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Complaint With Modern Comics For Possibly Causing Stigma

FayetheAspie

FayetheAspie

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V.I.P Member
I have a problem with the way modern comics are done because I think it may encourage the stigma that many neurotypical people have about people who have autism and other conditions. It seems like the villains are all portrayed with obvious recognizable traits of either autism or another disorder. The shows will often start out with them seeming like a nice person who is just a little "off" in some way that is often fairly consistent with a real disorder and then has them turn into a total psychopath after being ignored, bullied ,or having a traumatic experience. I think this contributes to the fear response that our little personality or mannerism quirks seem to induce in many neurotypicals. They recognize traits from these shows and assume that we must all be dangerous because the fictional characters are.
 
I don’t read comics, so I can’t comment on if this is true or not, but I definitely notice it when watching horror movies. Many characters that are killers or monsters have traits that can be associated with neurodivergent people (not speaking, making involuntarily noises, speaking in a monotone voice, etc.) I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but I know for sure that some (usually older) movies use developmentally disabled characters to make things more “creepy”, which is unacceptable. It just proves my theory that many autistic/neurodivergent folks already know- neurotypicals find people different than them to be unnerving. (And before someone comes for me, I’m using neurotypical as a descriptor, not an insult).
 
Propaganda for encouraging and promoting bigotry has been around as long as humanity, in spoken word and story telling. Most of it comes from people in close knit religious groups that avoid having much interaction with people outside of their own group.
 
In literature, this type of character is called "the other" (not to be confused with "the outsider." The outsider is usually the hero, the other almost never is).

The main defining characteristic is that they are, in some way - mentally or physically - abnormal. The abnormality represent something like a "twisted soul," making the character inherently dangerous.

This used to be a standard literary and movie trope. You actually see it much less often these days because, yup, people realized it's mighty rude and demeaning, and they shouldn't do it.
 
Is this thread suggesting we're not cereal killers? Cause I really couldn't bring myself to eat Corn Flakes alive!
 
Jonn said:
Can you give an actual example?
Click to expand...
example #1.
 The 2019 film Joker. Arthur Fleck has depression, pseudobulbar affect (pathological laughter),maladaptive daydreaming, and most of the symptoms are due to a head injury. Then he gets attacked starts out as self defense but then proceeds to finish the whole group off making him a criminal. From there devolves into a completely deranged psycopath.
example #2
Edward Nygma on Gotham. Ed appeared to have a form of high functioning autism which included an obsession with knowing facts and with riddles and a strong dose of the investigative trait personality wise (all three of which traits seemed highly relatable). Then all of a sudden he turns into a deranged psycopath who also has dissociative identity disorder ( which doesn't automatically imply psycopathy in real life either seeing as how DID is actually caused by severe childhood trauma).
 
Mental illnesses ARE statistically common contributors to antisocial criminal activity,
but you need to remember, autism alone is
  1. neither a mental illness,¹
  2. nor antisocial.²
We are often the inventors of security tech that the good guys & gals have at there disposal. (We are their "Q.") Autism or giftedness, however, does not stop psychopaths from being hurtful, so that is fair game.³ Being neuro-diverse, male, female, left-handed, light-skinned, dark-skinned, etc. are just side qualities.

¹It is a viable neurological difference.
²We tend to be dyssocial; that is, we are social klutzes.
³And serves to make the outcome of the fictional conflict less predictable.
 
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Crossbreed said:
you need to remember, autism alone is
  1. neither a mental illness,¹
Click to expand...

Not because of autism.
But often due to how we have been treated by society.

Who here doesn't know a fellow autistic who has PTSD?
Who here has PTSD?
 
Jonn said:
Not because of autism.
But often due to how we have been treated by society.

Who here doesn't know a fellow autistic who has PTSD?
Who here has PTSD?
Click to expand...
I have been bullied, too, but I have met The Healer since then...!
full
 
Jonn said:
Who here doesn't know a fellow autistic who has PTSD?
Who here has PTSD?
Click to expand...
PTSD is not the only condition that comes from trauma. There is also cPTSD which is from more long term continuous traumas and is basically PTSD with some extra symptoms. Then you have DPDR which is frequent episodes of depersonalization and/or derealization. There is also DID formerly known as multiple personality disorder which is the result of severe early childhood trauma. OSDD1 has the same cause as DID and is similar but lacks either the amnesia gaps and/or the alters are more like different versions of the host rather than completely differentiated identities. In addition to all these Schizophrenia, Bipolar and other conditions can be triggered by trauma in individuals who have a predisposition towards these conditions.
That said, none of the above conditions are automatically indicators of psychopathic behavior and those with them are more likely to be victimized than to be the aggressor.
 
Jonn said:
Not because of autism.
But often due to how we have been treated by society.

Who here doesn't know a fellow autistic who has PTSD?
Who here has PTSD?
Click to expand...

I know I have it. Though it maybe more cPTSD.
 
velociraptor said:
As a Batman geek, this film is not even close to being canonical and should not be used to argue against the Batman comics. It is a disgusting aberration from them. (I may have strong feelings.)
Click to expand...
I don't know much about the comic books as such but it seems like the films are getting more and more violent. Back in the 1960s series the criminals were basically a bunch of goofy theives with various themes but not much more than that. Then they started adding more violent aspects while still having the goofy elements too. Now they are all completely sinister and violent and implied to have various real life conditions.
 
FayetheAspie said:
I don't know much about the comic books as such but it seems like the films are getting more and more violent.
Click to expand...
Your thread is titled complaint with modern comics yet you are criticizing the films and say you don't know much about the comic books? The title of your thread may need tweaking.

I recall comics getting dark and violent about thirty years ago, actually. This is not anything recent.
 
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