Your Thoughts on This?

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Why do you think it is that NT's love fictional characters like The Big Bang Theory's Dr. Sheldon Cooper, or even the character that serves as my avatar, yet when they meet people on the spectrum in real life they are often annoyed with us or treat us poorly?

People love unusual fictional characters because they don't have to interact with them in real life. They are entertained by watching those characters interact with others onscreen. Dr. House is the best example of this. People used to love watching House be a huge jerk on TV, and yet I can guarantee that if they had met him in real life, they would not have liked him one bit.

I tend to like characters like Light Yagami, but I'd never want to meet him in real life.

It's totally different to enjoy watching someone with no possibility of interacting with them, versus enjoying interacting with them.

Exactly....people even love watching Dexter -about a psychopath (I've heard,never seen it) but they wouldn't want to hang out with him in real life. People would probably find Sheldon really annoying in real life.

True.

I'm a fan of Dexter.

If I didn't know he's a serial killer, I would probably like him in real life, because he comes across as sensitive and a bit awkward. But if I knew he was a killer, I'd be terrified of him. (Whereas Light Yagami I probably wouldn't like even if I didn't know he was Kira, because he's politician-slick.)

Oh, and by the way, even though the TV show claims Dexter's a psychopath, he really isn't. He has affective empathy and a sense of right and wrong (even though it's kind of warped). I'd say he's got Reactive Attachment Disorder, PTSD and OCD, if I were diagnosing him.

Because these are dramatic, NT-friendly versions of autism, not reality

Real life autism often isn't nearly as aesthetically pleasing as the TV/Film version

They take out all the 'spacciness'/retardedness for want of a better word

It's the retardedness that puts people off

a nice-looking person not knowing what to say or saying inappropriate things does not represent autism accurately at all in my opinion

Rainman and Forest Gump are more accurate representations of Autism/Aspergers and I don't see people queueing up to have them as their avatar

Duston Hoffman plays a good Autistic representation (although the real life Rainman's abilities are quite rare in cases of Autism), and Sheldon plays a good Aspergers representation.

However, Forest Gump?? he's just a little slow

People with Autism/Aspergers are slow too

he also seems pretty fixated to me

and as per usual my point isn't understood anyway

agreed but theres loads of boxes I wouldn't tick for the Forrest Gump character. Just my opinion of a fictional character.

edit: I understand your point. Hollywood turns ugly reality into tinsel town aesthetically pleasing characters.

Those people are fictional characters, it doesn't count.

Because real-life Aspies are neither as cute nor as funny as Sheldon.

(Personally, I think that Sheldon is neither as cute nor as funny as real-world Aspies, but that's just me.)

Last edited by Fnord on 19 Mar 2013, 2:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm pretty sure they would hate them in real life. On TV, they aren't a threat. Anyone who behaves oddly in real life is a threat to be attacked.

To me it sort of makes sense. I Like Homer in The Simpsons because I find him funny and I love it when he chokes Bart. But if I saw such a thing in real life, it would freak me out and I would judge the man for it. I would also hate his laziness and what a jerk he is while yet I like Homer. Homer isn't a real character is why and it's a TV show and meant to be funny, it's not real life. I love it when Kenny dies on South park but if such thing happened in real life, I wouldn't like it and it would be scary to witness such a thing.

There have been characters I like but found annoying but knew I would not want them around me in real life such as Ed for example in Kenan and Kel. I find him annoying but I find him hilarious but I know I would not want him in my home because he screws things up.

People don't take TV and movies seriously because you don't have to deal with them in real life as IdahoRose said. People watch it for the drama and for entertainment but in real life, they wouldn't be in control because they can't just turn it off because it's real life. At least with TV, you can turn it off or quit watching the show if you get tired of it. You can't do that in real life with a person so all you can do is avoid them.