9 Comments

Because allistics love to colonize.

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RIGHT?????

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I’m not here to argue about if Wednesday is or isn’t autistic, but I’m frustrated that you would do a whole episode on something that only one of you has only watched 25% of. To me, it felt like you were making some assumptions and opinions based on limited information. I think it would have been really interesting if you had a panel with other autistic people who have fully watched the show. Side note: It made me a little uncomfortable how much you emphasized how hot you think Jenna Ortega is. She had just turned 19 years old when they filmed it… Love the show but was a bit disappointed in this episode.

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While we didn't have a panel of autistic people who had fully watched the show, I interviewed about 50 autistic people who had watched the show and integrated their comments and feedback. The reason we emphasized (really *I* emphasized) Jenna's appearance is because of the bias in neurotypical culture towards beauty and to show that mainstream media is more likely to show autistic characteristics in an an attractive allistic package - to pretty it up. The emphasis was meant to indicate the ableism I saw in the show's creators. I am sorry that point didn't come through for you. Perhaps I was too "sarcastic" and not as direct as I thought I was being. I did try to make those comments with a heavy wink but I must not have done it well.

While I did not watch the whole show, I read about 100 documents about Wednesday and the history of the Addams family and its creators. I also watched about 100 TikToks from Autistic and Allistic creators, and as I mentioned I interview about 50 autistic people who had seen (and MANY of whom LOVED) the entire series. I am very sorry you didn't like the episode. I will try to do better in the future.

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Thanks for the info! I get where you were coming from about pretty people privilege. I think it was just the use of the word “hot” that I felt a little thrown off by. Maybe I just missed your sarcasm though! Really appreciate all the work that goes into making the pod. :)

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Thanks and I really appreciate the comments. It means so much to know people are listening. I really heard your feedback and we will continue working hard to make a show that does not do harm to our culture or others!

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I've seen a lot of discussion about this show in autism circles, and our family watched the first episode last night. It's adorable, fun, and my kids love it. But I got no autistic. Every "behavior" I saw was a calculated choice on her part. Can that come across as how NTs see us? Yep. But I think that's just it...the perception and lack of deep understanding.

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I think it IS how NTs see us. Sometimes I have people on my team who try to copy what I would say or write and I'm like REALLLLLY???? That's how you perceive me?!?!?!?!? GAH

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I have to agree that this version of Wednesday isn't Autistic. She is a caricature of the weird goth girl that allistic audiences can relate to and have empathy for and try to fix. It took me over a month to finish the show because everyone was raving about it and in my opinion it wasn't that good. In comparison I've rewatched BBC Ghosts (4 seasons) 3 times in that same period. One of the actors in BBC Ghosts Katy Wix is Autistic and I have my suspicions about at least one of the writers/actors, the US remake is not Autistic I assume because the writers are allistic.

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