“IT REVEALS WHO I REALLY AM”: NEW METAPHORS, SYMBOLS, AND MOTIFS IN REPRESENTATIONS OF AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS IN POPULAR CULTURE By Summer Joy O’Neal A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Middle Tennessee State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Angela Hague, Chair Dr. David Lavery Dr. Robert Petersen Copyright © 2013 Summer Joy O’Neal ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There simply is not enough thanks to thank my family, my faithful parents, T. Brian and Pamela O’Neal, and my understanding sisters, Auburn and Taffeta, for their lifelong support; without their love, belief in my strengths, patience with my struggles, and encouragement, I would not be in this position today. I am forever grateful to my wonderful director, Dr. Angela Hague, whose commitment to this project went above and beyond what I deserved to expect. To the rest of my committee, Dr. David Lavery and Dr. Robert Petersen, for their seasoned advice and willingness to participate, I am also indebted. Beyond these, I would like to recognize some “unofficial” members of my committee, including Dr. Elyce Helford, Dr. Alicia Broderick, Ari Ne’eman, Chris Foss, and Melanie Yergau, who graciously offered me necessary guidance and insightful advice for this project, particularly in the field of Disability Studies. Yet most of all, Ephesians 3.20-21. iii ABSTRACT Autism has been sensationalized by the media because of the disorder’s purported prevalence: Diagnoses of this condition that was traditionally considered to be quite rare have radically increased in recent years, and an analogous fascination with autism has emerged in the field of popular culture. In the past decade, numerous television programs and independent and foreign films have focused on autism spectrum disorders by presenting principal characters with recognizable traits of Asperger’s Syndrome and other forms of autism. Many of these programs promote similar ideas and stereotypes about autism and convey metaphors, motifs, symbols, and themes that describe the autistic experience. This study focuses on the films Adam, Mozart and the Whale, My Name is Khan, Ocean Heaven, and Temple Grandin and analyzes characters from the television shows Alphas, The Big Bang Theory, Bones, Boston Legal, Community, Criminal Minds, House, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Monk, Parenthood, and Sherlock. First, this discussion explores the significant use of masquerade in these works to convey autism identity. Second, it analyzes the recurring use of detective motifs and conventions in portrayals of autistic persons. Third, it evaluates three ubiquitous qualities, honesty, innocence, and violence, that are not part of the official diagnosis for autism but continue to appear in these narratives, suggests what such repeated themes say about autistic people, and offers alternative interpretations of how these presentations could be read. Finally, it descibes the types of relationships portrayed in these popular culture iv constructions and their related metaphors, making use of research in psychology to explain their potential meanings. This study is significant because the current depictions and messages in both the media and popular culture regarding autism do those in the autism community a disservice. Such metaphors frequently suggest that autism is a mystery, a burden, even a kind of curse. According to various theories in disability studies, such messages prevent autistic people from claiming their disability as part of their identity. Most current messages in the media are based on the medical model, which focuses on the debilitating symptoms of a disability and therefore categorizes it as a problem. The characters and narratives examined here, however, break this model, and this study instead pursues the social model, one which focuses more on the particular needs and attributes of the individual. The result is a discussion of narratives, themes, and characters in popular culture that reveals the complex realities of autistic identity and the potential for its beneficial integration into society. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION: “YOU IGNORED ME—THAT WAS A MISTAKE” ..........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER TWO: “IT DOESN’T FEEL LIKE ANYTHING; IT JUST IS!”: AUTISM IN FILM ..................................................................................................................................28 CHAPTER THREE: “IT IS A GIFT AND A CURSE”: AUTISM ON TELEVISION, COMEDY ..........................................................................................................................52 CHAPTER FOUR: “I CAN’T JUST TURN IT ON AND OFF LIKE A TAP”: AUTISM ON TELEVISION, DRAMA...........................................................................................105 CHAPTER FIVE: AUTISM IDENTITY METAPHORS: THE MASQUERADE AND THE DETECTIVE MOTIF .............................................................................................143 CHAPTER SIX: AUTISM’S MISCONSTRUED TRIFECTA: HONESTY, INNOCENCE, AND VIOLENCE ...................................................................................183 CHAPTER SEVEN: UP A STEEP STAIRCASE: THE PORTRAYAL OF AUTISTIC RELATIONSHIPS……………………………………………………………………...212 CHAPTER EIGHT: “AUTISTIC PEOPLE SHOULD . .”: A POLEMICAL CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………241 WORKS CITED………………………………………………………………………..249 vi 1 CHAPTER 1 Introduction: “You Ignored Me—That Was a Mistake” It could be argued that autism advocacy, in the first decade of the 2000s, began with a metaphor. On February 25, 2005 on NBC’s Today Show as part of a week-long series entitled “Autism: The Hidden Epidemic,” then chairman of NBC Bob Wright was interviewed by Matt Lauer about Wright’s autistic grandson and the difficulty his family had encountered in trying to glean more information about autism from professionals. Because of this, Wright announced that he was starting a new advocacy group in order to spread autism awareness. At the conclusion of the interview, Wright handed Lauer a lapel pin shaped like a blue jigsaw puzzle piece, the logo of Wright’s new group: Autism Speaks. Since then, the puzzle piece has been synonymous with autism; not only this signature blue-edge piece but multicolored puzzle pieces fitting together decorate ribbons and jewelry allocated for autism awareness. Displaying these decorations signals that one is concerned about issues surrounding autism and is doing all he or she can to make the world better by supporting Autism Speaks and similar organizations. Yet, the puzzle piece says more. This is a metaphor comparing autism to something else, a puzzle. What does it mean? In their book Metaphors We Live By (1980) , George Lakoff and Mark Johnson point out that puzzle metaphors are common, used to represent “problems . for which, typically, there is a correct solution—and once solved, they are solved forever” (144-45). In using a puzzle piece, Autism Speaks 2 defines autism as nothing more than a problem or an excessive mystery, something meant to be fixed according to their group’s prescribed way, an enigma that has a definite solution, an eliminating cure. Autism Speaks readily admits that the solution to autism as of yet is unknown, but this organization is determined to find the solution quickly so that the puzzle can forever be resolved. However, viewing autism in such a way is disturbing and problematic. Yes, this perspective of viewing autism as a puzzle recognizes certain difficulties associated with autism, but just as a single piece is only part of a large jigsaw puzzle, difficulty is only a part of the overall intricate and complex nature of autism. Autism Speaks has a tendency to view only the negative aspects of autism, yet it fails to take into account positive dimensions of the condition that autistic people experience. Autism is so much more than a problem, and “solving” it may have any number of consequences: eradicating great minds, unique perspectives and yet-to-be-realized novel visions that hold potential for powerful effects in today’s world. It could also be said that in comparing autism to a puzzle, Autism Speaks insults and ignores the accomplishments, contributions, and the existences of autistic adults because a jigsaw puzzle is usually considered to be a juvenile toy commonly associated with children. Indeed, most of Autism Speaks’s focus is on children, not adults, with autism. Moreover, there seems to be a subliminal message in the shape of the specific logo that Autism Speaks has chosen. The top of the puzzle piece is rounded with two pairs of appendages above the jagged, lower edge. In this way, the piece resembles a 3 disenfranchised person with a small head, outstretched arms, and outstretched legs. The piece appears helpless, dependent, and alone in this posture. It is broken apart from the whole, evoking pity. Also, ironically, though the organization is called Autism Speaks, this logo is inanimate with no voice. In reality, Autism Speaks presumptuously speaks for autism because autism supposedly does not have a voice to speak for itself. One would hope that autism awareness organizations are not aware of how they are demoralizing and dehumanizing autistic people through the promotion of this damaging metaphor. For this reason, one of the popular anti-Autism Speaks logos is the same blue puzzle piece superimposed by a red circle with a line through it accompanied