Such a huge amount of TV, and especially Movies, are geared towards a neurotypical audience.

As an autistic kid growing up, the only actor I ever cared about was Brent Spiner (Data, from Star Trek). I never watched the original series as a kid, but after watching it as an adult, Data was obviously carrying on a role started by Spock, another all-time great. Maybe they both count as rare role models for ASD folks?

My favorite movie is this non-movie called Gizmo! (1977). (It’s free on youtube among other places.) It’s mostly a collection of old black and white footage of weird inventions. It definitely has neurotypical folks in mind as part of the audience, giving them lots of weird things to laugh at, but I could watch or scroll through info about random unique contraptions for days.

  • @Limeade@beehaw.org
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    11 year ago

    Memento. Maybe something about bumbling through life a bit lost and not really knowing where you came from or where you are going and the way the filmmakers advance the story backwards through time. My notes and reminders are in my phone instead of on my body, but sometimes it really doesn’t feel so different. I am terrible at remembering things in chronological order so I love the unique utilization of time here. I also love a good mystery. The whole thing is top notch.

    I am mostly a novelty seeker and rarely watch anything twice, but this is one I am always down to watch again whenever I come across it.

    Oddly enough my favorite TV show, Dark, also is a mystery that has to do with time as a central theme.

    I mostly pass on the Star Trek episodes with time shenanigans, however. I do think Data and Spock are such great characters. I don’t have autism so far as I know, but the whole “what does it mean to be human” exploration and struggle is still incredibly relatable.

    • Satyr
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      11 year ago

      Memento is one of my favorites too. I relate way too much to the main character.

      I’m a fan of time shenanigans. The series finale of TNG did such an excellent job of exploring the paradox. I can’t imagine that concept was easy to flesh out. It’s impressive that they were able to bring everything full circle when they changed so much from the first season.