Benji wrote:I think that the point is it's become 'cool' to be 'weird' rather than that it's actually become COOL to be WEIRD. So I don't think school would be much different now. I still get shouted at in the street, etc.
So do you mean it's cool to pretend to be weird, but not to actually be so?
Benji wrote:Yes, my friend compares herself to Sheldon as if they are actually very alike, which is what I find odd. I relate to a lot of characters but wouldn't necessarily mention it as being significant (unless someone else notices the similarity as with Sheldon and more recently Brick and the father in the new sitcom 'The Middle' or whatever it's called, and Stitch from Lilo and Stitch, etc.). Most comparisons I don't mind so much. One person said that I reminded them of Holden Caulfield and I did find that a little insulting.
I've watched The Middle because I read a few times that Brick was rather Aspergers-ish. He does seem so, but someone who works on the show says he is "neurologically quirky" and doesn't necessarily fit into AS. He is apparently based on their own child who is considered "neurologically quirky" and did many of the behaviors Brick does when he was younger.
Benji wrote:But because I've never had those sorts of words used EXCLUSIVELY in a negative way, I don't mind the words themselves (although I dislike the word 'retard'), but it might depend on the person saying it or whether the way it is said is obviosuly mean (or if I can't tell how it's meant and then I might be worried about how it is meant).
I tend to favour the word 'eccentric', though, as that seems more descriptive and doesn't sound very negative.
What you said about your ex does sound kind of verbally abusive, but I guess it depends on how it was meant. I don't think "retard" could ever be particularly endearing a term, though.
I like the word "eccentric" rather than "weird," as well. It's more like saying "unusual" and "a bit quirky" rather than "strange and wrong."
goddessoflubbock wrote:I've noticed more characters on TV recently being given definite traits without coming out and saying it.
I just started watching a new show "Rizzoli and Isles" with Angie Harmon, and the Isles character does autopsies, etc. At first it seemed to me Isles was just very pedantic, she loves neurobiology and her answers are always way over the top and very polysyllabic. But then they've started adding in traits like poor social skills, making her seem more aspiesh, ala Bones.
Yes, I've been noticing this, too. It's kind of strange. It's also kind of neat, though. Growing up there weren't a lot of characters I could relate to. I still remember Meg and Charles Wallace from the "Wrinkle in Time" books being the first literary characters that I really connected with beyond the surface fact of a character being a female hero or a main female character, or something cool like that (like in Power Rangers for example). It's good that there are more positive aspie-ish role models out there, now, though I also think the media is probably becoming a bit over-saturated with them.
I think that's also a reason I gravitated toward anime for some time, there are more characters in that sort of socially withdrawn and awkward/different realm, which seems to be a popular character subtype in Japanese animation. Unsurprising as otaku (or hardcore fans of anime) in Japan tend to be obsessive and socially awkward as well.
