On The Screen And On The Spectrum: Jim Parsons As Sheldon Cooper In The Big Bang Theory

On The Screen And On The Spectrum is a recurring feature where I examine pop culture depictions of individuals with Autism, Asperger's or other developmental disabilities similar to Autism.

I was talking to a good friend of mine, who happens to be both on the Autistic spectrum and a major fan of pop culture too, on Facebook, and this chum of mine brought up a great point about the majority of on-screen depictions of people on the Autistic spectrum; many Autistic individuals in film and television are blissfully unaware that they even have Autism or exhibit Autistic tendencies. Such personalities are usually too wrapped up in singular interests to find time to pay much mind to the environment and people around them. While there are plenty of figures in the real world on the Autistic spectrum who are like that, me and my friend were wistful in hoping there'd be more Autistic people in films/TV like us who were acutely aware of their condition and the difficulties stemming from Autism they were grappling with.

Home Review

Home (But Not So) Alone

The world of sci-fi animaton is surprisingly sparse of huge successes, despite the presence of huge hits like WALL-E and Big Hero 6. Some of the biggest box office bombs of modern animation, whether they be deserved (Mars Needs Moms and Planet 51) or unwarranted (Titan A.E.) can be found here, and while early box office returns suggest Home will easily find it's way into the former category, it's also got more than enough flaws to come up as lacking entry in this subgenre of the animation medium.