's rather different. I like certain types of cartoons, and there are other adults who like them too. Cartoons are easier to comprehend, the emotions expressed are also easier to grasp. I watched them a lot in my 20s too. Now I prefer cartoons with family themes. A surrealistic example is The Triplet Of Belleville.

In a way I like fiction that is immature considering my age (e.g. Chip & Dale cartoons), and there is fiction that escapes the attention of the majority of people which is more mature than usual TV shows, some sci-fi movies like The Time Machine, Solaris (both), Duncan Jones's The Moon, K-Pax. Partly historical and partly fictional is the movie Tous Les Matins Du Monde.

I do indeed.I was kinda shamed away from cartoons for a while.I am trying to start to watch anime again

Not only i recognize expressions in cartoons and some videogames (the sims 2, for example, even if facial features are realistic (with the mods i use) espressions are cartoonish), thank for them i can draw almost all range of facial expressions even if I'm bad to recognize expression in real life an movie with actors.
Until the age of 20 i could not even understand if someone was healthy or sick.

Since i like to draw, when i was around 20 I took a book about real facial expressions and how to draw them. And i felt really confused. Many expressions seemed the same to me. I still have that book but i never read it.

Cartoon... I like the Smurfs, i liked also Disney's movies and cartoons. and comics and books of course. But i like also some adult cartoon (Metalocalypse)

In 'The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time', the main character (aspie) says he likes dogs because they are happy, sad, cross or concentrating. I thought that was classic (funny), but then I realised what the author 'wasn't' saying; that there are more expressions than this.
I love cartoons and I like people who exaggerate their own expressions, they are good fun to be around and doing acting classes has helped me to do the same to some degree. I have very little idea how other people perceive me in general (I get some strange reactions when I first meet people) but generally I know I'm a good friend and attract good people to me.
It's kind of wierd to think there is a whole range of human interraction that I just don't see, no different to being colour-blind really, except that there is no easy physical explanation. I think western culture discourages physical contact and that contributes to autism and our awkward response to normal social interractions. Studies have shown that in India, where daily massage of a baby by it's mother is a traditional practice, babies are healthier and grow faster. I honestly believe that making a baby cry itself to sleep in a separate room is unnatural, no other mammal does this.

Cartoons are generally easy for me to "read" because, as several people have pointed out, the expressions of emotion are very exaggerated. Not just facial expressions, but the body language that characters use. It's probably one of the reasons why cartoons are my favorite TV entertainment.

Cartoons also tend to be very clear and simple about character motivations. Or at least my favorites are: Yogi wants a pic-a-nic basket, so he steals one. Mr. Ranger is mad because Yogi is breaking the park rules. End of setup. Hijinks ensue. This type of formula applies to lots of them: Tom and Jerry, Looney Tunes, Woody Woodpecker, Popeye, etc.

If I watch a sitcom like Seinfeld, I usually feel more baffled than amused. What did this character say that was so distressing to the other? Why is George so upset that [somebody] thinks badly of him, when George barely knows [somebody] and doesn't like him anyway? I always feel like I've missed something in the plot. The characters all seem to despise each other, but they continue to spend time together. I feel like screaming at them.