A Rhetorical Model of Autism: a Pop Culture Personification of Masculinity in Crisis
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A Rhetorical Model of Autism: a Pop Culture Personification of Masculinity in Crisis Malcolm Matthews Interdisciplinary Humanities PhD Program Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Humanities, Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario © 2017 “It is autistic presence, in all its many forms, that is the core of all attempts to discuss agency and legitimacy in those subjects for whom autism is in some way part of their representational existence. It is also autistic presence that resists the many discourses that would simplify or ignore the condition. The material nature of such presence, the excess it creates when confronted with any idea of what ‘normal’ human activity or behaviour might be, stubbornly refuses to be reduced to any narrative – medical, social or cultural – that might seek to contain it without reference to its own terms.” -- Stuart Murray, Representing Autism “It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a child with autism to raise the consciousness of the village.” -- Elaine “Coach E!” Hall “Nowhere am I so desperately needed as among a shipload of illogical humans.” -- Spock, I Mudd ABSTRACT A Rhetorical Model of Autism: a Pop Culture Personification of Masculinity in Crisis By Malcolm Matthews In my dissertation, I argue that significant rhetorical mechanisms are at work in the production and consumption of portrayals of autism in literature, TV, and film. My project is driven by a central question: In what ways do portrayals of autism function as a visual rhetorical reconfiguration of masculinity that reimagines and repurposes disability in the service of the promotion of Humanist notions of white male hegemony in a technocentric era? I begin with Hans Asperger’s 1944 claim that autism is “a variant of male intelligence.” I connect that originary declaration with contemporary observations by Stuart Murray that autism is a form of “metaphorized hypermasculinity” and with Simon Baron-Cohen’s controversial insistence that autism represents a version of “The Extreme Male Brain.” Such testimonials, coupled with results from my own analysis and taxonomy of autistic characters throughout emerging popular culture manifestations, has led me to hypothesize that autism in portrayal serves as a survival guide for the white Western male in an era that threatens to be post-racial, post-ableist, post-phallocentric, and even post-anthropocentric. Fictional adolescent autists (e.g.: Christopher Boone, Nathanial Clark, and Colin Fischer), living autists (e.g.: David Paravicini, Daniel Tammet, and Temple Grandin), autistic “techno-savants” (e.g.: Spock, Rain Man, Sheldon Cooper), and speculatively diagnosed historical figures (e.g.: Alan Turing, Andy Warhol, and Bobby Fischer), advance a distinct “autism aesthetic” and function as rhetorical texts whose readings expose an unexplored intersection of disability, masculinity, ethnicity, and digital technology. Such characters illustrate in visual rhetorical terms how certain traits of autism are being romanticized in a digital era to equate ethnic whiteness with intellect and with a re-branded form of techno-masculinity. By providing a Rhetorical Model of autism as a link between autism as a clinical condition and as a cultural construct, I aim to form a more complete picture of autism and of its role in popular consciousness. As an interdisciplinary project, my dissertation draws upon the vocabularies and methodologies of gender, disability, and media studies. Under the unifying umbrella of visual rhetoric, I explore ethnicity, sexuality, and symbol- manipulation on the autism spectrum as they relate to Western man’s hope for a unifying techno-human singularity and his anxiety over the possible obsolescence of conventional constructions of masculinity. At stake are notions of hegemonic masculinity and of autism as a rhetorical artifact with real world implications. Keywords: autism; autism spectrum disorder; autism aesthetic; rhetorical model of autism; techno-savant; noble savant; masculinity; gender; sexuality; rhetoric; visual rhetoric; disability; ethnicity; whiteness; neurodiversity; film; television; YA literature; popular culture ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project has been the ultimate team effort. From its inception to the final assembly, my dissertation has been sculpted by many hands, eyes, and minds. I extend my sincere gratitude to all those who read my drafts, offered advice and suggestions, endured my autism-related pontification in assorted courses and at various pubs and cocktail parties, and who generally inspired me and cheered me on. First, of course, to Mom. (#1 in my book!) Thank you for propping me up when I was down and for the million other things you have done for me in my life. I appreciate every single one of them. None of me happens without you. To Pop. Thank you for your wisdom, your training, and for introducing me to Spock. Thank you to my supervisor, Gale Coskan-Johnson, for your expertise, feedback, unwavering support, and for pointing me in all the right directions. To my committee members – Martin Danahay, Neta Gordon, Maureen Connolly – for meeting with me, guiding me, and for providing a pat on the back or a kick in the pants depending on which was needed along the way. To Stuart Murray for his contributions in my defence, for inspiring the beginning of one part of my journey, and for opening the door to the next. To the other members of the Brock faculty who offered me support, guidance, and encouragement: Leah Bradshaw, Hans Skott-Myhre, Matthew Martin, Barry Grant, Dave Fancy, John Bonnett, Stefan Dolgert, Jens Coorssen, James Allard, Sue Spearey, and Ann Howey. To Linda Steer and Christine Daigle – my motivating, motivated, and hyper- organised Graduate Program Directors along the way. Merci bien. To Michele Black, Janet Sackfie, and Clara Suba who keep Brock’s wheels turning. To my colleagues in the HUMA department – your support and collegiality are beyond compare. To the students of WRDS 2P28 (2016) for helping me to work things through. To all the viola and cello music I listened to while writing this thesis. (Thank you Beethoven, Bach, Bartok, and Brahms: my reasons four B-ing). To “Doc” and Mother Mary for reading my stuff, guiding my path, and letting me marry their daughter. To my most excellent Baby Bro who paved the way and who never let me forget myself. To my sister and nieces and nephew who crack me up and keep me going. To the autists and their families who have been waiting too long for us unimaginative, hypocritical neurotypicals to be the kind of people we promised we’d be. To my wife, Anna, who manages to push me from behind and pull me from the front without ever leaving my side. You are my best friend, my partner in ducks, the best in your row, and the love of my life. And finally, to my amazing, beautiful boys, Kambri and Amari. I wrote this thing for you. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Making the Case .................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Generic Autism – Spock’s Children and Media Representation .....................39 Chapter 3: The Autistic Other and the Technical Death of Man .....................................116 Chapter 4: The Neurotypical-Autistic Partnership – Isn’t it Bromantic? ........................169 Chapter 5: Sex on the Spectrum .......................................................................................229 Chapter 6: Conclusion – Autism in Advance ..................................................................265 References ........................................................................................................................274 1 CHAPTER 1: Making the Case CENTRAL QUESTIONS In what ways do portrayals of autism function as a reconfiguration of masculinity that reimagines and appropriates disability to promote Humanist notions of white male hegemony in a technocentric era? What cultural needs are reflected and fulfilled by autism in representation? What is the function, in visual rhetorical terms, of an “autism aesthetic” as it appears in literature, TV, and film? ARGUMENT Autism is understood clinically as a spectrum condition. By definition, this allows clinicians to cast a wide net in their diagnoses. The spectrum nature of autism, with its often- subjective diagnostic parameters, also allows for the influx of a wide range of created characters, from Rain Man to Mr. Robot, who can be constructed to present as autistic. Whether diagnosed or not within their fictional universes, characters such as Sheldon Cooper (Big Bang Theory), Gary Bell (Alphas), Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock), and Christopher Boone (Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time), among many others, have become ubiquitous in popular culture as metonymic for autism spectrum disorder. Despite autism’s identification as a broad condition with nebulous boundaries, shifting diagnostic imperatives, unknown origins, and global epidemiology, certain specific restrictions remain in place. As expansive as the diagnostic net is, the portrayed characters captured under it are nearly universally white and male. So, is there a 2 reason that Sheldon Cooper is not black? Or overweight? Or blonde? Is there a reason that Rain Man is not a woman? In this interdisciplinary project, I address such questions and attempt to uncover the rhetorical mechanisms at work behind the scenes and to understand their cultural effects as they are employed in the creation, production, and consumption