One common joke among my friends and people around my age is that trying to communicate with someone who wasn't allowed to watch SpongeBob growing up is noticeably difficult because so much of the show is ingrained in how we communicate. Suddenly a huge chunk of my vocabulary and points of reference don't work

@alisaurus4224

Жыл бұрын

I had a huge problem with this in college & my 20s, & even to a smaller extent now, because my upbringing was extremely sheltered & anything not “edifying” (usually meaning Christian) was kept away. We didn’t have a TV until i was 17, and almost never saw movies in theaters. I’ve had years to catch up, but at least once a week my husband will make a TV/movie/music reference and i just will not get it. I’m glad i did so much reading and outdoor play as a kid; I’m not saying my parents were entirely wrong in having a non-TV house, but there are unintended consequences such as not really being able to have TV in the background and ignore it-it will always pull my focus even if muted.

@phoenixfritzinger9185

Жыл бұрын

I kinda had something similar going on but my brother found a loophole and ended up convincing my mom to let us watch the Spanish dub of it because we would be learning another language, and would be doing it a lot faster than we would have learned Spanish if we were like watching Dora the Explorer

@juniperrodley9843

Жыл бұрын

I was allowed, I just never liked it

@solarwolf678

Жыл бұрын

Cute profile picture btw

@Chatrbuug

Жыл бұрын

So they're... Not ready?

one thing that always annoyed me was the "video games causes adhd for kids" and "studies find that kids spending lots of time playing video games are more likely to be diagnosed with adhd" thing i kept hearing, and all the "maybe you could focus better if you didnt spend all day staring at computer monitor"... because nobody stopped to think that maybe its other way around... because shockingly having adhd and the chronically understimulated brain that is inherently part of adhd probably makes these kids more drawn to one of the most stimulating forms of media out there.

@pokezette7785

Жыл бұрын

that's what I'm worried about with my little brother I always think what if his focus problems aren't from video game but from adhd or something like that

@Sh1garak1s_alt

Жыл бұрын

Finally someone gets it.. Adults have told me that I watch to much to and that’s why I can’t focus.. I was never able to focus, even before I had normal access to tv and the internet.

@NegativeReferral

Жыл бұрын

This reminds me of when people say that "techno (meaning any electronic music) causes drug use" as if there's something in the waves of a synth that causes people to think "hey, maybe I should take up ecstasy," and not that certain sectors of rave culture happen to take drugs, and people who like repetitive stimulation to begin with might have tried drugs without ever hearing EDM. The same thing is true with all the studies that are used to bolster the claim that Classical music (specifically meaning Western classical) is better than any other genre, or that the norms of classical are somehow objective, without controlling for factors like volume or personal taste. The methodology for defining genres in these studies is nebulous (with charged terms like "rebellious sounds" thrown at music suitable for Home Depot). Some of them claim that classical music is better than rock, even though the actual study compared classical music to silence. Others use an elevated heartbeat as a sign of anxiety, even though it can just as easily mean excitement (it's not like emotion literally comes from the heart). Still others mix up correlation and causation, or cite an unfounded claim, from a kinesiologist of all professions, that the rhythm of "We Will Rock You" is bad for your brain. In any case, journalists often ignore the outliers in these studies and make across-the-board claims that everyone's perception of music is the same. Most of the "anything invented after 1950 is bad for you" studies are not without logical fallacies, whether we're talking about video games, computers, television, electric music, or movies. Also, you literally *have* to focus to "stare at a screen" (a term that's not far removed from "stare at a piece of paper" in its reductiveness).

@Nakia11798

Жыл бұрын

wow, it's almost like kids with ADHD like video games because they're highly stimulating and THAT'S why there's a correlation with kids liking video games and having ADHD.

@CubeAtlantic

Жыл бұрын

yea i agree with you video games can surprisingly boost-up hand eye skills, & techniques.

I'll admit, I cried a little while you were talking about the autistic fantasy of a close-knit friendship group and imagining the roles we might play in them. Seeing my own past through this lens has really helped me to understand and be kinder to myself. We weren't just desperate saddos watching Friends over and over because we were too pathetic to have real ones - no, we just had difficulties finding acceptance in a cruel world, yet we still cared so deeply about the friends we might one day have in our lives and wanted to learn how to be good friends in return. There's something beautiful about that, I think. Thanks for making this video x

@ashleyc6048

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing! Sometimes, I can't or don’t want to process new media and nostalgia always brings me back to these specific shows, movies etc that radiates acceptance, close relationships, vulnerable growth, blaha. There's little acceptance and so much shame inspired by a lot of conversations with family, friends, my community, and our regional/global societies at large. I know I can always count on these random characters I projected the sensations and feelings I'm searching for onto. There are so many scars and barriers for my attempts to reach out, process information and communicate in the way I do. Kimmy Schmidt is around though to at first watch, her character helped me feel like I'm not crazy about the way I view the world with submitting to feeling jaded. I can't go on any new adventures anymore but I can visit when I need a sec to get a grip over feeling disconnected and underappreciated, especially when no one cares or can be bothered to listen. Sometimes it feels like its deemed more favorable to be a piece of furniture rather than having uncomfortable conversations for the greater good of our relationships. Media presents lovely companions for processing and relating in the neurodivergent experience in the cruel world. Re-watch marathons honestly help me feel less alone.

@kerycktotebag8164

Жыл бұрын

i did and still do the same thing. I'd even watch stuff that ignited my sense of justice from a young age, and imagine myself confronting unjust or mean ppl irl, and this would eventually carry over into "real life" where I've been known to be steadfast & kind

@lamecasuelas2

Жыл бұрын

Does anyone else have no friends?

@ashleyc6048

Жыл бұрын

@@lamecasuelas2 👋🏾YT friendless solidarity

@lamecasuelas2

Жыл бұрын

@@ashleyc6048 i don't know if i should like this comment

Even as a kid I hated the ‘TV will rot your brain’ rhetoric. And since I got mostly A’s growing up while also watching so much TV that I got compared to a soap opera-obsessed granny, I was living proof that that mindset was BS

@mj.l

Жыл бұрын

i got really good grades while i was injecting loads of drugs, i don't think there's necessarily a connection there

@CthulhusBFF2

Жыл бұрын

@@mj.l I’m not saying TV made me smart, I’m just saying it didn’t rot my brain like the old fogies claimed it would

@akumatsutranslations

Жыл бұрын

@@mj.l they already replied but I think the point is that conventional wisdom about what makes someone smart or not compared to their choices in entertainment mediums are largely arbitrary.

@kerdnerl

Жыл бұрын

And to prove the other side, I was a book obsessed teen, didn't care about tv at all. C student my whole life, at best

@cyberzombie038

Жыл бұрын

I think that myth started back when CRT televisions were standard. Which was known to emit radiation but as a negligible amount.

As someone (with ADHD&autism) who was raised by the public library, TV, and my teachers, (which is far preferable to what my neglectful abusive parents would have done if I had to suffer being around them even more) it will be fascinating to see this video. TV allowed me to observe and learn about formalized versions of body language and facial expressions without being rude to real people (by staring/observing them in a creepy too focused manner). Real people don't do acting, but knowing about acting stereotypes still is helpful for making educated guesses about what real life people might feel. Even though you can't know without them telling you if they are upset because their ankle hurts, or they're hangry, or their pet got into an accident yesterday or what.

@Call-me-Al

Жыл бұрын

Err, correction: "People don't do acting in real life"; I didn't mean to imply actors aren't real people. I only meant that acting is a skill and performance art of body language communication.

@asmrtpop2676

Жыл бұрын

I would argue that allistics act every day. In fact, if you don’t participate in the script, they get upset or don’t like you or don’t trust you as much.

@Call-me-Al

Жыл бұрын

@@asmrtpop2676 it's a different thing. Acting/behaving according to social scripts and social memes is different from body language acting, that I was referring to. They subconsciously have learned about body language acting, but it isn't something they consciously try to uphold and often can accidentally even signal something they absolutely didn't mean because of compounding factors that are unknown to outside observers (e.g. they really have to go poop soon because apparently the breakfast takeaway didn't agree with their stomach, even though they really don't want to leave the really interesting conference or whatever, yet to an observer it may come across as them being incredibly bored and aggravated and not even wanting to be there). Yes, socializing customs and scripts are a big deal to a lot of people, thankfully different countries have different ones so if one is lucky enough to move somewhere else you might be able to find a society that suits you much better. For instance I have heard that Dutch workplaces are the ones best suited to autists because of how direct they are and how much they don't care for underlings groveling for your superiors (unlike e.g. China where saving face and hierarchies can backfire so hard it kills companies).

@haileys5224

Жыл бұрын

I get told I speak like written dialogue. Tbh it’s a compliment because I studied TV interactions and dreamed of being able to come across in a curated and understandable way.

@OMFGZdance

Жыл бұрын

Also IRL, I have a ton of difficulty trusting myself to know what facial expressions or body language is being tied to what emotion because you just don't have all the context. Media gave me the context-- I knew what happened and could logic it out, whereas I couldn't exactly ask my classmates and trust that they'd give me a real answer. Media gives you musical cues sometimes, camera cues, you're following that person through the things influencing and communicating their emotional state in ways that you don't get in real life. I know from personal experience-- I tried asking other kids or adults in my life what they were feeling, what that body language meant, and if they didn't just laugh derisively they gave me such a sanitized answer... if I tried to recreate the body language with those answers in mind, NT people reacted poorly bc it didn't mean what I was told it meant. (For example, if an adult was frustrated with me and I asked what their body language meant they'd be caught off guard and not want to tell me directly that they were annoyed with me, so they'd tell me things like "oh I'm just really tired today and I didn't sleep well." Imagine trying to emulate "tired" body language and other people read it as frustrated!)

I think the whole being too online etc thing isn't that special a stigma. It's just that obsessions, hyper focus, special interests are always demonised for us. I didn't really have Internet access of my own for most of childhood, and got shouted at by ex mum for lying there reading books instead of doing chores, asking how she was etc. My books were treated the same as spending too much time on TV your phone etc.

@bakedbaker9882

Жыл бұрын

Same tbh.. Especially in school tho. Which is ironic. They never once stopped to think that maaaaaybe I was autistic, that I came from a shitty home, that one of my few escapes from the outside world was reading books that I wanted to read. Instead they discouraged it, even punishing me for it. Now I just can't anymore. They broke me, and they get to sleep at night thinking their perfect angels who did no wrong. And people wonder why I'm so pessimistic?

@turtleanton6539

7 ай бұрын

Fully agreed 😊

So recently I started work as a social worker working with autistic adults (I have adhd, so I empathize and want to help people going forward and living their lives) and helping care and interact with them socially day to day. One of the guys lives his life vicariously through television and the staff there doesn't really encourage or help him have a better life day to day. His needs are very much not often met and he has had doctors basically do malpractice on him. I came in and got to know him as best as I could and I have found myself crying and crying just trying to argue with my coworkers to help this guy live the life in the way he very clearly has expressed to us. Thank you for making this video. I can not understate the importance of this and will be referring back to it as something I want to learn and gain from going forward. I realize now how important television is actually to him and while I notice that staff very often force him to sit down, stay calm, and restrict access to it if he is not behaving well. It's so sickening seeing grown adults be treated like children as opposed to us just helping them in the aspects they need help with (i.e. bathing and food and such). Just... Wow....

@windwaker407

Жыл бұрын

Man, that really cuts deep. I'm an autistic adult very much in a similar boat in the way of being surrounded by people who refuse to help me live the life I want. Truth be told, I don't even want anything so grand. I'd like to get a job, have a love life, make friends, just... go out places. Unfortunately, I have a parent who does not believe I am capable of existing in the real world. I'm not allowed to get a job, learn to drive, do much of anything to establish some sort of life outside of my bedroom. I live isolated in the middle of nowhere, I don't have anyone I can turn to who are actually willing to help, I have basically no options and the only person I live with who has the ability to help me become too independent doesn't believe I am capable of it. My life has been stagnant ever since I graduated high school nearly a decade ago and I have no options and no one willing to help even though I think the life I want is perfectly achievable. It's... gotten really bad lately, but at least I always have media to help me vicariously fill this void in my life. Point is, I get it, I know what it's like to know what the problem is and how to fix it and meet someones needs, but the people surrounding that person are all unwilling to do so. I really hope the best for that guy you spoke about, because it sounds like he needs it. Judging from the description of how people are treated there, he's probably not the only one, I'm willing to bet

This is why I think channels like Cinema Therapy are so useful. They take the eye toward media that it CAN be helpful and teach us how to live better lives- neurodivergent or neurotypical. I wish that this idea was more common. You don't have to take media at face value, but it has a huge impact on socialization, which can be positive if we let it be positive.

Ah this broke me a bit, especially the bit about having a close friend group being as fantastical as riding a dragon. 😢

KZread really looked into my soul and targeted me specifically with suggesting a video with this title. I literally feel like I'm able to understand people the way I do because of television, (and books and video games). Its often a joke I identify with in saying I was raised by tv or being related to Abed from Community when I accidently place real people under the lens of narrative thematics. My parents tried, but I'm so thankful that my dad is so media obsessed and was able to provide me the gateway I needed to better navigate emotions and the world around me. I was born in the early 2000's but was raised on a lot of older content via thrift store DVD box sets and VHSs, my dad pirating movies and shows, and having a lot of older video game systems so interested to see what specifics I'll be able to relate to as this is through an 80's and 90's content lens oppose to my 90's-00's one. Really looking forward to watching this video!

@nathanpetrich7309

Жыл бұрын

I worship Tezcatlipoca, whose symbol is the black mirror. Without screens to escape through, my childhood would have killed me, and it's still trying. That said, when anime was my only friend in Highschool, my social skills definitely suffered for it.

I'm not autistic, rather I have ADHD and a really bad case of social phobia, and this video struck a chord with me. Especially talking about how social interactions in TV shows were fantastical, and there's a reason I (still) have and develop mannerisms that can be traced back to certain characters I wanted to emulate to try to look better socially (spoiler: it didn't work too well.)

I still remember my family and people I met when I was little often criticized me of being “too immersed in my own world” and purposely (sometimes unintentionally) made it as an insult and blame me for spending too much time on the screen, even this one time my mother destroy her Samsung Tablet in front of my face just because I don’t have a Tablet at the time and have to borrow hers to watch things I’m interested in.

@9core

Жыл бұрын

same experience but it was my own samsung tablet she smashed :))

@SlapstickGenius23

Жыл бұрын

My mum doesn’t even smash phones. She’s a very attentive parent.

@robokill387

Жыл бұрын

Speaking of the toxic "in their own little world" myth, I've actually seen people say that an autistic guy "lived in his own little world" and how it warmed their heart that he made friends with an autistic woman who "lived in the same little world as him". Like, how do people not see the contradiction in this? How can someone be "in their own little world" if it's shared by others? Why can't they understand that these two people just understand each other and get along with each other in a way they don't with NTs? Why do they have to frame it through this patronising, infantilising lens where they're basically claiming that the autistic people are detached from the "real world"? What's actually happening is that the autistic people are completely in the real world, they just perceive it differently to NTs, and NTs think that their perception of reality is objective reality so a different perception must be "not reality", AKA "in their own little world."

I almost cried with this. The one thing that I want the most that I know I'll never get, is a childhood friend. And, tbh, I do watch shows with a small amount of envy. I've grown contempt to this and I don't think about it as much as I used to. But it does hurt when brought up.

My autism definitely had me looking at humanity from the sidelines, which further deprived me of the shared understanding most people have without even trying, but also let me see a lot that most others miss... which contributed to my already idiosyncratic skills that I wish I could provide. In a way, you actually *are* using your unique experience and abilities in an important way that impacts the lives of a lot of people who finally witness (at least some of) your greatness after all. I'd love to also impart some of my perspective via KZread but I simply don't have the stomach to handle the inevitable harassment. I revere you for the hard work you do. Also my god, this adorable floof makes me so envious 😻

Good times, I miss the good old days when I could just come home from work, beat my kids, calls their toys stupid and blame it all on pokémon (it's satanic) and TV. The younger generations are so violent and irreasonable. Ain't I right, guys? Please answer, my kids don't talk to me anymore (because they're spoiled brats) so I rely on kindness from strangers.

@nunyabusiness2785

Жыл бұрын

…Dad?

I teared up when you mentioned the friendships and connections feeling just as fantastical. It's really true. I had so much isolation and ostracization, I'm still the fat one, I'm still unfeminine and uncomfortable with the performance expected with femininity, and I'm... Lonely. The kind of friendships you see in media really are a dream of mine. One that over time I lost any hope in ever having. This was really great. Thank you.

"...hunting through record shops trying to find a CD from that obscure punk band from America" Replace "America" with "the UK" and you just described a significant portion of my youth!

HOLY FUCK what a beautiful beautiful video. This is such generous insight, such beautiful prose, such clever analysis, such swish structure, such an instinct for the gorgeous; such bravery and such high standards. You are in your absolute fucking stride. Strut!

@Ember_Green

Жыл бұрын

😭😭😭 I did REALLY enjoy making this one.

As a Zennial I’m so happy that someone finally talking about this.

Fascinating video topic! I am a self diagnosed autistic and I watched a massive amount of TV shows and movies growing up. I also read alot and played often in the nature surrounding my home. I was never one to beleive the TV rots your brain saying as I would watch science, nature and history documentaries and I would watch the news for fun lol. I live in a small town and I loved watching the Travel Channel for Samantha Brown and Anthony Bordian because they took me to other places I could only dream of. Alot of autistics have a rich inner world and i think thats why quite a few artists are autistic. I love art and drawing and the media I consumed inspired me.

@bakedbaker9882

Жыл бұрын

Same :)

There's so much to say on this topic! The social patterns that TV and film simplify through troupes make them such a compelling tool for neurodivergent kids. The likelihood of exclusion in autistic childhood leading to less exposure to socialization, coupled with having to 'manually' understand things as opposed to learning through a sort of osmosis like allistic people seem to also makes film; a recorded social interaction that you can rewind analyse and learn from, almost a lens through which to understand the world. TV is a world where people exist following rules and archs and make sense. Look forward to your video!

Yay TV! I know I learned A LOT from TV, storybooks, and movies and I always felt hurt whenever adults would say that TV made people stupid or lazy. But I doubled down on my love for stories and now I write and translate them for a living, soooo take that, 80s parents. 😎

I think getting into D&D at 10 gave me the framework I needed to survive autism. So far. Good video.

When you brought up the thing about friend groups and how TV is often the only way for someone to experience those things it really helped me describe the pain I feel. I've always been a lover of TV, and I love scifi and fantasy, but lately I just find myself longing for a friend group of 3 to 6 people who are always close by. Instead I spend all day sitting alone in my room til the rest of my family gets off work and school. I understand that I can't fly on the Andromeda or henshin into a Kamen Rider, but if I could at least have friends instead of wasting my life away in daydreams I would be so happy.

POV: The algorithm put this on your recs, you click it because you want to learn more from an autistic person's experience. you get to the end of the video sobbing because you feel very validated by it's contents and now are trying to find it how to see someone about why you feel validated by a video titled "Raised by Television: Autism and TV" thank you so much for making this and sharing this. thank you so so much.

I remember all that too from the 80s. "Latchkey kids" who spent all their time watching TV and were destined to grow up to be psychos unable to relate to other people. I realized eventually that my parents generation were pretty much full of it, and all I can do is hope this generation isn't projecting those fears on the next one. But yes, you're right that beyond generic nostalgia for when I was young, I can't say the quality of the arts has genuinely declined, and the quality of intellectual production has improved strongly. But there is no unmixed blessing here: TV and newspapers made for one mainstream line of thought. Not everyone was 100% on board with it, and it wasn't always the same thing, but it was still one, fairly narrow Overton Window. And now... there no idea so far out, so obviously stupid, that millions of people won't hold strongly to it. If there is anything that TV did to us that really hurt, it made it hard for us to recognize when TV-like media starts distorting our ideas. I'm hoping these zoomers with infinite options grow up knowing better.

To add to this, I had this experience mostly with anime and animated shows/movies, possibly because real actors made me anxious when I realized they weren't who they were portraying themselves to be, but also because in animated contexts it was easier to ignore the fact that none of the characters looked like me. Being POC and socially rejected for more reasons than just my neurodivergence (race, religion, social background, etc) made me realize much later in life that my feeling of being fundamentally different from other people could be neurodivergence at all. I don't see people like me represented in any media, not with the many intersections of my identity, and it was harder for me to get into sitcoms after being forced to assimilate to white culture, after interacting with white people who constantly rejected me. I couldn't help but think about how these characters would probably reject me too. This is the first video I've watched from you, and I really appreciate creators like you making it easier for people like me, who are constantly excluded from formally being diagnosed as neurodivergent, to piece together our experiences. I only recently realized that other people don't practice and closely analyze social interactions to learn from them, because for them social interactions are intuitive. That my social and communication skills that I was and am praised for were carefully practiced and adapted. The only things I would add is the encouragement to include POC voices in your videos, because the largely positive lens of this video doesn't address the massive harm popular media did and has done to POC, and how increasingly hostile the internet, real life social interactions, and the neurodivergent community itself can be when people have "too many" intersecting identities. How neurodivergent POC often make parallel communities to white neurodivergent people (much like as happens in the queer community) because white people will use their neurodivergence as excuses for hostility and microaggressions against us. How we are often excluded because white people center themselves constantly in a community literally *built* around our differences because of their proximity to normalcy.

@Nakia11798

Жыл бұрын

I never thought about it that way. I don't know why I don't like non-animated shows.

"Would you rather have bad back and poor eyesight THAN being mocked and judged IRL" this parts hits hard.... the hard choice thou.. as someone who have less social skill like me

🎶 TV taught me how to feel, now real life has no appeal 🎶 I'm so glad I found your channel, this perfectly describes my relationship to TV as an autistic kid growing up in the 90s.

@LordWaterBottle

11 ай бұрын

Why do I feel like that would be a Chonny Jash lyric?

As an autistic person, (also looking into an adhd evaluation so not really sure about that) I had to do a lot of self exploration due to the lack of validation, understanding, and acceptence. I fully know that my constant use of internet and video games is not worsening my anxiety, depression, focus, and issues but is instead my coping mechanism that is actually helping improve my mental health. I still get comments saying I'd improve if I went out more. I've tried doing that and it accelerated my depression into almost life threatening levels, meanwhile, focusing on my interests and identity, helped save me. So no, I don't think getting a pc for christmas caused my depression. Oh. and regarding the internet. I think it's done great things for acceptence. Neurodivergent Exclusion ruined my life and I'm only just improving. Meanwhile online, people actually accept me. That never happened irl until just now.

@Nakia11798

Жыл бұрын

As a person with ADHD(looking into an autism evaluation), I fully understand what you're saying and relate. be careful not to get into online spaces that harm you though. I've definitely done that in the past, what with my interest in psychology and sociology.

@Ashurion-Neonix

Жыл бұрын

@@Nakia11798 yeah done that before. Especially annoying when you hyperfixate on something that triggers you.

I feel this Video is spot on, I myself was also a strange awkward child of the 80s. I spent hours everyday watching, rewatching movies and shows throughout my childhood and teen years, even though I was regularly failing school I felt my life was heading towards something promising, up until I turned aged 20 and then everything crashed down around me when I developed schizophenia. From the age of 20 to 30 during the 2000s, I was very unwell & lived without internet which I feel today was very socially crippling and when turned 30 I finally had a consistent internet set-up, I was suddenly able to explore, heal, learn and develop social skills from following and subscribing, unsubscribing whomever I felt could teach me something. During my childhood, teens and 20s I felt very inadequate and useless but now having had all the internet, movies, books that I can eat for around 10 years during my 30s my life has been filled with amazing IRL adventures.

@aliendeathrocker

Жыл бұрын

I'm so happy to hear about how much your life ended up improving. 🖤 - A fellow strange awkward child of the 80's

A video essay about autism and TV reaches me through the algorithm and the advert before it is for the Australian theme park Luna Park Sydney, this is the maximum amount I have been targeted by content.

@SlapstickGenius23

Жыл бұрын

I went to Luna Park Sydney as a kid.

I'm autistic but it wasn't TV I was really raised by, it was games. My parents were both market folk who sold computer and gaming stuff, so I was raised on a lot of that tech and knew how to use computers since my earliest memories. A lot of the oldschool stuff like early Windows OS and retro games give me so much nostalgic comfort, but it sucks finding others who can relate to it at my age. It feels like a big generational gap, since you fixate on a time period that made you feel good. I know and love everything about oldschool comps but anything past the XP Era I just can't will myself to really care for, and I don't find a lot of interest in many modern games either, bleh. Start talking to me about shitty oldschool outdated tech and I'll light up, but I do have a softspot for modern games with the aesthetic appeal of oldschool stuff, like, say Dusk.

@larkohiya

Жыл бұрын

There is an endless seemingly supply of games that are being created in retro style

TV: I rot your brain. The Internet: Hold my beer.

As I started this video, I thought, "I remember having a little tv with a built-in vhs player, with a little dvd player attached to it." And then, lo and behold, there it is!! You truly capture the growing-up-in-the-90s vibe in the beginning of this video.

@daviniarobbins9298

Жыл бұрын

We never bought one. I was told it was just one more thing likely to break down. I had a TV and a separate VCR machine.

The 90's were awful. I picked up SO many toxic views about women while watching American teen dramas after school, and I had nobody to talk to to counterbalance that.

I'm also a 90's kid though mid 80's, and neurodivergent. I'm from the US so I had nickelodeon and cartoon network (this came in and out with our cable service). I'm just now finding I might be autistic after watching some of your videos ( yes you inspired it, I scored quite high on many of the preliminary screening tests online, we'll see about the clinical psych test next week). It's a little dizzying cause I wasn't expecting it. Anyway, I used to watch so much tv. I'd watch nickelodeon or Comedy Central and then Simpsons reruns and Seinfeld reruns until "prime time" when I'd watch the new episodes of Seinfeld or Friends. I really took everything as what is sort of promised in life like groups of friends, the hunt for a soul mate or be a sex god, rock star wannabe, always thinking I'll find that best friend that really gets me- it's all tv tropes; just like Bill Murray's character in Scrooged ironically. I always had a hard time making friends. I tried using musical skills to gain friends. When that didn't work, I found substances. Then it was hard to keep friends- especially musical ones. I used that as a personality for my twenties, less so in my thirties- more just sad addiction. Even my substance use disorder is influenced by rock stars, Hunter S Thompson, idealised 20th century artistic and musical subcultures, etc. The "mad genius" trope is a fallacy of eccentric individualism and exceptionalism. It also explains away shitty and abusive behaviour. I've met plenty of mad geniuses on the street. I thought of myself as some mad genius that needed their many beers at the bar to write the score. It just kinda makes me understand attachment a little bit better.

I used to have my very language formed by tv shows, not realizing that tv shows sort of made a piece of art out of the idea of speech, and that conversations in real life never felt like the ones in tv shows (I always noticed that tv characters spoke in clear turns, which I never experienced in real life, and no one would ever respond when i pointed that out). My speech is still formed by KZread videos to this day, but I’m conscious of it, and only incorporate it into my speech if I find it cool or funny.

Please tell Boba I love him Scored a real hit on my soul with the part about seeing our neurodivergent quirks in fantasy protagonists. Ooh. Yep.

As a stimmy dyspraxic with learning disabilities-and social anxiety as a result of early shunning for bodily struggles-I related deeply to this essay. Thank you for the work you do.

look i have no idea if im autistic or not but damn you did not have to call me out like this. i really do mainly get friendship quota out of fiction and wish i could be the protagonist whos life finally changes for the better through wild and supernatural means... i mean i genuinely constantly wish a portal to another world would open up and suck me in so i can live a cool life in another world instead of being stuck in one that very much was not made for me.

i cried when you talked about a world that celebrates sincerity and joy over cynicism. my ex boyfriend who is also autistic said that his favourite thing about me is my sincerity and how genuine i am. that i don’t try to be cynical and jaded. it’s one of the nicest compliments i’ve ever received because no one had ever told me that element of my personality was something to be celebrated. in fact i was actively made fun of for not understanding sarcasm and for being naive and trusting people so easily. i was made fun of for being completely honest with people about my interests because they didn’t understand why someone would be obsessively fixated on jellyfish. him celebrating one of many aspects of my personality that had been deemed stupid by the world around me gave me a boost of self love that remains with me when people laugh at me for being the way i am.

*Shocked by this not having many likes yet tbh *But even though I'm not autistic, some of this really resonated with me- especially the part about neurotypical people learning things through osmosis *Maybe it's because of ADHD, but I remember why I do almost everything that I do- including tiny little habits like playing with my hair. I can still pick things up fairly easily, but it is something that I'm conscious of every time and when I was younger it made me feel like I didn't have my own identity. That I was a collage of other people *Realizing neurotypical people are also a collage but less aware of it helped a lot

@teffley2766

Жыл бұрын

A collage of other people-- What a beautiful way of putting it. I struggle with my own identity, and I think just that phrase could help a little bit. Thanks!

@aletec96

Жыл бұрын

This made me realize I should probably have a conversation with a therapist

@prinxen1733

Жыл бұрын

*Sorry for being wrong I most likely am autistic

ADHD here, and I too was raised on TV, though in the US in the ‘90s. I credit so much of the TV I watched in those years for teaching me empathy and kindness … as well as the multitude of fiction books I was reading, the video games I played … all while my parents and teachers were trying to limit my screen time with scaremongering about TV being a “one-eyed monster” that would rot my brains. I feel like I, too, used TV and other media like books and video games to tell me how to act out in the world to fit in, to be liked or funny or popular.

A moving, beautiful, contemplative, extraordinary video. This is why you're one of my favourite creators. Just an incredible writer

@Ember_Green

Жыл бұрын

that means so much to me coming from you, honestly. thank you!

35:00 This has hit the nail on the head on something I always found difficult to relate to amongst other fans. I could never relate or fixate on the hero, I was the weird creature or the butt of the joke sidekick. I wasn't Luke Skywalker, I was C-3PO. Awkward, annoying, and useless, but still there anyway. And yes, I do find that sense of supremacism and 'looking down upon" awkward. I know I used to do it, and I still can't small talk very well, but as I get older I do like listening to people talk about their lives. I'm not good at discussing and I'm not at the point of opening, but I can at least ask questions and try to understand. Maybe if I'm cynical it's its own kind of tv?

I haven't seen this yet but 1. commenting for the promotion robots and 2. who needs "masking" when you can just pretend you're a sitcom character stuck in the wrong universe haha am i right ladies?

@Ember_Green

Жыл бұрын

could Emileigh BE any more right!? 💀

i feel like youtube read my mind - just yesterday i was weirdly mourning the lack of exposure to diverse shows I was allowed to have as a kid. i wanted to analyze the shows my friends were watching so bad, maybe then i would understand them better. thank goodness now im an adult and get to watch whatever i want lol

Yeah, I spent SO much time watching TV as a kid and teen, and it wasn't because I didn't have other things to do. I had toys, and friends, and I played with those, but TV was nice. It was repetitive, it didn't hurt me, and of course I could relate to the kids on the shows.

This gives me hope that I can actually do (good) work as an academic with debilitating mental issues and a slow pace. Thank you for the inspiration - this was really quality.

"having a group of friends might be just as fantastical..." damn that hit me hard ;_; great video

21:49 Boba purr break 🐾💕 27:00 Boba chomp! LOL, definitely dinnertime. Or he really just loves the microphone cord.

@Call-me-Al

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Growing up I watched a lot of old movies and cartoons since that's what my family was into, the TV was almost always on Turner Classic and in elementary school I kinda talked like someone from the 1930s/40s. Now it's my hyper fixation and I could probably lecture a class for hours on the subject!

I am a lil autistic boi (in spirit, have many pounds to lose :) also I'm 15) learning the basics of life and this video was incredible. I've never felt so seen. I just realized how much I rely on media to help me know how to interact with others and even myself. At one point I stopped caring about my space and myself because I felt no hope to have these social groups and people as I was homeschooled and became severely depressed and got on Discord. It felt like for the first time I had people to talk to but those people also furthered my depression and disconnection from real life. I would join a gazillion servers just to find someone who liked something I did. My parents did eventually find it though and took it away, but I realize this was for my overall good. Ever since going to school my life has gotten really nice as I had actual living breathing people to relate to and I finally do have that 11 person group. I have gotten pretty good at interacting with others to the point that all my autistic traits are just my quirkiness to people who don't know the signs. I also have come to learn through media that the expectations of me as a boy just don't align with how I like to be, and it is okay to not be tough and want to be the healer. Media has also shown how I would alternatively be and honestly realizing this has made my mental health improve dramatically and my hope for my ability to be me is improved too. I am also having to learn things like "How do people get a clean house?", "How do people find fashion they like?", "How do people meet other people?", "How do people all the things that media usually fails to explain. But I've realized by watching others, I can teach myself these things and be the person I want to be. In conclusion, media is helpful for me sometimes, but sometimes I have to go actually talk to people and be the person I want to be Although, screen time addiction still is a problem for me if you have any tips that would be nice :)

if we told the parent of every iPad kid that youtube being their babysitter is gonna give them autism they'd all be watching VHS tapes within the day. im autistic and it'd be funny to watch them scramble to make sure their kid doesn't have the big scary neurodivergency

@Nakia11798

Жыл бұрын

We should do it. Get on reddit and start up the idea with them.

I have an SI in sitcoms and learnt most of my socialisation from them but that is somewhat problematic. The idea that friends that are in your lives daily. That people will be there when you need them. That Drs won't give up until they find an answer. But also, sarcasm doesn't hurt. "How you doin" is OK, and bring weird will be accepted

This was one of the best video essays I've seen!!! Like I actually cried. A lot of it hit very close to home as an autistic person with a special interest in film/tv.

I may or may not have wept before the sun rose during the opening on my drive to work this morning.

This sincerely brought me joy. I don't remember who brought me to your channel a couple months ago, but I'm very glad they did. Outstanding and important stuff.

Ugh I remember the moral panic over Tv watching in the 90s and naughties. Turns out I was autistic regardless LOL

I'd never considered whether I'd been raised by tv before or why I tend to be more attached to consuming media than my peers. Thanks for the video Mica, it was very thought provoking.

I have a very strong audiographic memory. I can remember and recite things exactly word-for-word from tv and radio without having watched much of it at all. Even now decades later I still remember exact phrases from shows and even commercials I saw as a kid. As a kid I would constantly do this at school; leading the school to think that I was only watching TV all day (and talking to my parents about this) while in reality i spent most of my time outside playing.

i've said so many times the line "Some people will need to be told things before they know it" hehe

Media and books raised me more than my parents did, despite their best efforts. Sadly they had the mindset that if you ignore it, it'll just go away. They thought if I was put in special ed, that I'll get made fun of. That is bs btw, I was still bullied and isolated, even to adulthood. My own father even admitted he thought I was autistic, and that was the reason he gave me for never getting me help.. Anyways, this was an excellent video! I feel validated, which is rare for me. You used your words so eloquently, such thoughtfulness and kindness makes me smile and even cry a bit. I hope to be as brave as you are someday! Your words are what I wish I could say to those near me. So that they might understand, even just a little, who I really am and not the mask I wear everyday. Thank you

tv was really important to me growing up. i fixated on shows and would cry when i couldn't watch episodes when they aired. the simpsons, in particular, was very important to me because every summer my family and i would watch reruns of the old episodes in the evening. my brother had several box sets of the old episodes and my siblings and i would fall asleep to the episodes as they played on tv in our room. the simpsons became a special interest to the point where i felt the need to hide it because i got made fun of.

Definitely relate to this. So much of my learning was/is through some form of media. Also in my home, southern Minnesota, I had a similar timeframe to you for the internet. Our house was rural so a lot of the payed media was more difficult/ expensive to aquire. Thankful to our local library for movies, music, and books. Most of the cable I watched was at my grandparents house in town.

The present understanding of autism wasn't possible until autistic people gained the ability to make their own media. I used to think my life would have been so much better if I had gotten my diagnoses as a child in the 70s, before I "adapted" myself into permanent disability. A couple of years ago it suddenly clicked how wrong I was. Autistic people were hardly seen as human back then, and the treatments reflected that.

@robokill387

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely, what many people who claim diagnosed people are privileged miss, is that it was debatably better for some to go undiagnosed for until recently because of how badly autistic people were treated historically, even in the 90s and early 00s when I was growing up, it was still being debated whether autistic people were fully sentient, and it was still common for autistic people to be described as "lacking in fundamental traits that make us human" in publications. In the early 90s, allowing autistic people to have any say or power in autism organisations was extremely controversial, in fact, it was believed by many scientists that there would never be an autistic community because we were fundamentally incapable of it.

What an unbelievably touching and relatable video Mica! Thank you for your voice, thoughts and editing it's greatly needed on the platform.

@Ember_Green

Жыл бұрын

Thank you that's so kind 😊

I definitely was raised by tv and video games I was a prisoner in my own home growing up I wasn't allowed to go out unless it was for school or going to family even then I had to be with my parents tv and video games were the only things I was allowed to do and my parents would often ignore me when I spoke to them for me it was my only chose

Thank you for making this informative and insightful video!

Really powerful stuff as usual! Thanks so much

I feel very seen by this essay, you were able to articulate alot of feelings I have had throughout my like!!

Absolutely brilliant, incredibly written, just awesome!!!

Only two mins in and I already love this. This is the first video I've even glimpsed of yours before and I'm enraptured. Oh my god, I can't remember gramma rules either, though I am good at spelling. Relating too much to a lot of this, lmao. You mentioned a work/masking video, and I know if I click on it I'll SUPER relate, but I might relate so much I'll get sad lmao. I've never stuck a job and I'm 29. I feel useless, and I'm trying to learn to not, because it's not MY fault that society is so anti neuro-diverse. I've always wanted to make a KZread channel, but I've not yet figured out what I'd want to do for it. Hopefully one day I will. Love the video, thank you! EDIT: YOUR CAT IS ADORABLE!

This was really good. Really made me think. You’re very smart. ✌️💕

Wonderful video, I'll definitely watch at least once more very soon. I really enjoyed your newscaster character.

i think your channel is so neat, i’m glad i was introduced to you 🙂

thank u for the captions!!

Such an underrated video on such an underrated channel, so glad this came up in my recommended videos

Another wonderful video, very thoughtful and nice to look at! I'll have to rewatch it tomorrow, because I've only seen about 15 Minutes now and your voice is very nice and soothing, so I'll definitely fall asleep before the end :-)😻

Excellent. So many important things for people to think about, clearly and compellingly explained!

Thank you for this video Mica. I never feel lonely when I watch your videos.

Insanely touching video!!! Beautiful

Mica I'm not even finished watching the video yet and I just feel like I have to stop and comment that you have such a delightful sense of humour! You have excellent delivery, so funny and so witty. Just want you to know that your jokes are really funny, you should be proud, and you have brought much joy to me on a stubbornly sad and grumpy day! The substance of your ideas is also really insightful and interesting but I'd have to write a whole other comment to address that, probably better to do so after I actually finish watching the video. Since you mentioned feeling down in the dumps, I hope that you find some solace and rest soon! Thank you for your art!

i didn't even think about being raised by TV or screens which my parents didn't tbh but i was introduced to a lot of technology, & digital studios at a young age in the 2000's this context is interesting & eerie. TV, video games, & simulators for me in my experience was educational, & versatile.

Great video! Fascinating & looks awesome 👌

Really good and appreciated. A lot of this describes large parts of my life too😊💜 side note: the opening titles, title music, and background music are really cool on this one 😃

So glad I caught a bit of the premiere but can't wait to watch in full, extremely insightful and compassionate vid

Great video as always. This is one of my favourite TV channels. I understand autistic people better than non-autistic. You explain many things the way I wanna explain things, but I have communication difficulties. My problem is not the understanding, my problem is to find same wavelength with others.

so happy i found your channel today! EXCITEDest

Amazing video, your exploration of this topic was so insightful, and captivating to watch. I do feel like to a large extent, I was brought up by media. As a misfit/outsider/weird kid whatever you want to call me, I took great solace from those mediums, and the escapism they provided offered me some relief from the outside world. Wonderful stuff once again Mica, and Boba never fails to bring out the love, he is so adorable.

Thank you for this video!!

Oh my parents were veryyyy concerned with everything that was interesting to me on tv in books in music. Everywhere. But I wanted to learn. I wanted to experience. They couldn't give me the answers and stimulation I desperately needed. Yeah don't let your kid consume everything 24x7 but also think about whyyy they get drawn to stuff. I have no shame to tell people Gilmore Girls raised me and I'm a much better person for it^^

@LunarWind99

Жыл бұрын

Omg Gilmore girls yesss, I swear that show raised me more than my parents lol

@hannahk.summerville5908

Жыл бұрын

@@LunarWind99 I have my 20 year anniversary of watching the show next year. What about you?😁

Thoughtful and great conversation starter. Really enjoyed listening, new subscriber. Never thought about how while I was turning off TV in an effort to live an authentic life that it very likely was helping someone else know what an authentic life could look like. Thought provoking perspective shift for sure.

Wisecrack did a video last year I think about Archer and being raised on TV, both of it and this one hit really close to home. The ending was written beautifully, thank you for putting this out there for others to understand better

This is the first video of yours I've seen and I love your take and I love your cat

I've recently suspected that I'm on the ASD spectrum but never got a diagnosis. Between listening to creators like yourself, reading memoirs by women who weren't diagnosed until their 30's and 40's, and my own education as I pursue my MD, I feel like it's been an epiphany of sorts. I feel like many are talking about me and my life. I've begun pursuing a diagnosis, but I'm still waiti g on a referral to a specialist for evaluation and assessment. Edit: Ha... I don't know. As someone with chronic back pain and also been a social out cast, I think I'd take the social consequences... the chronic pain is with me no matter what I do. There's no escape. There's just less pain.

Fantastic video, Mica! I loved your heartful conclusion. So many important points! Also: Boba!!

@Ember_Green

Жыл бұрын

thank you Mandy! And thanks for all the HYPE!

Great video. Hard relate. Keep up the good work!

My new favorite channel❤