Identity and audiovisual language: the case of autism in film and television in three high-impact products

ABSTRACT

Audiovisual representation models in film and television influence the public constitution of people's identity and lifestyles. This is particularly important in minority groups or those with some type of disability, since both representation and learning about said condition are assumed by the majority. For this reason, this article analyses the representation of three high-impact audiovisual products: the film Rain Man (1988), the medical drama The Good Doctor (2017) and the legal series Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022), which include autistic protagonists, and assume a certain discourse on this condition in view of the general public. In this sense, the analysis of their content and an opinion survey of a sample of viewers in the Peruvian environment are developed. All this, with the purpose of analysing the degree of representativeness that these audiovisual products have regarding autism, its characteristics and/or the construction of stereotypes.

KEYWORDS:

• Audiovisual language
• inclusion in television
• inclusion in cinema
• autism
• representation of identity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).