TV and film question

BensonE

Does any else watch TV shows and films and go that character is defo autistic/ Neuro Diverse even if the writers didn't mean too

Like a few months back I watched 5 feet apart and the main character was defo autistic flirting. I know she's ocd but what she did was beyond ocd level

Orchid059

I think perhaps actors feel comfortable enough to explore this in a character even when it is not specified in a script. Perhaps it is a way of allowing audience members to better relate to, and find comfort in characters on screen.

Jayn21

I think its a way for the character to relate to real life people.

BensonE

I tend to find it's more with scripted actions then line delivery etc.

Amy22

@BensonE This is a really great question to ask actually and I'm glad you decided to share it here too. As someone who studied TV and film and also did work placement in the TV drama and scripted industry this something I find I pick up a lot quite often. Sometimes when I am reading books, scripts or films I feel like I got this sixth sense and I can often sense that the character is neurodiverse. I feel like quite often a lot of authors or writers tend to write characters that are neurodiverse or autism coded (sometimes without even realising it which makes it more interesting for the author and the audience). I have watched quite a lot of shows where I have picked up on neurodiverse traits in characters. I will say there is one show I watched which I got on dvd called Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. So the main protagonist Dirk Gently in my eyes would be neurodiverse because he has special interests and he often is quite curious as to why things function and work (specifically the universe). I also picked up on this as well because I noticed in the show he tends to work things out in a different way to how the other characters would do so. I think we neurodiverse folk can tend to pick up on neurodiverse traits in characters as sometimes it might even be that the character may be relatable to us too.

Actually this is something I am exploring a lot right now in my chosen industry and career as I am trying to figure out more about neurodiverse characters and how I identify them as so.