The Good Doctor's In...But, He's Retarded.

Morning, my fine Peeps…

So, I said the “R" word.  To some, I'm already a pariah in the crip world, so saying something un-politically correct isn't out of the ordinary.  But, being retarded isn’t a “handicap,” where one needs to pussyfoot around the person.  No, the “retarded” kid just sees life differently than we…perhaps, making them AND us closer to God, because of our meeting these individuals.

Where are you going with this, J?

Today’s Monday, so The Good Doctor’s on.  Heard about, well, you should, People.  It has Freddie Highmore, who became Johnny Depp’s little darling after being in Finding Neverland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with him.  Highmore took a darker turn in Bates Motel after.  The day that wrapped, he was off to be Shaun Murphy on The Good Doctor.

The thing that’s so special about this character is he’s an autistic savant…or, what ignorant people refer to as retarded.  People, remember Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man…same diagnosis…and, EVERYBODY ADORED Rain Man, which was based on the true-life Rain Man, Kim Peek.  Anyhoo, Shaun’s a resident surgeon at St. Jose Bonaventure Hospital.

OK, J, how can he be a surgeon and autistic?  Yeah, again, I believe autistic people see the world differently than we do…you just have to tap into that part of their brain to see their world.  The rest of the cast has to develop those skills too.  They have to learn that Shaun’s autism allows his him to literally have a medical encyclopedia at his disposal to think about procedures or help make colleagues this of outside-the-box ideas that might save a patient.  Of course, being an autistic person, Shaun doesn’t have the social skills that make him stand out like a sore thumb; therefore, he has to learn from his at times uncomfortable colleagues said social skills.

Well, but, J, Highmore ain’t really autistic.  Yeah, and I’ve lamented about real crips not being in film in Speechless (hat’s off to Micah Fowler for breaking that mold), but, also I’ve extoled our love of Rory as being our grounding movie even though James McAvoy or Steven Robertson aren’t crips at all.  The Good Doctor gives me that same grounding feeling.  I’ve read about Highmore getting shit on for playing an autistic person in some postings…mostly by parents that…I don’t know.  For me, I’d be honored if an actor/actress took on a role that showed both sides of the fence, but mostly highlighted how a crip can be highly respected in society.  I don’t remember if Hoffman got shit for his role.  If so, again, ignorance.

We, as crips, applaud Highmore for tackle Shaun, and doing it so well…watch his mannerisms…brilliant.  See if you don’t fall in love with The Good Doctor.

Be good to each other.

-J-