Exploring Positive Autism Representations In Popular Media: Lessons From ‘Community’ And ‘Ready Player One’

As Autism Awareness Month comes to a close here in El Paso, and all over of course, I wanted to give you a list of some fun stuff to watch with characters that the Autistic Community thinks are pretty great representation. Some awesome TV shows, some awesome movies, here are 5 movies and tv shows to check out on Autism Awareness Month! Quick Note: Not all these characters are confirmed to have autism, some just display lots of traits that the autistic community connects to and have speculated may be somewhere on the spectrum.

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• Community (TV Series)

Community is a really incredible show for fans of pop culture. The show follows a study group at a community college, it starts off in a typical sitcom style but very quickly turns into a wacky homage to movies, tv shows, and pop culture throughout history. One of the main characters, Abed Nadir (played by Danny Pudi), is on the spectrum and is often the lead of many episodes as he is filled to the brim with pop culture knowledge. He is one of the many celebrated autistic characters on our list and were just getting started!

• Forrest Gump (Movie)

Forrest Gump, played by Tom Hanks, is one of the most memorable movies in film history and is definitely one of the most popular portrayals of an autistic character to date. Some people argue Forrest isnt on the spectrum, but so many people on the spectrum have noted his mannerisms and characteristics in comparison to their own. Forrest is very clearly on the spectrum and it has helped so many other neurotypical folks find some comfort in this world to see him as representation.

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• Ready Player One (Movie/Book)

Ready Player One takes place in a world where virtual reality has beat out all the other media and instead of watching normal tv or playing normal video games, people just hang out in the virtual world. The virtual world itself was created by a tech genius named James Halliday (played by Mark Rylance), who in the book and movie is speculated to be on the spectrum and shows some common signs throughout the movie for sure.

• Atypical (TV Series)

You can stream this show on Netflix, but the entire show centers around Sam Gardner (played by Keir Gilchrist) who is on the spectrum and struggling to handle high school life. The show has been praised by lots of people on the spectrum for the fairly accurate portrayal of both characteristics and difficulties of growing up with Autism.

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• The Departed (Movie)

You might not believe it if you aren't a part of the neuro-divergent world, but Billy Costigan (played by Leonardo Dicaprio) is actually on the spectrum and has been praised for his handling of the role.

Go and check out these awesome movies and tv shows to celebrate Autism Awareness Month before April is over, or just keep these things in your back pocket and check 'em out when ya wanna celebrate some cool characters on the spectrum! Leave a comment and let me know what other characters you think are great portrayals of people on the spectrum!