Reacting to ADHD in the Media

Last time I reacted to TikTok. This time I'm reacting to ADHD as represented in the media. How bad could this possibly be??

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Reacting to ADHD in the Media ---Chapters---

00:00 Intro
00:40 "How I Met Your Mother"
02:17 "The Simpsons"
03:38 "Accepted"
04:46 "Modern Family"
05:53 "30 Rock"
06:39 "Julie & Julia"
08:08 "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"
10:36 "Brooklyn Nine-Nine"
12:09 Conclusion
13:22 Patreon/Outro

[carawestgate]

At first I was like, 'oh, she's kind of overreacting to the bad portrayals, it's no big deal'. Then it hit me. These bad portrayals are the reason I never thought I had ADHD! This is serious stuff.

[Ahrpigi]

The example with Bart is extra good because when he's explaining how he really did try his hardest he gives an example that shows he also really did absorb and understand the material, he just couldn't regurgitate it in the way the test demanded. It's *extremely* relatable.

[leaveyetstillthere]

“ADHD tingle” I have a friend who has ADHD and, before I got diagnosed with ADHD also, I was talking about my problems I have with school and he said with a so casual voice “Yeah, you have ADHD.” With zero hint of just saying it as a joke. And he was right.

[jimmaloney]

The thing about the Modern Family clip, too, is that she's reading off symptoms and talking about her brother while the mom is seeing it in the context of the dad. So it's also hitting on the common scenario of an undiagnosed parent who only becomes aware when their child is diagnosed.

[pamelahoughton]

Maria in The Sound of Music absolutely had ADHD. Read the lyrics to "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" She's late, she loses track of time, gets distracted, is very creative. Sings a song about confidence to counter self-doubt & anxiety. I loved that movie from it's release when I was five. Now I realize why.

[SamanthaEcho]

I actually think that one of the best-written ADHD characters is Mulan from the 1990’s Disney movie. I could write a whole essay on this but I can’t find the time, but I remember watching the movie as a kid and identifying more with her than most of the other Disney heroines: we see that she is always late and that she forgets about the matchmaking meeting, and then as she goes to meet the matchmaker she gets distracted by everything around her including two little boys bullying a little girl, whom Milan defends, and a chess game which she helps with, then she goes back to the matchmaker and feels disoriented. I know a lot of people interpret this movie as the story of a woman who doesn’t fit into traditional gender norms, but I think it is also equally effective as a representation of an ADHD female trying to find her place in a world that is both patriarchal and neurotypical.

[GeldarionTFS]

In the case of Jake Peralta, I think they did a good job portraying his work life like it actually can be for some people who are smart, but who suffer from ADHD symptoms. You can see him get all squirmy when he is forced to do large amounts of paperwork. He has trouble regulating his emotions. He suffers from executive disfunction on things he doesn't want to do. You can see barriers that pop up for him in different episodes with his work and his relationship with Amy. Her need for order and his aversion to crossing his barriers sometimes clash, and they have to work through that.

But there is a lot that also really hits home on the creativity of thought and ability to hyper-focus when needed. He tends to make connections that a lot of other people miss. His brain is always working on a variety of problems in the background, which sometimes goofs up his conversations. He also has multiple times I can remember where he either fixates on something that is really interesting or mysterious to him, or he works through the night because he is so doggedly hyper-focused on some case.

Basically, he works harder to overcome his shortcomings. He uses his intelligence and natural interest in his work to fuel those aspects of his life. It is all very relatable. He is not a failure because of ADHD. It prevents him from having all of his crap together, but it doesn't prevent him from living a good life.

[sammichurl]

My dad actually is a psychiatrist helping kids, teens and young adults and at some point when i was around 12 yo he told me that i had an attention disorder, same with my mum.
So when i started researching about ADHD, i found my father actually always taught me how to handle my ADHD without me even noticing.. As an example he would always remind me i have a task going (and still does) if i get distracted... so i kinda learned focussing better and now i don't have as many problems as i would have without this "teaching how to focus better" and i am honestly so grateful for having him...

[МарияГоликова-ьф]

i'm pretty sure Mabel from 'Gravity Falls' has ADHD, as well as Star from 'Star vs the forces of evil'. They both are impulsive and loud, get distracted very easily, are constantly moving (sometimes fidgeting) and sometimes get hyperfocused, but at the same time are really creative and empathetic

[lyndsayhawkins]

I have wanted someone to do this for years! Media portrayals heavily contribute to the misconceptions and stereotypes us brains deal with. I'm so happy that more work is being done to accurately portray those on the autistic spectrum, and I think it's about time us ADHDers got some good rep too!

[LindseyTaft]

The Bart gets an F episode of The Simpsons wrecks me. The line "You don't understand, I TRIED this time!" ugh broke me.
Julie & Julia might have some legitimate rep, If I'm remembering it correctly, she takes on a large project, there are meltdowns but it can go either way. Phil Dunphy in Modern Family, is my favorite rep so far, especially how they directed his actions. What you said, he's not just acting out symptoms, he has a goal to reach and all of the weird little obstacles come up along the way. VERY ACCURATE.

[cloudsaysthings]

The Julie and Julia scene is really relatable to me because of how the character is sort of rambling on about things that interest her and what is going on in her life while the other character listens. I tend to find myself info dumping or rambling to people and it's always really validating when the other person just listens and maybe asks questions.

[HIDDENADHD]

For what it's worth, I find that the representation of ADHD leaves a lot of us with INATTENTIVE ADHD feeling misrepresented

[kikicogger]

As a woman, I honestly believe my delay in diagnosis was due almost entirely to the fact I wasn’t “stereotypically” ADHD. Looking back, I see the signs-the disorganization, the struggle to finish tasks in a timely manner, even the “you aren’t reaching your potential.” But because I wasn’t jumping off the walls, it wasn’t caught until I was in college, when my parents and I realized something was wrong. I wish they showed more women with ADHD as it may help future girls not have to struggle the same way I did.

[gloriosa]

Honestly I didn’t realize the mail thing was ADHD for years and it makes so much sense now. I’ve never done it with physical mail, but I’m notorious for opening texts/emails and going nope not dealing with that today

[castorj.b.]

I think Julie in that movie does have it. She spends a lot of time through the movie hyperfixating on her cooking project, to the detriment of everything around her. She clearly infodumps on her husband, who you can see is so used to it that he barely acknowledges. She's messy and scatterbrained, but in a subtle, realistic way rather than the usual played-up-for-humour way. It's a very subtle portrayal, but there are definite signs there.

[LudmilaT.]

The Julie & Julia one feels VERY relatable to me. "I need a deadline because i know i'll never really finish it" is so accurate. It comes from constantly doing what Bart did earlier, that "i'll really do better this time!" You do so much that eventually you loose all hopes for yourself and even while having that rush of a new exciting thing that's definitely going to be THE thing you'll always stay passionate about... you NEVER really expect yourself to succeed in anything and have constant nagging thoughts of "should i even try when i know i'm going to fail" and "i NEED to keep my expectations super low so i won't have to face that horrible feeling of disappointment ever again."

And some of us mask even harder in front of romantic partners because a rejection from them is much harder to take than from others. And, some of us internalize the mask in a way we can't even shake it when we want to, we don't even know who we are without the mask.

[lisacorcoran]

The Julie & Julia scene actually seemed very relatable to me. As my husband often says, "your brain comes alive at night." So it's very typical for him to be winding down and I'm there talking non-stop through my thoughts on something while he drops the occasional "okay". I don't have to mask with him and so it actually seemed like her rambling was her not masking with her partner.

[katiek.]

one thing I have never understood: how do neurotypical people deal with their mail?? I went most of my adulthood so far thinking everyone had heaps/bags/shelves full of paper

[sckilham]

I always found that the characters who present as having adhd but its never explicitly discussed are the most accurate. A character that falls into this category to me is Andy from parks and rec. While he is kind of exaggerated, I definitely see so many adhd characteristics and relate to him so much, especially when he doesn't pass his police test. He really often feels shame because of his impulsivity.