From Autism to Queerness
The Shifting Politics of Representation in Atypical
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14195/2183-5462_48_4Palabras clave:
Autism, Fandom, Queer representation, Neurodiversity, Television series, AtypicalResumen
This article examines the evolving politics of representation in the Netflix series Atypical (2017-2021). Through qualitative content analysis of the full series and online fan comments o X(Twitter), it explores the show’s shift from an autism-centered coming-of-age narrative to one increasingly concerned with queer visibility, a shift amplified by one of the lead actor’s offscreen coming out as nonbinary. While the series does not always offer a flawless portrayal and occasionally falls into familiar tropes, it actively attempts to challenge and correct these representations, signaling a commitment to more nuanced depictions of identity. The convergence of on-screen and offscreen narratives demonstrates how authenticity functions simultaneously as cultural and commercial capital, while also revealing the competitive dynamics of representational visibility in contemporary streaming media. Rather than reading this queer turn as problematic, the article advocates for a politics of multiplicity that sustains intersecting narratives of neurodiversity, gender, sexuality, class, and race, instead of privileging a single axis of marginalization. Ultimately, it contributes to current debates on televisual representation by showing how platform logics, audience discourses, and creative labor co-produce evolving regimes of visibility, empathy, and normalization.
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