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Glee's Asperger's Plot Causes a Stir
Is 'self-diagnosed' character funny or offensive?
Beth Arky
Writer
Child Mind Institute
Tuesday night, prime-time viewers who were expecting one series with an Asperger's Syndrome story line were surprised when they got two. Fans of NBC's Parenthood had been waiting anxiously to see how Max, the boy with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), was faring at his new mainstream school. But AS also came up earlier on Fox during Glee's season debut, when a new character named Sugar Motta made a remark that was both rude and crude, and then quickly asserted that she can "say whatever she wants" because she has "self-diagnosed Asperger's."
While the show was clearly aiming for humor—when the cocky Sugar tried out for McKinley High's New Directions, she was truly awful—not everyone was laughing. The online reaction was swift. "I was appalled that they would treat Asperger's with such dismissive and mocking disrespect," one mother in a Yahoo group wrote. She said that her daughter, 11 and diagnosed with PDD-NOS/Asperger's, said of Sugar, "That girl doesn't have Asperger's, she's just an ass!" The Autism Women's Network (@Autism_Women) tweeted outrage: "Glee hit a foul ball with new character proclaiming to have self dx'd Asperger's and could say whatever she wanted. NO WAY!"
The blogger at Musings of a Marfan Mom, whose husband has AS and son has autism, added that making Sugar as "one-dimensionally obnoxious" perpetuates stereotypes, while calling her self-diagnosed "just adds to the grief that many on the spectrum, particularly adults, get: that autism is made up, over-diagnosed, and just used as an excuse for bad behavior."
At Fox's GleeCommunity, the response was overwhelmingly negative, especially in light of the fact that the series has been applauded for showing sensitivity toward the disenfranchised, including gays and those with mental retardation, and has supported campaigns against bullying and "the R-word." "Glee crossed a line with this episode," wrote one poster who identified herself as a special-ed teacher and "double autism sister." She said that she'd hoped for a sympathetic ASD character; instead, she guaranteed "there will be at least one kid this week who is bullied or singled out because of this episode."
But not everyone took offense at the Sugar storyline. At Gleeforum.com, a fan site, one post read, "The gag was funny because it's true. Teens nowadays love to self-diagnose with everything to get away with misbehaviors, bad manners or get some sympathy." Emo kids like to brag about how depressed they are, she notes, and the word Asperger's is thrown around casually. "Many people go around saying they have it so they can be rude to people." Several posters who said they had AS thought Sugar was funny and that people shouldn't take a TV character so seriously.
Which is more or less the issue here: Glee is an irreverent, sometimes edgy show that has made fun of just about everyone: football players, cheerleaders, gays, straights, fat people, skinny people, people with OCD. But since there are so few characters who have Asperger's on television, people in the autism community are looking for real, sensitive depictions that offer teaching opportunities—something Glee is also known for. This entitled, obnoxious girl who uses Asperger's as her shtick doesn't disrupt any stereotypes or offer any new information. So far, she isn't a character who has Asperger's—just a character who is uninformed and manipulative. (In an interview with EW, the actress who plays Sugar says she and director Eric Stoltz were aiming to make her a bitch, with a twist.)
"Since the show's writers are usually much more sensitive to disability issues, I have decided to hope that they will clarify the true reason for the self-diagnosis in an upcoming episode very, very soon," says Aspie Carol Greenburg, East Coast Regional Director of the Autism Women's Network. (Greenburg also has 9-year-old autistic son.) "If they do not clarify their intent, they will hear from me and, I'd imagine, many others in the autism community."
So far, three episodes of Glee featuring Sugar have been shot, though there has been talk of her becoming a regular.
Read more about Asperger's on TV.
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I somehow missed the self-diagnosed part, but I still don't mind the character. To me, it was as if the character was solely seen through the eyes of the NT Glee club. And the fact that she wasn't given a place in the club automatically was part of the story line-- clubs often lose their way as they age, especially in high school. Even a club of misfits can become clique-ish because they only include the misfits they are comfortable with; Sugar challenges their comfort zone completely as well as the comfort zone of us viewers. I'm gonna let the story and character develop before I pass judgement. I know the autism community feels like it was run over by a train, but I think a lot of NT people feel that way when they encounter that sorta of aspie personality, too. I think that's the perspective we were given. We shouldn't judge by first impressions or by skimming the surface because we'll miss what's underneath. My boy isn't self-diagnosed, but he can surely come off just like Sugar. He's also smart enough to have learned that he can get a free pass with certain behaviors because of Asperger's with certain people... and he's said it out-loud. I get why many are offended, but I found my kid staring back on me on TV and I suppose that makes him stereotypical.
I sincerely hope Glee does redeem, but for me, the fact that they failed to do it in the same show as they have with other issues and disabilities facing teens tells me that they're fine with letting it hang in the meantime and do more damage to the cause of awareness and education for a cheap joke. NOT okay. So Glee will be going off my viewing schedule. I've lost my taste for it frankly and have no inclination to ever watch again a show that has been so careful in it's handling of sensitive issues, but then feels no remorse at throwing a certain group of disabled kids under the bus. I guess it's not okay to make fun of disabled people- unless they're high functioning autistic's that is.
Case in point? Here's a tweet from twitter over the show: "After last night's #Glee I want to self-diagnose myself with Asperger Syndrome too. Asperger is the new Tourettes. + sounds like "Assburger" It's not isolated- they are all over the place on Twitter, FB, and on other forums (including the glee forum). This didn't benefit those on the spectrum, many of which themselves love and watch Glee. It hurt them. To top it off the character of Sugar was a terrible singer and was then REJECTED by the Glee club- the one place in the school that is supposed to pride itself on misfits and kids who are different. How's that for a slap? The kid who can't sing but can dance- he's totally good enough for Glee. Glee accepts everyone. Oh, except Becky who has down syndrome last season, and then a girl who says she has "self diagnosed" Asperger's this season. Fantastic way to show those kids that even on the "island of misfit toys" that is supposed to be the Glee club on the show, even they probably wouldn't be accepted and suddenly the accept everyone policy would go out the window in their honor.
In previous episodes when dealing with subjects that were touchy they have offered en-lighting information and views, positive views, and a character being picked on/harassed/or looked at badly the ability at redemption whether because another character stood up for them, and/or they stood up for themselves. This character had no such benefit to the Asperger's community. Had they had another character stand up and say "I know someone/have a family member/friend, or I have Asperger's and that is NOT what it is, nor can you self diagnose it! How dare you" or something to that affect to call out the stereotype that was being perpetuated, I would have been far less upset about the portrayal, but instead it was left to hang with absolutely NO accurate information, portrayal, or redemption for those on the spectrum/with Asperger's. The thought that the ignorance of the community will be helped in any way more than the damage that is done to those that are already bullied because they have H/F autism and are "different" is ridiculous. This undoes so much work that has gone into trying to make people understand the disorder and those that suffer with them so that there may be more empathy and acceptance, Glee took an opportunity to further that and dashed it by taking stereotypes and an idea that it's not really a disability and furthered it.
I disagree emphatically with the previous poster. I too am a parent of an "Aspie" and I found the show extremely offensive. The reason is that it enforces stereotypes about autism and especially Asperger's that those in the world community that don't have any education on the subject and are ignorant of it's signs/symptoms already hold and use, quite often in fact, to bully and harass those that are on the spectrum. Many people (the vast majority not parents of spectrum children or on the spectrum themselves) that have used the "It's just comedy," "Get over it, it's a t.v. show" and have repeatedly emphasized that she said "self diagnosed" have used that to imply that that makes it okay- but in actuality it perpetuates one of the stereotypes that people, especially those with Asperger's specifically, already fight because of how high functioning they are- that their disability isn't a "real" disability and that it's just an excuse to be rude. I have seen numerous times and heard numerous times from people who are uneducated that the resent those who have things in their I.E.P.'s to help give them strategies to be able to function during times where their disability impedes their learning ability. This sketch, enforced the stereotype that Asperger's isn't to be taken seriously, that the actress believed that was the way Asperger's was and that therefore being rude she could just claim "self diagnosis" and use it as a get out of jail free card. - Continued in next post.
I'm with the gleeforum.com folks -- it's funny, period, because it's so ridiculous and over-the-top, just like ALL of the character stuff on Glee. I'm the parent of an Aspie and we all thought it was very funny, and very "in tune" for the sort of stuff Glee tends to do. Would it be awesome if Glee decided to have a character who's truly an Aspie, and for that to be treated with dignity and education and all of that? Sure. We'd love that. But I totally got what they were going for with Sugar and I think it's a stretch to find it offensive or somehow detrimental to the neurodiversity movement.