Never Judge A Book By Its Cover

Netflix fails at directing, and producing its relatively new release of the show Atypical. Atypical is centered around the life of Sam. When looking at Sam he may just look like your average high school nerd, but what people fail to realize is that Sam falls somewhere along the autism spectrum. Like any other eighteen year old boy, Sam wants to find love. There is only one issue. Sam doesn’t exactly comprehend the social cues that “neurotypicals” or I would understand. This makes it hard for him to make friends and keep lasting relationships. In attempt to bring awareness of those who fall on the autistic spectrum, Netflix plays its cards perfectly to fit into the stereotypes that every other director who attempts this unsuccessfully makes.

Personally I loved this show, that was until I started looking at the reviews people were saying about it online. I have read a few books that have protagonists who are autistic, and my family has a friend who is also autistic, but prior to watching Atypical I had only known a miniscule amount of information about those who fall on the autism spectrum. Because I knew so little to begin with I thought the management did a wonderful job on the direction and the casting and for that matter the production of the show. While viewing Atypical you are not only entertained but also informed on what people on the spectrum suffer through. Maybe this was a little too much though. Maybe the directors exaggerated a mile past the accepted perception of the autism norms.

As I try to recall back to watching the show I can remember laughing a whole bunch. The dark comedy that Atypical portrays is not acceptable to laugh at though. Many times the directors would inadvertently use Sam’s disability as the punchline to a joke. An example of this can be found in the very first episode when Sam has a date that ended in him pushing his date off the bed after she takes off her shirt. I guess this isn’t funny, but there were many different ways for the crew to go around the “failed first date” scene. The only thing that failed was Netflix’s production of it.

In the midst of scanning reviews and reading countless articles online about the show Atypical, I discovered the answer to one of my questions that I had had since completing the season. I had wondered what sources Netflix used in trying to create an accurate portrayal of a protagonist that falls on the spectrum. It was verified by many sources that Netflix has not confirmed if the producers made a conscience effort in including writers/ directors who have autism to make the show more realistic and not so over dramatised. This is the problem with movies/ tv shows nowadays; there is so much information out there about autism, and all this research is being done, but no one is trying to comprehend the information by speaking with someone who is actually autistic. Netflix will inevitably keep misrepresenting subjects of this sort until they stop beating around the bush and actually speak to someone directly on the autism spectrum. Until then enjoy the show, but don’t take anything full heartedly.