![]() ![]() When it was revealed that Highmore had based his portrayal of Shaun’s autistic traits on the organization, Autism Speaks, many actually autistic advocates pointed out the organization’s less-than-great actions, including its infantilizing treatment of autistic adults. Over the past few years, as The Good Doctor has grown in popularity, many disability advocates have pointed out the troubling implications of the way the show has represented autism and how it conducts its own research on the topic. And distress over having a meltdown in public isn’t helped when a non-neurodivergent accommodating society makes fun of these moments, only adding to the stigma surrounding neurodivergence. In real life, many autistic people express how emotionally distressing a meltdown episode can be, in which their physical environment becomes overly stimulating and even painful resulting in loss of some or total control of their emotional reactions/ physical abilities. In a sense, this would be akin to mocking a person for having a panic attack or anxiety attack (as in a literal physical/psychological condition one often has little control over). Making fun of an autistic character having a meltdown (and not the actor’s exaggerated attempt at playing one) is making fun of the idea of neurodivergence itself. While the accuracy of this scene depicting an actual autistic meltdown is questionable, the response to it is indicative of a larger systemic of how our society sees neurodivergent people. In response, social media has recreated this scene as a meme, twisting Shaun’s line “I am a surgeon” into “I am a sturgeon” (as in the fish) along with other remixes parodying the scene. During this clip, Shaun, who is provoked by his ableist colleague who wants to limit Shaun’s working abilities, shouts “I am a surgeon” repeatedly while looking emotionally overwhelmed. Recently, social media made it a point to highlight a scene from the episode “Breakdown” in which the protagonist Shaun experiences a meltdown, an experience defined as an “intense response to an overwhelming situation," often involving being overstimulated by one’s current environment. One such show that has recently been the focus of criticism is the ABC medical drama The Good Doctor, particularly regarding its main character, Shaun Murphy, an autistic surgeon (played by non-autistic actor, Freddie Highmore). Over the years, the neurodivergent community has called out Hollywood’s lackluster representation of autism as they often rely on exaggerated and outdated representations of autism. When it comes to neurodivergent representation in Western media, the portrayals that exist of neurodivergent characters aren’t so great. ![]()
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