Freddie Highmore has been a part of The Good Doctor as the protagonist ever since the show was first piloted on ABC. Initially, it was marked to be heavily liked by fans for its representation of autistic people. Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD is a disorder that stands to be unique with how little research it has. The comparison from person to person gets different.
Whether there is a difference in gender or age, autism can vary drastically. The Good Doctor was a show that stood for autistic people and highlighted their difficulties in everyday life. However, throughout the years, the show lost its touch, and with it, the accuracy of representation also faltered heavily.
Freddie Highmore’s The Good Doctor Depleting In Representation Accuracy
Not every series or movie advertises how and what they are representing. Some simply slip it away while others bring light focus to it. Shows like Echo can focus on the protagonist’s disability but not make it her entire personality. Similarly, Violet Evergarden had the lead character suffer from Asperger’s Syndrome, a type of Autism disorder. However, this fact was never advertised nor focused upon heavily. Which made her a part of a changing world in her journey outside of her disorder.
Freddie Highmore’s The Good Doctor sees the character of Dr. Shaun Murphy, a surgeon suffering from Savant Syndrome. The syndrome in itself is rare to the point where hardly any autistic person would be having it. People with disabilities like autism and otherwise, including handicaps can suffer from Savant Syndrome. It basically means that an individual has an intellect surpassing any of their disorders or disabilities. While the condition is rare, Highmore’s character represents it. Initially, the series received a lot of praise for the accurate representation it had of autism and how autistic people really are, but that faded very quickly.
Freddie Highmore’s Representation Of Autism Was Not Appreciated
Seeing characters like Sheldon Cooper and Sherlock Holmes also exist, it becomes necessary to understand just how intriguing Dr. Shaun Murphy’s version of Savant Syndrome really is. Autistic people watched the show and psychologists as well as psychiatrists analyzed how the work was done. This led to many people noticing how perhaps Freddie Highmore was not as good at playing an autistic person as he might have thought.
Although autism is different from person to person, The Good Doctor basically made a mockery of the disorder, and the show in itself became a meme. The representation became more and more bizarre to the point where autistic individuals stood against the series. They were discouraging people from watching the series and were not okay with anyone who was willing to support the overdoing autism in such a way.
In such a series, it becomes important to fight against the stigma formed amongst the people. Inaccurate representation can very easily tamper with that. Such is the case with disorders like OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). These disorders have been drowned in misconceptions that have unfortunately contributed to an entire concept of them being labeled wrongly.
The Good Doctor falls into a category that comes with responsibility. A series with so much potential has to take care of the direction it goes in when it comes to handling disorders as rare yet common like savant with autism.
Fans Mock The Good Doctor’s Troubling Representation Of Autistic People
Freddie Highmore is not autistic in real life. The task and responsibility he has is to do extensive research and with it understand just how an autistic person of his character’s calibre might function in his daily life. Fans have focused on how Dr. Shaun Murphy’s movement is more robotic and humorous.
My new headcanon is that this show is actually about an alien robot pretending to be human, and everybody just assumed that he's autistic.
— BENIS (@kanokaclubyt) May 10, 2023
They're confusing "high functioning autistic" with "gay robot."
Don't worry about it- happens all the time.
— Egregious XII (@Egregious_XII) May 10, 2023
C-3PO was our first autistic king
— jacob (@qualityrevenge0) May 10, 2023
I hate that this show is a meme now bc I would have never known it existed. I can’t believe anyone watched this. This is a bigger indictment on the failure of American society than not having healthcare.
— shea snack shop (@mets_pastrami) May 10, 2023
oh I see you were offline living life? well well well. someone has a day of posts about an insane network show to catch up with
— rachel (@rachelmillman) May 10, 2023
They are so vividly intriguing that instead of criticizing the show, it has been turned into a meme. Fans are mocking it left and right, stating that Highmore’s character acts rather questionably even for a person with autism.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
