February 15, 2022 - 19:04
Sara Luterman, "Love on the Spectrum" is Kind, but Unrepresentative
Ava Rigelhaupt, "Love on the Spectrum:" What the Show Got Right and Where It Can Improve
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Sara Luterman, "Love on the Spectrum" is Kind, but Unrepresentative
Ava Rigelhaupt, "Love on the Spectrum:" What the Show Got Right and Where It Can Improve
Comments
Comments about Love on the Spectrum
Submitted by Elena on February 16, 2022 - 20:28 Permalink
Thanks for sharing these links Kristin! I enjoyed reading and learning more about the show and how the autism community responded. It is important to consider the different audiences and receival of media. From the episodes that I have watched, I enjoyed following and the participants on their journey and exploration of love and the dating scene. Sara Luterman summed it up well by saying how "everyone is treated with kindness" on the show and I definitely felt that translated.
On the production side, I think there are different intentions for anticipated audiences which may have affected some of the choices made in the show. As a Netflix show, as well as representing the autism community, a large part of the production is for economic revenue and publicity (nothing new in this capitalist country :). Thus, a large portion of the prospective audience are neurotypical viewers who may not know very much about people with autism and autism spectrum disorder. Additionally, the show is centered around "the spectrum" and should be accessible to everyone on the neurodivergent and spectrum of disabilities. I think that this duality between representation, accessibility as well as "main stream" tv is shown through some of the positive aspects but also drawbacks of the show that are outlined by the responses from the autism community.