3 Netflix content which has people with autism spectrum as the protagonists.
The ENA drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” jumped to third place among Netflix TV shows around the world (based on the content ranking website “Flix Patrol” on July 28th). The series entered 9th place for the first time in the U.S. and maintained 1st place in 20 countries in Asia, the Middle East, and South America. The “Woo Young-woo Syndrome,” which is taking over Korea, is moving overseas.
No one, including the production crew, would have expected this success before the show went on air. The same to writer Moon Ji-won. It is even more so if you recall that the start of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” was the movie “Witness,” which was also written by writer Moon Ji-won.
High school student Lim Ji-woo, played by actress Kim Hyang-gi, overcomes her autism spectrum and attends as a decisive witness in the murder trial. Writer Moon had given Ji-woo the dream of becoming a lawyer. The audience of “Witness” must have doubted whether Ji-woo could become a lawyer like Soon-ho (Jung Woo-sung) in the movie, just like how few have expected “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” to reach #3 on the Netflix World Chart.
As writer Moon said at a recent press conference, “Witness” is not a “reference” of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo.” It is true that writer Moon started with the idea of “a lawyer with autistic spectrum“, but there is no specific reference point. Park Eun-bin, who plays Woo Young-woo, also said in an interview, “I didn’t watch movies or dramas about autism spectrum because I was worried those might interfere with my acting.”
Nevertheless, many audiences start to wonder, “What other works are based on the autism spectrum like “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”?
Last spring, before “Woo Young-woo Syndrome,” a director who is working on a documentary about developmental disabilities introduced “Love on the Spectrum”. It is a rare work that observes the romance of young people with autism spectrum in the documentary and reality TV format. There are also two other Netflix dramas that came to his mind while watching “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”.
Love on the Spectrum
Starting with the narration, “It’s hard for anyone to find love,” this Australian Netflix show captures the emotions of couples from their first date to their dating process and happy ending on camera. Through interviews and conversations with their family and friends, cast members reveal their own views on love and dating, confide in the production team, and get advice from experts.
Watching “Love on the Spectrum” widens the range of awareness for non-disabled viewers. For example, on a date, the female participant smiles brightly when she introduces herself to be “obsessed with Harry Potter”, but the male participant feels out of place. They are aware of their handicap.
They worry about whether such differences will interfere with the meeting or make the other person uncomfortable. This is because they had no opportunity to meet the opposite sex even though they were longing for love. Perhaps most autistic people, development impairment people share a similar experience.
As such, “Love on the Spectrum” has the power to illuminate the emotions of youths with autism spectrum as well as to look into their differences. This may be why it was produced until season 2 in Australia, followed by a reality show of the same name in the United States. Realistic concerns, differences, limitations and ways to overcome them, which are related to the love of development impairment people (that is connected to the topic raised in episode 10 of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”), are right here.
“Atypical”
Woo Young-woo (27 years old) lives alone with her father. She has only one friend named Dong Geu-ra-mi. She holds a secret behind her birth, so she lives with the worry “If I were a whale, wouldn’t my mom have abandoned me?” The situation is a little different for the high school student Sam in “Atypical”, which aired on Netflix for up to 4 seasons.
Films about autism spectrum disorder are usually subject to empathy and communication. As non-disabled people are bound to be main viewers, non-disabled characters appear and often go on to reflect on “What about us who are different from them?” beyond developments like “They are like us” or “Establishing a relationship with them”.
“Atypical” is the same but a little unique. Sam, a high-teen boy with autism spectrum disorder, is most interested in dating and sex. “Atypical”, which seems to be the story of an ordinary four-member family, depicts the process of Sam’s relationship with the opposite sex, friends and family in a realistic and humorous way.
Of course that’s not all. Sam, who works part-time at a home appliance store, is obsessed with penguins and Antarctica. Such a Sam flutters in front of the opposite sex. He seems to love his counselor teacher. Sam’s younger sister is strangely attracted to her same school female friend. Sam’s mother, who has been taking care of Sam all her life, is so lonely now. Sam’s father wants to talk to his son and daughter, who are growing mentally.
Woo Young-woo only has her father. It’s normal for Sam, including his friend Zahid, to have an ordinary but warm and reliable family fence. However, each family has its own circumstances. “Atypical” depicts the story of autistic people and their families with a warm gaze without forgetting to portray the practical difficulties and concerns that families with autistic people face. It is certainly an atypical drama.
Move to Heaven
Woo Young-woo is described as a top student at Seoul National University School and Law School. It’s kind of a fantasy and symbolic setting. Geu-ru (Tang Jung-sang) in Netflix’s series “Move To Heaven” is a trauma cleaner. More precisely, he is a trauma cleaner with Asperger syndrome.
Unlike Woo Young-woo, Geu-ru’s father died so suddenly. For Geu-ru, who is left alone, the only family member he has left is Sang-gu (Lee Je-hoon), his uncle and guardian. “Move To Heaven” sincerely portrays the stories that Geu-ru experiences while doing the trauma cleaning work, which he learned from his father, with uncle Sang-gu.
Geu-ru also owns an extraordinary memory like Woo Young-woo. Geu-ru, who is already used to showing respect for the dead like his father did, discovers the side that non-disabled people cannot see through traces and helps heal the pain of the deceased and their family. Similar to “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”, the drama also deals with events that reflect social concerns through stories about different people, such as an old woman with dementia who died alone in a single room, a woman who is the victim of stalking, LGBTQ+, a security worker, etc. While Geu-ru’s performance of approaching the sad deaths unfolds, Sang-gu, who closed his heart with his own wounds, begins to assimilate Geu-ru’s actions and the meaning of the trauma cleaning work.
This work also left a great regret because it did not receive enough attention compared to its completeness. “Move to Heaven” is a combination of a mystery drama and family stories, and if you are deeply into “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”, you can definitely see various comparisons between the two dramas, including the public gaze on those with autism spectrum disorder.
Since the drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” itself is so unique and controversial, it seems like similar works are not attracting much attention. Coincidentally, “Love on the Spectrum”, “Atypical” and “Move to Heaven” were all produced by Netflix, and they are all works that viewers of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” would possibly enjoy watching.
Source: daum
