An Autistic Reviews Mr. Robot
So, I just watched the first episode of Mr. Robot, and I really enjoyed it. I think that as a show, it uses a lot of cliches, but handles them deftly, and I am excited to see what comes next. The main character seems to be on the autism spectrum, and also mentally ill. While I have seen people talk about the mental illness aspect of the show, and the addiction aspect (which could very much be linked to Elliot’s autism), I have seen very few people speak about the autistic aspect of Elliot personality. So, here I am to do that. Here’s what I think:
Most of the time when a TV show has an “autistic” character, it feels very exploitative. Especially when the TV show refuses to name the developmental disorder, even though they have picked and chosen the “best” or “coolest” traits to use. It feels as though my disorder is being taken advantaged of, and I do not even get any representation out of it. Sherlock BBC, while much loved, is an excellent example of this. As is The Bridge, and at times, Bones, which is doubly sad, since there are so few female autistic characters. Don’t even get me started on The Big Bang Theory.
I did not know going into Mr. Robot that the main character, Elliot, was autistic. That wasn’t the reason I began to watch the show. In fact, going into it, I had very little information, other than it was about a hacker guy and it was good. To my surprise though, as the character revealed his autistic traits, I was not cringing or covering my eyes in embarrassment. Elliot feels very real in his autism. I especially liked that the show did not bash you over the head with his autism, it was revealed little by little. It mingles with the mental illness that Elliot has going on as well, which is common for real-life autism. They show the good, the bad, and the ugly with Elliot, which I loved. Now, I have only seen the first episode, as I stated, so I do not know how the character will be in the future. Here are some of the things I loved about the portrayal of Elliot’s autism from the first episode:
An autistic view of Mr. Robot.
