美国国家公共电台 NPR Netflix, ABC Portrayals Of Autism Still Fall Short, Critics Say

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

One of the best-known depictions of autism in a major film is Dustin Hoffman's character in the Oscar-winning 1988 film "Rain Man."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "RAIN MAN")

DUSTIN HOFFMAN: (As Raymond) Maple¹ syrup² was supposed to be on the table before the pancakes.

TOM CRUISE: (As Charlie) Ray...

HOFFMAN: (As Raymond) Of course when they bring the maple syrup after the pancakes, it'll definitely be too late. We're going to be here the entire morning with...

SHAPIRO: Few movies or TV shows discussed autism 30 years ago. That's changed. There are two major TV projects centered on autistic characters debuting³ soon. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says while these modern depictions of autism have come a long way and mean well, they still occasionally stumble on stereotypes⁴ and misunderstandings.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE⁵: Like a lot of kids in high school, Sam worries that he doesn't fit in.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ATYPICAL")

KEIR GILCHRIST: (As Sam) I'm a weirdo. That's what everyone says.

DEGGANS: Sam is the 18-year-old lead character in Netflix's dramatic comedy series "Atypical." One reason he struggles to fit in - he has autism.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ATYPICAL")

GILCHRIST: (As Sam) Sometimes I don't know what people mean when they say things, and that can make me feel alone even when there are other people in the room.

DEGGANS: Autism can make it difficult for people to understand social cues or nonverbal signals. People with autism can say things that seem inappropriate or misread how someone else is reacting. So when Sam tells his family that he wants to date and get a girlfriend, he does it in a very literal way, referencing a discussion with this therapist, Julia.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ATYPICAL")

GILCHRIST: (As Sam) Julia thinks that I should put myself out there and find someone to have sex with.

BRIGETTE LUNDY-PAINE: (As Casey, laughter).

GILCHRIST: (As Sam) Well, she didn't say the sex part. I added that.

DEGGANS: "Atypical" can be wonderfully compelling, pushing back against stereotypes by taking viewers into Sam's world. Creator Robia Rashid said she wanted to tell a different kind of coming-of-age story, inspired by recent increases in autism diagnoses.

ROBIA RASHID: There are all these, you know, young people now who are on the spectrum⁶ who know that they're on the spectrum and are interested in things that every young person is interested in.

DEGGANS: Rashid researched accounts of adults with autism, has several parents of autistic children working in her crew and hired an actor with autism to play a minor⁷ role. So "Atypical" offers a complex portrait of a family where everyone's struggling. Its model surfaces in a scene where Sam tells a friend about a date that went badly when he pushed away a girl trying to touch him.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ATYPICAL")

GILCHRIST: (As Sam) Sometimes I wish I was normal.

GRAHAM ROGERS: (As Evan) Dude, nobody's normal.

RASHID: I really, really relate to that theme. I'm half-Pakistani, half-white. It grew up in northern Vermont. There wasn't anyone except my brother who looked like me (laughter). So I think that was a part of it.

DEGGANS: But some critics say despite its good intentions, "Atypical" presents some troubling images. Mickey Rowe, an actor who is autistic, says that because the show doesn't have any writers, producers or actors in major roles who are autistic, it can feel like the series is allowing people without autism to make fun of autistic people.

MICKEY ROWE: The motto of the autistic community is, nothing about us without us, just because there is such a long history of other people making decisions on behalf of autistic people.

DEGGANS: Rowe, who has written about the show for Teen Vogue⁸ magazine, was troubled by a scene played for laughs where Sam wears headphones in public to cut down on sensory⁹ overload¹⁰. He also criticized another moment where Sam frightens a girl because he doesn't quite know how to smile comfortably. And he's not the only critic with concerns.

ELIZABETH BARTMESS: The audience is basically laughing at his being autistic.

DEGGANS: That's Elizabeth Bartmess, a writer and editor with autism who's written often about how autistic characters are depicted¹¹ in literature.

BARTMESS: That's partly a problem because in real life, autistic people in real life get laughed at a lot for showing autistic traits.

DEGGANS: Another show that Bartmess finds troubling is a new series debuting this fall on ABC called "The Good Doctor." It's centered on a surgical¹² resident named Shaun Murphy who's an autistic savant highly skilled in medicine but struggles with social skills. "West Wing" alum Richard Schiff plays the hospital president fighting to convince a skeptical¹³ hospital board to hire him.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE GOOD DOCTOR")

RICHARD SCHIFF: (As Dr. Aaron Glassman) We hire Shaun, and we give hope to those people with limitations that those limitations are not what they think they are.

DEGGANS: Still, because not all people with autism are savants like Dustin Hoffman's character in "Rain Man," Bartmess takes a different message from that clip in "The Good Doctor."

BARTMESS: It's basically saying the only way that you can get to have a job and keep a job is to be this incredible super-powered autistic person that you can't be because almost no one is. That's kind of the opposite of inspiring.

DEGGANS: David Shore, executive producer of "The Good Doctor," says the show argues against attitudes which keep disabled people from employment. He spoke¹⁴ after a recent press conference for the series.

DAVID SHORE: People look at them and make judgments¹⁵. I hope this is part of a dialogue that gives rise to simply reducing prejudices right across the board and let us be open to, what does it mean to be qualified¹⁶?

DEGGANS: Both Shore and Rashid say their characters aren't meant to be symbols for every autistic person, but with so few autistic characters on TV, those few who do appear onscreen often become symbols whether the creators intend it or not. I'm Eric Deggans.

(SOUNDBITE OF COYOTE'S "ELECTRIC SUNBURST")

1 maple   

n.槭树，枫树，槭木

参考例句：

• Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。

2 syrup   

n.糖浆，糖水

参考例句：

• I skimmed the foam from the boiling syrup.我撇去了煮沸糖浆上的泡沫。
• Tinned fruit usually has a lot of syrup with it.罐头水果通常都有许多糖浆。

3 debuting   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• New debuting analog thermostat welding machine, easy to operate. 新登场模拟式调温电焊台，操作简单。
• With the new tablet device that is debuting next week, Apple Inc. 苹果公司的新型平板电脑将于下周发布。

4 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

7 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

8 Vogue   

n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的

参考例句：

• Flowery carpets became the vogue.花卉地毯变成了时髦货。
• Short hair came back into vogue about ten years ago.大约十年前短发又开始流行起来了。

9 sensory   

adj.知觉的，感觉的，知觉器官的

参考例句：

• Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
• The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。

10 overload   

vt.使超载；n.超载

参考例句：

• Don't overload the boat or it will sink.别超载，否则船会沉。
• Large meals overload the digestive system.吃得太饱会加重消化系统的负担。

11 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

12 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

13 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

16 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。