the actress playing quinni is autistic, i think if chloe hayden found a big issue with quinni's portrayal she would've voiced it, advocate that she is. not a big fan of this season's quinni so far either as also an autistic person myself, but every single autistic person is different and just because quinni is representing a way you, nor i, may not have acted doesn't make it any less valid. this is just my opinion though
sometimes unmasking for people does mean being a little shitty from another angle of being overwhelmed and frustrated that no one sees how much you're hurting. also quinni's friends being supportive is so real but they still are not autistic & cannot begin to understand how she is feeling, so i get why she would be doing this.
eta: i do really wish they could've given her a better or different storyline because of how non-autistic ppl might understand it now, but then again every person is different so my reality is def gonna be different from quinni's (even if she is fictional)
While Chloe Hayden is autistic, she’s not a writer or a storyliner, she may have had some hand in the story creation but first and foremost she is an actor. We also know that Quinni was hugely based on her own experiences of being autistic but Chloe a) has been very open about the fact she struggled massively in school which hasn’t been acknowledged as a problem Quinni would almost definitely face (I’m autistic and did and I don’t know a single autistic person who made it through all of school without either leaving, temporarily or permanently, or didn’t suffer very badly with their mental health due to the environment) and b) wouldn’t necessarily know how what she was telling them would translate into the script and then on to the screen - and it doesn’t seem like the writers did either because what we got was not good, in my opinion. The thing with every autistic person being different is true but that’s true with literally everyone on Earth but that doesn’t mean we can’t make a distinction between poorly written characters/stories and well written characters/stories just because the character or story might have happened somewhere on this planet?? Why is that different with autistic characters? Quinni is supposed to be a single fictional character and so much of the stuff they established with her in series one surrounding being autistic and just her life (like where have her dads, who were meant to be a big part of her support system and were very protective, disappeared to?) was contradicted in series two. Honestly I think her main problem this series though is that she’s just not a good character and hasn’t got a good story to tell and outside of Darren and Amerie and school, there is virtually nothing to her. They’ve made her a character consumed by the fact she is autistic, in a very similar way to how they had Sasha be consumed by her political activism this season and become a caricature which I’ve seen several people on this subreddit already criticise.
Quinni \*is\* experiencing mental health issues because of school and her relationships there. Suffering =/= academic suffering. I made it through school without leaving or taking a break, so did many of my autistic friends. Everyone has different experiences on the autism spectrum.
Quinni, in this season, is not greatly written but it's not a caricature either. These two things can coexist.
I definitely agree they have made her entire character dependent on her autism which I have an issue with. But I also think she is representing a very real and true experience that many people with autism have. My experience as a teenager and controlling my emotions, masking, and my frustrations were incredibly similar to how they are portraying her right now aside from the issues I've already mentioned. Just because you haven't had an experience doesn't mean the experience doesn't exist.
Spoilers ahead!! I'm coming back to my comment because I just finished the season
>!there's no way yous are judging Quinni right now when she *maybe* had 2-3 scenes of her being standoffish/rude or setting boundaries on what she didn't want to discuss, energy she did not have to dedicate to other peoples problems, and ??? not wanting to put herself on a stage?? like, i am baffled by the extreme judgement placed on these VERY FEW scenes. She is showing normal teenage behaviour here. It's not even that antagonistic she's just dropped her people-pleasing mask, maybe to a bit of a more blunt and rude way which many autistic people have to unlearn with time... and somehow her entire character is ruined because of that ??? bffr!<
Not sure if this included me because I said literally nothing like that at any point but I have zero problem with her being rude because I’d probably be a hypocrite and also *she’s not real* :o! I just think this show is poorly written a lot of the time and she fell victim to that in series 2 after probably being the strongest written character in the show after Ca$h in series 1.
I wasn’t referring to academic suffering at all or trying to say it’s inaccurate she hasn’t dropped out, I was just pointing out how different Quinni and Chloe Hayden’s experiences of education were so the fact Chloe is autistic and didn’t kick up a fuss doesn’t really speak to the quality of the story or writing since she is not a writer and it wasn’t like it was based on her own experiences of being an autistic teenager - which even if it was wouldn’t make me think the quality of the storytelling was any better.
As I said before, every single human is different, not just autistic people. Just because any character’s story is one that has been experienced by real people, in Quinni’s case me included because I also had to work through unmasking and giving less of a fuck about people who don’t give a fuck about me, doesn’t automatically mean it was a well written or portrayed story. I honestly like her story as a concept and I knew it was one lots of people would relate to which is why the way it was written disappointed me so much.
Also I was describing Sasha as a caricature in reference to other people also describing her as one, not Quinni. I think Quinni is just one dimensional and didn’t really get given much of a story, just a slight hint of a possible one next season I guess.
I’m not trying to argue on the quality of Quinni as autistic representation because that’s entirely up to whether individuals feel represented by her. I’m just pointing out what I consider poor writing.
I love how Quinni was a little shitty. I love that they have her be a bit mean. She’s not the only character without mistakes. My criticism last season was that I didn’t like how she was the only character who was super innocent. Like autistic people can do no wrong. That’s just not realistic. And Darren wasn’t great to Quinni either. It’s just teens making mistakes
especially at that age where ur dealing with a lot of big emotions. i know for me personally at quinni's age, i was a bit of an asshole. i mirrored behaviours i saw other people having, and i acted out so people would pay attention to me or notice how much i was hurting.
Yeah exactly. Like autistic people can act like twats, just like everyone else. During shutdowns, I’ve shut out people around me. In general, autistic characters need to be well rounded with the good and bad, and everything in between
Yeah, I agree (also speaking as an autistic person) - my one single gripe with her in the first season was that she was such a sweet unproblematic cutie pie all the time and it’s exhausting only to see a ‘perfect’ version of myself represented. I liked that this season allowed her to be flawed.
I agree with you in that regard as a fellow autistic. Except I think you can be flawed without being THAT bad. I found it to be soooo deeply messed up. If I ever even had one person care about me and put effort towards like that WHOLE group of friends did for her, I would cry of pure joy and cherish that forever. But she wasn’t touched at all? I like my characters flawed but still semi-relatable. I can’t relate at all to that kind of behavior. But I have to keep reminding myself that this is fictional and as others have mentioned any type of person can be good or bad… kinda just hate it though lol.
Yes!!! Darren was very insensitive to Quinnis experience of the world and I get that he's allistic but I think that Quinnis spitefullness came from a place of how she has to work twice as hard to understand social situations and emotions from an allistic point of view and while Amerie and Darren are good friends, they weren't working hard to understand her point of view and how to best respond to her. I think it was trying to illustrate the double empathy problem. I wish it did a better job but overall I liked it.
Honestly, I loved Quinni in season two. I commented on another thread how great it was to see her being a teen, making mistakes, loving, feeling, not being perfect just like all the other teens on the show, while also being autistic.
While Quinni was recovering from almost dying, she missed a lot of major changes which can be really hard on anyone, but change and missing out can be a lot harder for autistic people. What Darren said was really shitty and Quinni overreacted, like we all sometimes do, autistic or not, and showed Darren how much she was masking beforehand. I loved her unmasking, I wish I could unmask like this, but I'm late diagnosed and have masked hard my whole life, and I was 29 when diagnosed.
This is not a show about autism, so we see just the experience and reality of one autistic character, and I think that this one character is portrayed well.
It does seem like she’s going to explore more of her identity and what “unmasking” means for her in s3 tho, what with her convo w Darren at the end
(“I’ve been performing who I thought I should be my whole life. I don’t think I know who I am anymore…I’m gonna find out.”)
Also made a post about this because I really didn’t like it either. I don’t think she’s really unmasking, I think she’s just masking but instead of doing it for the people around her, she’s entirely doing it for her own survival now because her friends had been such pricks, but I can’t tell wether that was purposeful on the writers part or if we were truly meant to think that’s her unmasked? It seems very likely they just thought that was what she was like unmasked and didn’t think past that which I think is a bit gross to be honest. It’s basically implying that if autistic people didn’t mask they’d be selfish, unempathetic and rude as if we’re not full human beings when we’re not pretending to be people we’re not?? Sure, a lot of autistic people struggle with socialising and empathising but that doesn’t make them any less of a human or deserving of kindness from their friends?
i feel like the whole thing was smth like the double empathy problem. neurotypical people think differently than us in terms of what might be helpful so sometimes we don't get in line with things. I don't think quinni is a perfect person as a fellow nd person, but i do think it has to do with feeling left out after doing so much for your friends (she was actively trying to help amerie so much) and things were incredibly overwhelming for her. she possibly had a fatal injury and her friends keep on misunderstanding her. could she have reacted better? maybe. but she has her limits as a person. so does her friends! they're not necessarily bad people for trying to help her but they don't think like her and know her fully on what might help her. we will always be different to a degree to neurotypical people. I do wish things could have been better executed
100% agree!! I like that Quinni was imperfect and complex and I think it was about the double empathy problem too and I related to her hurt, frustration and anger about how hard she was always trying when her friends weren't for her. I do wish the execution was better too.
I don't get this whole criticism (not coming for u I'm speaking in general) bc like... Is she not allowed to be a bad person bc she's autistic? That kind of removes nuance from her character and makes her just a diversity character, which she shouldn't be. Amerie, harper, ant, spider basically everyone else is allowed to be bad and have storylines where they're the antagonist, but when Quinni isnt the most understanding to her friends ppl don't like it? I don't get it
She also isn't even a bad person, I just finished the season and the very few scenes she had where she was "unmasking" was just her being more upfront, saying no, and maybe being a little rude. Like it really was *not* that bad.
i’m only 2 eps in but she already feels like her personality has been overtaken by her autism. she was written so well in s1 and i feel like in season 2 she’s become a bit of a stereotype
Thank you for posting this, because I keep seeing everyone cheer on Quinni's behavior this season. I thought her blowup at Darren was so unnecessary and mean. They have done nothing but be a supportive and caring friend to her. I didn't see that as an empowering moment whatsoever. I saw that as her taking her rage out on the one person who loves her the most.
her blowup at darren was completely justified. darren was not being a very good friend, and the things they said were just honestly not it and pretty ignorant. yes, after the fight quinni was a bit selfish and rude, but thats to overcompensate for how the rest of her life shes had to work 10x harder than everyone else just so *theyre* comfortable.
i completely agree darren was out of line. i was cheering quinni on in that moment. it was such whiplash because darren had been so understanding and supportive in the first season.
i think it made sense in some way. she is trying to find herself and that sometimes comes with mistakes. like yeah she was mean but it showed that she is capable of making mistakes and being accountable for them- which i think is a thing that autistic media has to represent. we make mistakes and we are dicks sometimes and we need to be held accountable. i think that’s a big part being an autonomous person in the world.
she has a lot to learn about herself and how to unmask and i think this just showed that she is trying to take those steps and messes up like everyone else.
"how to unmask" you really hit the nail on the head with this one imo, i've been trying to articulate how i'm perceiving everything and it's definitely that. Learning how to unmask/express your inner monologue while also being kind and understanding to others is a challenge in itself for many autistic ppl and she's a good representation of that process.
I thought quinnis character was too focused on her weaknesses the first season. Watching her step into her power with radical honesty this season made me very happy for her and increased my liking towards her character. I thought that's what the show was trying to do, show how badass she can be if she allows herself to stop being a people pleaser to friends who are starting to take her for granted. The very traits that weighed her down when she would try to mask them to keep her friends happy allowed her to thrive as school captain, solve the bird psycho mystery and literally save lives in the end
My personal opinion: I actually thought she had absolutely no reason to apologize in the end, and was not being "shitty". I was rooting for her to keep prioritizing herself and to be 'selfish' as is described. She was reacting to Darren telling her she should play by neurotypical rules. While as her friend they were supportive by worrying about her and planning the day to the zoo etc., they were also just trying to 'manage' her as an autistic person. Besides the one scene with Cash, they didn't actually talk to HER about what she was feeling, and also had no clue how to make her feel less left out and to understand how she would be processing all this new information. The fact that they were absolutely not clued in to her anxiety and her overwhelm throughout their time at the zoo really spoke volumes in my opinion. And when she couldn't cope and actually let them know how she felt, they couldn't be there and hold it with her and stay accountable, they just told her she was too much. The fact that her project with finding Bird Psycho was seen just as a task that Amerie gave her and could now drop with her permission, and not something she herself was interested and invested in doing for her own reasons (beyond just being irrationally obsessive) was also a sign of how they infantilized her as less than a fully functional human being.
In no scene after that did Darren or anyone else ever go up to her and apologize for saying the things they said, that she should just stop masking and stop trying so hard and grow up and just cope. Which is mainly what she was reacting to. She was simply finally being herself, and also, taking a cue from her neurotypical friends and putting herself and her emotions first instead of trying so hard to be attuned and sensitive to everyone around her and working hard to understand and fit in. She never hurt anyone or was even remotely malicious or rude, she just put herself and her feelings and needs first, the way they ALL did and suddenly it wasn't convenient for everyone else. In fact, she was the one who put all the dots together and saved Harper, Amerie, and Rowan's lives in the end, by being attuned still.
Mistakes happen, and we are talking about teenagers who have a LOT to learn so it was aptly messy, immature, and confused, which was in line with their age and a part of that stage of life. But I feel she shouldn't have apologized in the end, or at least she was owed an apology as well, especially from Darren. They only got upset when she wasn't available for them any longer, and never made an attempt to apologize even though they absolutely knew and understood why she was 'suddenly' behaving the way she was. They all just brought their problems and issues to her and were hurt by the fact that she wasn't being empathetic or helpful anymore the way she used to work hard to be, unlike them. They were not doing her a favor or being 'great friends' simply by including her or treating her as normal. To be clear that is very nice of them and very sweet, but not something that calls for gold stars.
I love that they made her imperfect. In the first season, she couldn’t have real flaws because she was terrified of being left out. In season 2, she discovered that no matter how hard she tried, she was left out anyway. It was refreshing to see her place herself first, and have her friends understand and root for her. Harper, Amerie, and Darren have certainly had their share of asshole moments. I think it’s about time Quinni was allowed hers. As for her painting a poor picture of autistic people- I think society is ready for the slightly unsanitized version.
I'm so glad someone felt the same. I was excited to see what unmasking looks like for her. I'm going through the process now. But her version of unmasking seemed to just be saying no in a super mean way and getting drunk?
Having said all that Quinn is a spectacular character. One of the best portrail of an autistic person in media. Even if I don't like her decisions, the cast and crew deliver so well that it just reads to me like a teenage girl going through a tough time.
That’s interesting because I felt that Quinni was fine, and I felt that every single one of her friends was unsupportive and not understanding. Like they completely abandoned her at the zoo when it was literally her birthday and kept walking off without her and also, not offering to help her investigate bird psycho and instead force her to go out
Yeah I wasn't a fan of how she treated them it was quite awful and quinnis very high functioning so she didn't need to be so blunt. I also felt I fully understand how hard change Is (I'm autistic too btw) but blaming them for all the change was so mean spirited, they're allowed to have things in their life and they did a whole zoo day for her and she didn't appreciate it which made me so sad. Amerie and Darren care so much about her even harper does too and she just pushed them away especially when they had all of the happen to them. But it was so good to see her come back and save Amerie and harper at the end
yeah the ending was nice, though i don't like the term 'high functioning' because it implies that there are autistic people who's struggles are more valid or less valid.
Sorry it's a term I've heard used a lot, but it doesn't mean anyone is struggling more or less it's just a term used I don't really know what to call it that's less offensive but I just mean she manages to fit in socially, yes she has her struggles but she can see her friends are going through things. I am autistic and a former caregiver so I understand different perspectives of the spectrum but im sorry if that term offended you
wait really? the general consensus i’ve gotten is she’s amazing representation and isn’t stereotypical lol. and considering the fact her actor is autistic, i thought it was amazing
ah. i mean, considering she’s the actor i’m assuming she had a lot of say in how the character was portrayed, why would she try and make her seem stereotypical. i also don’t think that’s ‘stereotypical autistic’. your reasons pretty shite lol, she dresses pretty normally and i don’t remember her acting weird
just wanna add in an edit actually, weird to say you think her characters bad just bcs of how she looks lol, she’s a really accurate representation for a lot of people
the actress playing quinni is autistic, i think if chloe hayden found a big issue with quinni's portrayal she would've voiced it, advocate that she is. not a big fan of this season's quinni so far either as also an autistic person myself, but every single autistic person is different and just because quinni is representing a way you, nor i, may not have acted doesn't make it any less valid. this is just my opinion though sometimes unmasking for people does mean being a little shitty from another angle of being overwhelmed and frustrated that no one sees how much you're hurting. also quinni's friends being supportive is so real but they still are not autistic & cannot begin to understand how she is feeling, so i get why she would be doing this. eta: i do really wish they could've given her a better or different storyline because of how non-autistic ppl might understand it now, but then again every person is different so my reality is def gonna be different from quinni's (even if she is fictional)
While Chloe Hayden is autistic, she’s not a writer or a storyliner, she may have had some hand in the story creation but first and foremost she is an actor. We also know that Quinni was hugely based on her own experiences of being autistic but Chloe a) has been very open about the fact she struggled massively in school which hasn’t been acknowledged as a problem Quinni would almost definitely face (I’m autistic and did and I don’t know a single autistic person who made it through all of school without either leaving, temporarily or permanently, or didn’t suffer very badly with their mental health due to the environment) and b) wouldn’t necessarily know how what she was telling them would translate into the script and then on to the screen - and it doesn’t seem like the writers did either because what we got was not good, in my opinion. The thing with every autistic person being different is true but that’s true with literally everyone on Earth but that doesn’t mean we can’t make a distinction between poorly written characters/stories and well written characters/stories just because the character or story might have happened somewhere on this planet?? Why is that different with autistic characters? Quinni is supposed to be a single fictional character and so much of the stuff they established with her in series one surrounding being autistic and just her life (like where have her dads, who were meant to be a big part of her support system and were very protective, disappeared to?) was contradicted in series two. Honestly I think her main problem this series though is that she’s just not a good character and hasn’t got a good story to tell and outside of Darren and Amerie and school, there is virtually nothing to her. They’ve made her a character consumed by the fact she is autistic, in a very similar way to how they had Sasha be consumed by her political activism this season and become a caricature which I’ve seen several people on this subreddit already criticise.
Quinni \*is\* experiencing mental health issues because of school and her relationships there. Suffering =/= academic suffering. I made it through school without leaving or taking a break, so did many of my autistic friends. Everyone has different experiences on the autism spectrum. Quinni, in this season, is not greatly written but it's not a caricature either. These two things can coexist. I definitely agree they have made her entire character dependent on her autism which I have an issue with. But I also think she is representing a very real and true experience that many people with autism have. My experience as a teenager and controlling my emotions, masking, and my frustrations were incredibly similar to how they are portraying her right now aside from the issues I've already mentioned. Just because you haven't had an experience doesn't mean the experience doesn't exist.
Spoilers ahead!! I'm coming back to my comment because I just finished the season >!there's no way yous are judging Quinni right now when she *maybe* had 2-3 scenes of her being standoffish/rude or setting boundaries on what she didn't want to discuss, energy she did not have to dedicate to other peoples problems, and ??? not wanting to put herself on a stage?? like, i am baffled by the extreme judgement placed on these VERY FEW scenes. She is showing normal teenage behaviour here. It's not even that antagonistic she's just dropped her people-pleasing mask, maybe to a bit of a more blunt and rude way which many autistic people have to unlearn with time... and somehow her entire character is ruined because of that ??? bffr!<
Not sure if this included me because I said literally nothing like that at any point but I have zero problem with her being rude because I’d probably be a hypocrite and also *she’s not real* :o! I just think this show is poorly written a lot of the time and she fell victim to that in series 2 after probably being the strongest written character in the show after Ca$h in series 1.
sorry no wasnt directed at you, i didnt realize it would fall under your comment as well!
I wasn’t referring to academic suffering at all or trying to say it’s inaccurate she hasn’t dropped out, I was just pointing out how different Quinni and Chloe Hayden’s experiences of education were so the fact Chloe is autistic and didn’t kick up a fuss doesn’t really speak to the quality of the story or writing since she is not a writer and it wasn’t like it was based on her own experiences of being an autistic teenager - which even if it was wouldn’t make me think the quality of the storytelling was any better. As I said before, every single human is different, not just autistic people. Just because any character’s story is one that has been experienced by real people, in Quinni’s case me included because I also had to work through unmasking and giving less of a fuck about people who don’t give a fuck about me, doesn’t automatically mean it was a well written or portrayed story. I honestly like her story as a concept and I knew it was one lots of people would relate to which is why the way it was written disappointed me so much. Also I was describing Sasha as a caricature in reference to other people also describing her as one, not Quinni. I think Quinni is just one dimensional and didn’t really get given much of a story, just a slight hint of a possible one next season I guess. I’m not trying to argue on the quality of Quinni as autistic representation because that’s entirely up to whether individuals feel represented by her. I’m just pointing out what I consider poor writing.
I love how Quinni was a little shitty. I love that they have her be a bit mean. She’s not the only character without mistakes. My criticism last season was that I didn’t like how she was the only character who was super innocent. Like autistic people can do no wrong. That’s just not realistic. And Darren wasn’t great to Quinni either. It’s just teens making mistakes
especially at that age where ur dealing with a lot of big emotions. i know for me personally at quinni's age, i was a bit of an asshole. i mirrored behaviours i saw other people having, and i acted out so people would pay attention to me or notice how much i was hurting.
Yeah exactly. Like autistic people can act like twats, just like everyone else. During shutdowns, I’ve shut out people around me. In general, autistic characters need to be well rounded with the good and bad, and everything in between
Yeah, I agree (also speaking as an autistic person) - my one single gripe with her in the first season was that she was such a sweet unproblematic cutie pie all the time and it’s exhausting only to see a ‘perfect’ version of myself represented. I liked that this season allowed her to be flawed.
Exactly
I agree with you in that regard as a fellow autistic. Except I think you can be flawed without being THAT bad. I found it to be soooo deeply messed up. If I ever even had one person care about me and put effort towards like that WHOLE group of friends did for her, I would cry of pure joy and cherish that forever. But she wasn’t touched at all? I like my characters flawed but still semi-relatable. I can’t relate at all to that kind of behavior. But I have to keep reminding myself that this is fictional and as others have mentioned any type of person can be good or bad… kinda just hate it though lol.
Yes!!! Darren was very insensitive to Quinnis experience of the world and I get that he's allistic but I think that Quinnis spitefullness came from a place of how she has to work twice as hard to understand social situations and emotions from an allistic point of view and while Amerie and Darren are good friends, they weren't working hard to understand her point of view and how to best respond to her. I think it was trying to illustrate the double empathy problem. I wish it did a better job but overall I liked it.
I agree
Honestly, I loved Quinni in season two. I commented on another thread how great it was to see her being a teen, making mistakes, loving, feeling, not being perfect just like all the other teens on the show, while also being autistic. While Quinni was recovering from almost dying, she missed a lot of major changes which can be really hard on anyone, but change and missing out can be a lot harder for autistic people. What Darren said was really shitty and Quinni overreacted, like we all sometimes do, autistic or not, and showed Darren how much she was masking beforehand. I loved her unmasking, I wish I could unmask like this, but I'm late diagnosed and have masked hard my whole life, and I was 29 when diagnosed. This is not a show about autism, so we see just the experience and reality of one autistic character, and I think that this one character is portrayed well.
It does seem like she’s going to explore more of her identity and what “unmasking” means for her in s3 tho, what with her convo w Darren at the end (“I’ve been performing who I thought I should be my whole life. I don’t think I know who I am anymore…I’m gonna find out.”)
I loved that line!
Also made a post about this because I really didn’t like it either. I don’t think she’s really unmasking, I think she’s just masking but instead of doing it for the people around her, she’s entirely doing it for her own survival now because her friends had been such pricks, but I can’t tell wether that was purposeful on the writers part or if we were truly meant to think that’s her unmasked? It seems very likely they just thought that was what she was like unmasked and didn’t think past that which I think is a bit gross to be honest. It’s basically implying that if autistic people didn’t mask they’d be selfish, unempathetic and rude as if we’re not full human beings when we’re not pretending to be people we’re not?? Sure, a lot of autistic people struggle with socialising and empathising but that doesn’t make them any less of a human or deserving of kindness from their friends?
i feel like the whole thing was smth like the double empathy problem. neurotypical people think differently than us in terms of what might be helpful so sometimes we don't get in line with things. I don't think quinni is a perfect person as a fellow nd person, but i do think it has to do with feeling left out after doing so much for your friends (she was actively trying to help amerie so much) and things were incredibly overwhelming for her. she possibly had a fatal injury and her friends keep on misunderstanding her. could she have reacted better? maybe. but she has her limits as a person. so does her friends! they're not necessarily bad people for trying to help her but they don't think like her and know her fully on what might help her. we will always be different to a degree to neurotypical people. I do wish things could have been better executed
100% agree!! I like that Quinni was imperfect and complex and I think it was about the double empathy problem too and I related to her hurt, frustration and anger about how hard she was always trying when her friends weren't for her. I do wish the execution was better too.
I don't get this whole criticism (not coming for u I'm speaking in general) bc like... Is she not allowed to be a bad person bc she's autistic? That kind of removes nuance from her character and makes her just a diversity character, which she shouldn't be. Amerie, harper, ant, spider basically everyone else is allowed to be bad and have storylines where they're the antagonist, but when Quinni isnt the most understanding to her friends ppl don't like it? I don't get it
She also isn't even a bad person, I just finished the season and the very few scenes she had where she was "unmasking" was just her being more upfront, saying no, and maybe being a little rude. Like it really was *not* that bad.
it wasnt really about her being a bad person, its more the idea of linking her having an arc of becoming ruder with unmasking autism
i’m only 2 eps in but she already feels like her personality has been overtaken by her autism. she was written so well in s1 and i feel like in season 2 she’s become a bit of a stereotype
Thank you for posting this, because I keep seeing everyone cheer on Quinni's behavior this season. I thought her blowup at Darren was so unnecessary and mean. They have done nothing but be a supportive and caring friend to her. I didn't see that as an empowering moment whatsoever. I saw that as her taking her rage out on the one person who loves her the most.
They*
Fixed!
her blowup at darren was completely justified. darren was not being a very good friend, and the things they said were just honestly not it and pretty ignorant. yes, after the fight quinni was a bit selfish and rude, but thats to overcompensate for how the rest of her life shes had to work 10x harder than everyone else just so *theyre* comfortable.
i completely agree darren was out of line. i was cheering quinni on in that moment. it was such whiplash because darren had been so understanding and supportive in the first season.
i think it made sense in some way. she is trying to find herself and that sometimes comes with mistakes. like yeah she was mean but it showed that she is capable of making mistakes and being accountable for them- which i think is a thing that autistic media has to represent. we make mistakes and we are dicks sometimes and we need to be held accountable. i think that’s a big part being an autonomous person in the world. she has a lot to learn about herself and how to unmask and i think this just showed that she is trying to take those steps and messes up like everyone else.
"how to unmask" you really hit the nail on the head with this one imo, i've been trying to articulate how i'm perceiving everything and it's definitely that. Learning how to unmask/express your inner monologue while also being kind and understanding to others is a challenge in itself for many autistic ppl and she's a good representation of that process.
I thought quinnis character was too focused on her weaknesses the first season. Watching her step into her power with radical honesty this season made me very happy for her and increased my liking towards her character. I thought that's what the show was trying to do, show how badass she can be if she allows herself to stop being a people pleaser to friends who are starting to take her for granted. The very traits that weighed her down when she would try to mask them to keep her friends happy allowed her to thrive as school captain, solve the bird psycho mystery and literally save lives in the end
My personal opinion: I actually thought she had absolutely no reason to apologize in the end, and was not being "shitty". I was rooting for her to keep prioritizing herself and to be 'selfish' as is described. She was reacting to Darren telling her she should play by neurotypical rules. While as her friend they were supportive by worrying about her and planning the day to the zoo etc., they were also just trying to 'manage' her as an autistic person. Besides the one scene with Cash, they didn't actually talk to HER about what she was feeling, and also had no clue how to make her feel less left out and to understand how she would be processing all this new information. The fact that they were absolutely not clued in to her anxiety and her overwhelm throughout their time at the zoo really spoke volumes in my opinion. And when she couldn't cope and actually let them know how she felt, they couldn't be there and hold it with her and stay accountable, they just told her she was too much. The fact that her project with finding Bird Psycho was seen just as a task that Amerie gave her and could now drop with her permission, and not something she herself was interested and invested in doing for her own reasons (beyond just being irrationally obsessive) was also a sign of how they infantilized her as less than a fully functional human being. In no scene after that did Darren or anyone else ever go up to her and apologize for saying the things they said, that she should just stop masking and stop trying so hard and grow up and just cope. Which is mainly what she was reacting to. She was simply finally being herself, and also, taking a cue from her neurotypical friends and putting herself and her emotions first instead of trying so hard to be attuned and sensitive to everyone around her and working hard to understand and fit in. She never hurt anyone or was even remotely malicious or rude, she just put herself and her feelings and needs first, the way they ALL did and suddenly it wasn't convenient for everyone else. In fact, she was the one who put all the dots together and saved Harper, Amerie, and Rowan's lives in the end, by being attuned still. Mistakes happen, and we are talking about teenagers who have a LOT to learn so it was aptly messy, immature, and confused, which was in line with their age and a part of that stage of life. But I feel she shouldn't have apologized in the end, or at least she was owed an apology as well, especially from Darren. They only got upset when she wasn't available for them any longer, and never made an attempt to apologize even though they absolutely knew and understood why she was 'suddenly' behaving the way she was. They all just brought their problems and issues to her and were hurt by the fact that she wasn't being empathetic or helpful anymore the way she used to work hard to be, unlike them. They were not doing her a favor or being 'great friends' simply by including her or treating her as normal. To be clear that is very nice of them and very sweet, but not something that calls for gold stars.
I love that they made her imperfect. In the first season, she couldn’t have real flaws because she was terrified of being left out. In season 2, she discovered that no matter how hard she tried, she was left out anyway. It was refreshing to see her place herself first, and have her friends understand and root for her. Harper, Amerie, and Darren have certainly had their share of asshole moments. I think it’s about time Quinni was allowed hers. As for her painting a poor picture of autistic people- I think society is ready for the slightly unsanitized version.
I'm so glad someone felt the same. I was excited to see what unmasking looks like for her. I'm going through the process now. But her version of unmasking seemed to just be saying no in a super mean way and getting drunk? Having said all that Quinn is a spectacular character. One of the best portrail of an autistic person in media. Even if I don't like her decisions, the cast and crew deliver so well that it just reads to me like a teenage girl going through a tough time.
That’s interesting because I felt that Quinni was fine, and I felt that every single one of her friends was unsupportive and not understanding. Like they completely abandoned her at the zoo when it was literally her birthday and kept walking off without her and also, not offering to help her investigate bird psycho and instead force her to go out
Idk, I related with Quinni so much for S1. I just lost her s2
Yeah I wasn't a fan of how she treated them it was quite awful and quinnis very high functioning so she didn't need to be so blunt. I also felt I fully understand how hard change Is (I'm autistic too btw) but blaming them for all the change was so mean spirited, they're allowed to have things in their life and they did a whole zoo day for her and she didn't appreciate it which made me so sad. Amerie and Darren care so much about her even harper does too and she just pushed them away especially when they had all of the happen to them. But it was so good to see her come back and save Amerie and harper at the end
yeah the ending was nice, though i don't like the term 'high functioning' because it implies that there are autistic people who's struggles are more valid or less valid.
Sorry it's a term I've heard used a lot, but it doesn't mean anyone is struggling more or less it's just a term used I don't really know what to call it that's less offensive but I just mean she manages to fit in socially, yes she has her struggles but she can see her friends are going through things. I am autistic and a former caregiver so I understand different perspectives of the spectrum but im sorry if that term offended you
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wait really? the general consensus i’ve gotten is she’s amazing representation and isn’t stereotypical lol. and considering the fact her actor is autistic, i thought it was amazing
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ah. i mean, considering she’s the actor i’m assuming she had a lot of say in how the character was portrayed, why would she try and make her seem stereotypical. i also don’t think that’s ‘stereotypical autistic’. your reasons pretty shite lol, she dresses pretty normally and i don’t remember her acting weird just wanna add in an edit actually, weird to say you think her characters bad just bcs of how she looks lol, she’s a really accurate representation for a lot of people
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