Tropes Vs Autism: The Heroic Asshole

This one plays out a great deal in procedural drama. I’ve seen it done to Sherlock Holmes, but I see it more often where the writers need a knowledgeable expert to get away with the things they wish they could get away with in real life.

So the white male hero gets to be the asshole that the writers wish they could be, solve all the problems, and save the day. Every week.

More often than not, the Autism label is slapped on as an afterthought. You have a character who’s an asshole genius and, when he’s definitely crossed everyone’s line, the diagnosis pops up to make him a sympathetic character again. Allegedly.

I saw it happen in House, and I’ve seen it floated in both Elementary and  Sherlock both. I’ve caught glances of similar dramas where similar diagnoses are more likely to be aimed at.

I’m a cynical cuss, so I’ve been avoiding that kind of thing like the plague it is.

To be honest, I’m avoiding that sort of noise like the plague. I’ve already seen enough of it to last me a lifetime. I’m tired of it by now.

Autism’s only been in the spotlight since the late 80’s, and even then, there weren’t heroic Autistic people since the late 90’s at the plausible earliest. I’ve even seen Doctor Who implied to have this social learning disorder for giggles.

For the majority of it, though, we continue to have the, “He can’t help it, he’s Autistic,” rote explanation for why the hero of the piece is an asshole and why he still has his job after the Great Fuckup of Season Four (or whenever).

Yes, we have Autism as an established trait that can give a character social issues. Autism, however, is not your hero character being an asshole and having ready asshole quips on purpose. Autism is missing all the other social cues and blithely continuing to be an asshole by accident.

Autistic people can be taught some of the more obvious social dances. Autistic people may need reminding of other social mistakes. They are in no way the deliberate assholes the media so frequently depicts them as. Some even blunder into completely new social mistakes whilst attempting to avoid others.

Even then, you can bet that most Autistic folk have learned the most blatant blunders to avoid. So there’s no real reason you should make your hero an asshole with Autism. There’s plenty of other reasons to be an asshole.

And, perhaps, a character arc in which your heroic asshole learns to be gradually less of an asshole over the progress of your show. Just… don’t use the Manic Pixie Dream Girl to do it?